I stumbled on the term evangelist used in a job description. It was a first for me. I went on to read more and look it up as a career option too. I did find a job which wanted someone to create buzz for their company using all the social media and other online options. I also read about how some companies embrace the buzz about their products/ services and others intentionally ignore and downgrade it even. (I think they must be stuck in the mud). I also read more about the idea itself, evangelist marketing theory.
From Wikipedia: How to Create customer evangelists?
In their book, Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force, Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba outline six steps to creating customer evangelists:
- Customer plus-delta (Continuously gather customer feedback)
- Napsterize knowledge (Freely share your knowledge)
- Build the buzz (Create intelligent word-of-mouth networks)
- Create community (Encourage communities of customers to meet and share)
- Make bite-size chunks (Devise specialized, smaller offerings to get customers to bite)
- Create a cause (Focus on making the world, or your industry, better)
WebProNews: The Power of Customer Evangelist Marketing
AimClear: The Respectable Social Media Marketing Evangelist
FastCompany: Buzz without Bucks
For that job.. The company wanted someone to run the corporate blog (including creating podcasts), keep an eye out for any mention of the company and it’s products in any kind of web media and then play it up, cater to it. You would be involved in customer feedback and beta testing offline as well.
The right candidate:
• Has a deep knowledge of and passion for technology
• Is one of those “connectors” that makes other people want to follow them
• Has experience with, and passion for, creating and consuming new content types: websites, blogs, podcasts, wikis, etc.
• Is an active blogger (This is a must! – be prepared to show me your stuff)
• Will be the go-to person when it comes to what’s hot and what’s not on the Web.
• Is a self-starter with the willingness, and desire, to “roll up your sleeves” and get the job done
• Has masterful interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills with a juicy Web 2.0 style
• Has the ability to work collaboratively in a team environment
• Might have past experience as technology evangelist- this is a plus!