Every morning, I come into work (usually with a Starbucks in hand, much to the dismay of my bank account), and sit at my computer. I take a moment to glare at the beauty of my Mac, and turn it on. First things first, I check my email. Next, I check Tweetdeck. And lately, after those two crucial things, I read blogs.

I haven’t always done this. Normally, I immediately delve into my workload. Sometimes my pile of work sits staring at me, forcing the belief that there just isn’t enough time in the day to catch up on industry news or trends. Forget checking Mashable, I’ve got to write that blog post or prepare for that brainstorm meeting. Well, no more!

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“So how’s work?”

We all hear it all the time. It’s a reliable small-talk thing to say when you run into someone in a parking lot and feel obliged to make conversation so it doesn’t turn completely awkward.

My response is usually not far off from the above (awesome cartoon compliments of an agency favorite, Hyperbole and a Half). While I have been learning lots of cool stuff at The Cyphers Agency, I try to not talk people’s ears off about the advertising industry. Still, the truth is, sometimes you (if you are anything like me) just have to toot your own horn. So lately, when I’m asked, “How’s work?”, instead of a pat answer that hurries our obligatory small talk session along, I turn into That Girl who blabbers about her awesome job when you are just trying to do your grocery shopping.

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So far, I’ve blogged mostly about what I’ve learned thus far during my time at The Cyphers Agency. But of course, I’m still new and there’s so much more I want to learn and do. I really am just getting my feet wet, and as I explore the world of advertising and become more confident in my work here, I’ve been thinking more and more about what I want to dive into next.

WOM’s The Bomb

“Push-n-Pull” is the division of our agency that I work in, and we do some really cool stuff. I occasionally joke with friends that I get to play on Facebook for my job. Of course, social media is definitely not the end-all, be-all of what we do. We engage in word of mouth marketing, which is essentially harnessing the marketing potential of conversations that are already going on, whether they are taking place online or offline.

Up until this point, the vast majority of the WOM I’ve been facilitating and encouraging has been online, but there is so much potential for awesome offline WOM, too. While the social web has become a hugely powerful platform for WOM, sometimes face-to-face can’t be beat.

A great example of this is The Cyphers Agency’s campaign for Robert Andrew Salon last year. We combined social media efforts with event marketing, which resulted in measurable buzz in just two weeks. Robert Andrew Salon hosted a “meet and greet” with the Redskins cheerleaders called “The Men’s Zone”. The event itself was memorable and created top of mind awareness for the salon, and The Cyphers Agency used photos from the event to continue generating buzz for Robert Andrew online after the event. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to work on a campaign like this where the client’s needs can be most effectively met with a comprehensive on- and offline WOM strategy.

Embracing All Kinds of WOM

Brands and businesses are beginning to really embrace social media, which makes it an exciting time for me to start my career. Hopefully, companies will soon embrace other word of mouth marketing techniques in the same way, making this type of communication exciting and indespensible. Can you imagine all the cool, effective stuff we could do?

Case in point – I’ve considered myself a “social media enthusiast” for a few years now. I’m an avid user of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. I’m especially addicted to Twitter and have been pretty confident in my ability to leverage this tool to get results. After all, it helped me get my foot in the door here! Of course, it’s one thing to network personally on the web, and quite another to use social media to shape conversations for our client’s brands.

On the Other Side of the Screen

The social web has made it easier than ever for regular people to interact with the services and businesses that they care about. Being on the other side of the computer screen, so to speak, has been a rewarding experience but its also been challenging. It can be a big responsibility to answer tough questions from customers on behalf of our clients. Your company’s social media identity isn’t just for piping up in conversations about your product – its a customer service outlet that is increasingly important as our society becomes more and more digitally minded.

Creating a Social Media Voice

In the last month, I’ve definitely developed a deeper understanding of the importance of creating a social media voice. While I may be the one typing a response to a question on Facebook, I am representing our client’s brand, and so I have to be careful that the tone, words and phrasing I use are in tune with the message our client wants to convey. Is this client’s tone less corporate and their message more light-hearted, like The National Chicken Council? Or is this a client that requires a more trustworthy, authoritative tone? Looking back on how much I’ve grown in my ability to project our clients’ voices online, I realize now that I certainly was not the “social media expert” I thought I was!

Find the In-Between & Build Relationships

Still, its a balance. The strength of social media is authentic interaction. We all know that a tweet that seems too carefully crafted can feel less than genuine, squashing any potential to build a meaningful relationship. One of the best parts of my job is that I get to have real, candid conservations with people, despite our geographic limitations.

At The Cyphers Agency, we’re always working to perfect the social media voices of our clients. How do you determine the tone your brand uses when interacting with customers online? How have you honed your social media voice? Need help? Just ask.

Over the past few weeks I have been working at The Cyphers Agency, I’ve answered a lot of questions from friends and family about what I do here. Once I explain my role in the word of mouth marketing department, I frequently get the same response: “That sounds so cool! How’d you get that gig?”

When I tell them that I got to know Jocelyn, The Cyphers Agency’s social media coordinator, on Twitter and eventually DM’d (direct messaged, for those of you who don’t know) her to ask about fall internships, I’m surprised that they’re surprised! To me, it only makes sense that I got a job in social media by actually using social media!

Maybe its not so obvious to some. We’ve received a number of cold calls about open positions recently, and even though the people inquiring aren’t always focused on social media marketing, I still wonder why they are taking such a traditional route when trying to get hired at a pretty non-traditional advertising agency. Cold calls seem especially lame when the caller doesn’t even have a specific position or department in mind. In an industry where being proactive and passionate are paramount, coming across as lukewarm and unambitious will probably not serve you well.

Show Who You Are

I know plenty of folks who balk at the idea of sharing their online networks with potential employers, and in certain fields that may be appropriate. But at this agency, its important to be creative and enterprising, so using a platform like Twitter is definitely appropriate! It’s a chance to show who you are to people who you may not have any other opportunity to interact with. I connected with my future co-workers at The Cyphers Agency online before I ever stepped into an interview. Not only was I able to network with them, but we were both able to see if my personality would be a good fit for the workplace culture here. Through using social media to network with future employers, you can become a person they know and like, not just another resume.

Practice What You Preach

I’m not saying that just because I happen to share a love for funny cat videos with the rest of the team at The Cyphers Agency, I tweeted my way to a job interview. It’s not only about sharing your personality – its about showing that you can leverage social media to get results. If you can demonstrate your own value to an agency through social media, then you could also use social media to demonstrate the value of that agency’s clients to their customers. My point is, if you know how to use new media tools effectively, you shouldn’t just be putting it on your resume – you should prove it to the people you want to work for before they ever see your resume!

I think the biggest thing using social media in my job hunt did for me was show who I really am – someone who isn’t afraid to try something new, to be a little unorthodox, to take a chance. That kind of mentality is valued in organizations like The Cyphers Agency that always try to be ahead of the curve, and that’s the kind of place I wanted to work for!