“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 only talked about what goes on in The Cyphers Agency office. Don’t get me wrong, the hours between 9 and 5 have been pretty fun since I began working here. But Jocelyn upped the ante last week when she invited me to the annual Halloween party hosted by the Baltimore chapter of the American Advertising Federation.

Admittedly, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this type of event. Would ad folks from rival agencies be sizing each other up? Would I need to have an elevator speech at the ready? I was assured that this party would be light on the networking and heavy on the good times. That was all I needed to know to commence brainstorming brilliant costume ideas with Jocelyn… the Kardashians!

“Kim” and I showed up at The Waterfront Hotel fashionably late, as celebrities do. The party was packed, complete with very tasty chicken fingers, adult beverages and ‘80s pop. I got to meet a lot of cool people in our industry, including two women dressed as old and new Gap – great idea, huh?

In just a few months at The Cyphers Agency, I’ve gained exposure to the whole wide world of advertising, both in the office and out. It was a really cool opportunity for me, the lowly intern, to get to mix and mingle with some really talented folks.

One of the things I was most excited about when I started working here was seeing the inside of an advertising agency. While I knew my way around social media pretty well, I had zero agency experience. I was eager to see how the entire machine worked, not just the Push-n-Pull side of things. Since then, I’ve developed an understanding of the nuts and bolts of a full-service agency such as this one.

Along the way, I’ve discovered that while I really love word of mouth marketing, I definitely have an interest in traditional marketing and advertising, too. I always look forward to the chance to step outside of the web world for a bit and join in on brainstorm meetings. Even though the conversation may not to have a lot to do with the exact work I’m doing or campaign I’m implementing, hearing what the other departments are working on and giving them feedback helps me understand the client’s “big picture”. By just observing my colleagues doing what they do best, whether that be creative direction or account management, I’m learning about marketing, period, not just the social media part.

It’s pretty sweet that I work at the kind of place where I get to carry out new media projects but also dabble in the traditional side, too. Good advertising means that each part – creative, copy, online, offline – complements the other, so experience with the fundamentals of marketing is great context for the WOM I’m doing; it helps me do my job better.

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.