Metrics

For our last blog assignment this week we are looking at metrics.  Just what do social media metrics entail?  I found this handy list I am sharing with you below on a site called The Social Organization


Activity Metrics

• Pageviews
• Unique visitors
• Members
• Posts (ideas/threads)
• Number of groups (networks/forums)
• Comments & Trackbacks
• Tags/Ratings/Rankings
• Time spent on site
• Contributors
• Active contributors
• Word count
• Referrals
• Completed profiles
• Connections (between members)
• Ratios: Member to contributor; Posts to comments; Completed profiles to posts
• Periods: By day, week, month, year
• Frequency: of visits, posts, comments

Survey Metrics

• Satisfaction
• Affinity
• Quality and speed of issue resolution
• Referral likelihood
• Relevance of content, connections

ROI Measurements

• Marketing/Sales
  
  • Cost per number of engaged prospects (community vs. other initiatives)
  • Number of leads/period
  • Number of qualified leads/period
  • Ratio of qualified to non-qualified leads
  • Cost of lead
  • Time to qualified lead
  • Lead conversion
  • Number of pre-sales reference calls (to other customers)
  • Average new revenue per customer
  • Lifetime value of customers
• Customer Support
  • Customer satisfaction
  • Number of initiated support tickets per customer per period
  • Support cost per customer in community
• Product Development
  • Number of new product ideas
  • % of ideas from customers/prospects/community
  • Idea to development initiation cycle time
  • Revenue/Adoption rate of new products from community vs. traditional sources

• HR
  • Retention/Employee turn over
  • Time to hire
  • Prospect identification cost
  • Prospect to hire conversion rate
  • Hiring cost
  • Training cost
  • Time to acclimation for new employees

Individual Metrics (for members)  NEW

• New 'friends' after 30/60/90 days
• Number of friends met online that users have met offline
• Number of friends met online that member has subsequently collaborated with
• Number of ideas that the user has gotten and then used in their work

General Internet Tracking (outside of enterprise-sponsored communities)

• Net Promoter Score
• Meme Lifecycle
• Number of mentions (tracked via web or blog search engines)
• Positive/Negative listing ratios on major search engines

Once I had a better understanding of what metrics entailed, I searched around for some articles to help me understand what this is all about.

Folk Media had an interesting article called Social Media Marketing Metrics.  It speaks of social media marketing experts who claim that the value of social media cannot be measured.  To that statement they say "bull crap."  It points out that yes social media is "free" but for a company to do it correctly it takes an investment of time and money.  It lists some suggestions for those companies wanting to start measuring right now:

• Set up a monitoring system (their first step in measuring).  Measure what is already there.  Use Facebook's ability to see fan page hits and demographics and other similar systems.
• Decide on messaging and monitor response. What is your core business message?  They use the example of Starbucks $4.00 latte that they promote and can easily track.
• Tag team the response.  Basically by having your employees understand what is going on and the platform, they will be able to help monitor things online.
• End at the beginning.  Bookend your strategy with a monitoring system. Continue to follow through on conversations.  Tweak your messages based on click-throughs and comments.

Social Times has another good article called The Ten Social Media Metrics Your Company Should Monitor. As you may have guessed, it lists the ten metrics that it believes your company should measure.  It shows the following top three things that most companies measure:

• Visitors and sources of traffic
• Network size (followers, fans, members)
• Quantity of commentary about brand or product.

These are obviously the easy to understand metrics.  The list of ten is quite thorough and can be adapted to suit your business objectives.  As measuring social media becomes more of the norm, more complex methods, custom tools and custom reports will become necessary.  If you really want to attempt to determine your ROI on specific goals, then you are going to need to adapt to the more complex measurement methods that this article summarizes.

On the site Social Media Today, I found an article called 5 Social Media Metrics You Should Be Measuring. I liked this one a lot.  It made sense to me.  It talks about dashboards and bit.ly accounts which I knew nothing about prior to this class.  There is a social media monitoring tool that can be used to create charts to represent comments over time.  Another new word for me was Klout.  The Klout Score uses data from several of the big social media sites and measures:

• Your true reach (how many people you influence)
• Amplification (how much you influence them)
• Network score (how influential they are)

A very simple measurement that this article mentioned was sentiment.  Sentiment is whether people are saying positive, negative or indifferent things about your brand.  There are tools to measure this as well.  Although it is argued that a computer simply cannot measure irony and the like so sentiment would be impossible to measure with a tool.  

The bottom line is that there is an overwhelming number of things that you can measure.  The key to success in finding accurate metrics is going to be to align your measurement plans with your objectives.  I don't know if I personally believe that you will ever be able to accurately measure ROI.  I feel that the best thing that you will be able to take away from all of your efforts is going to be very general.  You will know if what you are doing is working and what is happening.  I just don't know if you will ever be able to be extremely precise and accurate.  Some may spend too much time and money chasing after the perfected metrics report, and some will have to accept that they are monitoring what is going on and are pretty aware of whether or not it is working.

I found a presentation on Slideshare that I liked.  Check it out here if you have a chance.  

Whole Foods Market

This week we were to follow another company and do a case study similar to the one I posted last week about Clif Bar & Company.  I decided to stay on my health food kick (perhaps to keep me in a good "healthy" mindset as the holidays are fast approaching) and have been studying Whole Foods Market.  My wife is a strict vegetarian and is all about healthy eating.  The days of driving through McDonald's or Taco Bell as a means of acquiring dinner are a part of my bachelor history.  While I have not become a vegetarian, I have changed my eating habits completely since meeting my wife, at first out of necessity (our first few dinner dates were quite interesting) then by choice.  Whole Foods Market was discovered when we took a routine trip to The Fresh Market in the Beachwood, Ohio area.  Now both stores are stops for us.  Whole Foods Market is all about high quality natural ingredients and organic foods.  I did look at both The Fresh Market and Whole Foods Market for this project, but Whole Food Market was hands down the winner as far as a successful social media marketing plan.

Whole Foods Website

Whole foods has a very easy to navigate, interactive website.  It is most definitely the core of their online presence.  The first thing I checked out was their company values which are clearly and simply laid out.  I went further into their declaration of interdependence:

"Our motto — Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet — emphasizes that our vision reaches far beyond just being a food retailer. Our success in fulfilling our vision is measured by customer satisfaction, Team Member excellence and happiness, return on capital investment, improvement in the state of the environment, and local and larger community support."

The site also has an entire section dedicated to product information which explains their organic outsourcing, quality standards, food safety, product recalls and more.    They were very smart to include an extensive section on recipes where you can subscribe their their rss recipes feed and create your own recipe box to keep your favorite recipes in.  My wife had fun creating her recipe box which just goes to show that she will now visit the site again.  

My favorite part of the site was the health starts here section.  Not only are they doing an excellent job promoting their name, they are also providing useful information for the common person.  If you did not know a lot about eating healthy and organic foods, this would be a great place to start.  And because this resource is connected directly to the brand, chances are you are going to shop there.

The links to their other social media outlets are clearly accessible from any part of their site making it easy to hop over to see what else they have going on.

Whole Foods Market Blog

Whole Foods blog did not disappoint.  With Thanksgiving coming this week, of course their blog is full of holiday tidbits and recipes.  One of the things that I like the most about their blog is the way that it is written.  I am the first person to ignore something that is too "wordy" or "technical."  Its not that I don't like big words, I just don't like when they are used out of context.  Whole Foods blog entry about cooking a turkey speaks to me in a way that I appreciate.  With lines like "how long does this thing have to cook" and "my turkey caught on fire. now what?" I feel like I am listening to an old friend.  

They seem to average about two entries per day by several different contributors.  All articles are nicely categorized in the right margin.  Trust me when I say you can loose a good amount of time once you start going through the different entries.  They are all useful and some even entertaining.  I was very pleased with this portion of their media. 

Whole Foods Market Facebook

Whole Foods Facebook page has earned an impressive 752,895 likes (the last time I checked).  There is not as much personal interaction between the company and the people as I would like to see.  However, the page is wildly successful.  Different things are posted throughout the day; contests, special sales, recipes, fyi health and food articles.  The posts gain a lot of comments, but I did not see all that much interaction from Whole Foods.  Every so often they will respond to a comment, but I do feel it should be more consistent.  While really looking into their Facebook page, I discovered links to social sites that I was not at all familiar with: Gowalla, Yelp, Foursquare and SCVNGR.  What I liked the most about their Facebook site were the special side tabs like recipes, wellness club, newsletter and local loans (a loan program that they offer to small, local producers).  One could spend quite a bit of time on this page as they have done an excellent job keeping you coming back for more.  

Whole Foods Market Twitter

Whole Foods Twitter page has an even larger following than their Facebook, 2,105,422 the last I checked.  Followers are blasted with four to five posts each hour.  Most tweets are food and/or recipe related and contain a link to another twitter page specific to that particular and/or similar tweets.  The main page that I explored is just the beginning to Whole Foods Twitter presence, almost all of the individual stores as well as some of the products themselves has their own Twitter space (these links can be found on their website).  This company is by far the largest the I have explored on Twitter.  

Whole Foods Market Youtube

By this point I was not at all surprised to see the well laid out Youtube page that Whole Foods has.  They joined Youtube in 2006 and have amassed 3,563 subscribers with over 2,165,700 upload views.  I really appreciated the diversity of the videos that they offer.  I learned about one of their suppliers from California, then I watched something about pasteurization, I learned how to carve a turkey (not that I'll ever get the change to), I learned some things about gluten and more.  The Whole Foods team has put together a diverse, interesting video channel that shows so much more about the company than just delicious food.  Through this media outlet, you can really learn a lot and appreciate Whole Foods that much more.

Whole Foods Market Flickr

Something that I just could not resist checking out wasWhole Foods Flickr site.  Now I can't say that if I was not doing this research that I would have been interested in checking it out.  There are almost 10,000 pictures posted on this site.  They take you on a trip to just about every Whole Foods that there is I believe.  I was super impressed with the photos and while there are not many comments on them, the number of views is high (up to 2,500 for some) which I found to be quite surprising.  Not that I don't appreciate the photos, its just that they offer so much of an online presence already that I don't have the time to look through 541 pages of photos.  But some loyal fans clearly appreciate the site, which makes the effort worthwhile for Whole Foods.

Conclusion

It does not take much to impress me but I was truly blown away by the extensive social forces of Whole Foods Market.  I was up so late some nights on their page that my wife accused me of being overtaken by their cult.  I know that it is a larger company than some, but the backbone for a successful social media campaign that they have can be followed and reduced to fit any business plan.  It starts with organization, clarity and simplicity and these are things that we all need to thrive.  

Clif Bar & Company

This week I spent some time looking at a company called Zappos' use of social media.  I was quite impressed by what I learned.  For so many weeks here we have been focusing on all that is social media when all of a sudden I was listening to the CEO of Zappos talk about how much he dislikes the social media.  Now don't get me wrong Zappos fully utilizes different social media channels, they just prefer to be "real friends" with their customers first.  With all that I learned in mind, I set out to find a company of my own to evaluate.  I decided to follow Clif Bar & Company for the week.  I must admit, choosing a company at first seemed daunting, but then I thought about my own personal life and the things that I buy and use.  With my busy schedule I have come to depend on Clif Bars.  Clif Bar & Company is a leading maker of nutritious and organic food and drinks that help people do better in sports and lead healthy lives.  Here is a link to a good interview about the founder.

Clif Bar & Company Website


Through the Clif Bar & Co. website I learned a lot about the company.  The website itself is very well laid out and easy to navigate.  I wanted to learn more about the company values and philosophy so I first went to the "Who We Are" section.  There I was impressed to see their 5 aspirations listed:

1. Sustaining Our Planet
2. Sustaining Our Community
3. Sustaining Our People
4. Sustaining Our Business
5. Sustaining Our Brands

There is a very large personal presence on this site as they explain how the company came to be.  The company started on a bike ride when the founder Gary took a bite of an energy bar and thought to himself that he make one so much better.  The name of the company comes from his father, Clifford.    It goes on to describe how the Clif Bar itself was born in his mom's kitchen.  They were very smart to personalize things in such a way that will make customers feel more connected to them.

They have a page describing what they are doing in the community, for the environment and for food.  There are many ways that someone can become involved.  Their food philosophy is clearly explained.  I really enjoyed their website and think they did an excellent job putting it together.  There were links to follow them on Facebook, Youtube and Twitter so that is what I did.

Clif Bar & Company on Facebook

Clif Bar & Company's Facebook page has over 82,500 fans.  The first thing that I noticed was how very large and involved the page really was.  They are extremely interactive with their fans.  Just today I noticed that someone complained that they had a few "bad bars" lately and Clif Bar & Company responded almost instantly asking for his contact information.  They have their company mission clearly stated on the info page as well as a list of rules and guidelines to follow when posting on their page.  This is something that I have not seen before.    They seem to be very involved with cyclists and runners and that presence is very large on their page.  There are several video links as well that I enjoyed watching.  This was a very solid, well laid out Facebook page that clearly demonstrates the company's strong social media plan.

Clif Bar & Company on Twitter

Have I mentioned that I don't really like Twitter?  I know that it is not going anywhere anytime soon, but I just don't like the concept of it.  If I was obsessed with an actress and wanted to know her every move, I would be all about Twitter.  With that being said, Clif Bar & Company has their Twitter page on their Facebook page, something I did not know you could do.  I went through the normal Twitter site and found that they have a very large following on Twitter.  So much so that I think that I need to rethink my negative opinion of Twitter.  Throughout the week, they did not actually tweet that many things, mostly used the site to respond to others (which happened a lot).  There is a link to their blog there which is an idea that I support because you are so limited with what you can say on Twitter.  I feel that perhaps they could have tweeted more content themselves, but for the most part it was a very well maintained page which is so important in the world of social media.  With over 75,000 followers, I can imagine that they have a team assembled just to deal with Twitter.  It was clear to me that Clif Bar & Company is not using Twitter as a marketing platform as much as it is using it as a social maintenance platform which makes perfect sense to me.  I did take some time and explore their blog through the link on Twitter and can't even being to describe how well organized and complete it is.  

Clif Bar & Company on Youtube

The Youtube channel page was very informative and also very entertaining to explore.  There were videos about the environment and different project that they are involved in as well as office shenanigans that give the company a fun vibe.  I smiled a lot, which to me is a very important factor.  The page has been in existence since April of 2010 and has had over 635,000 total upload views.  I simply cannot find any fault in this page.

I will leave you with a few videos that I found very interesting and useful in understanding this company:

Twitter and Beyond

This week we focused on Twitter.  I can't say that I had an easy time with Twitter.  It seemed really confusing and hard to follow for me at first.  I had to stop and realize that Twitter is all about instant and/or time sensitive news.  If someone does not read your tweet right away, it is going to get lost in the shuffle.

Link to my Twitter page

I am following three businesses right now and have ranked them below:

Abercrombie & Kent.  This was the favorite for me for sure.  Abercrombie & Kent is a travel company that specializes in luxury vacations.  Any trip you could imagine, they can plan for you.  This obviously comes at a price, so I expected their Twitter page to be geared exclusively towards the luxury traveler.  It was in some ways, but it also kept me interested all week with tidbits of information and stories from around the world.  They were extremely consistent with their tweets and like I said the content was so varied.  They had me hooked when I saw a tweet about Egyptian temple designs where I was able to click a link to a larger article.  The page also had some very nice photography which I enjoyed.  This is a page that I will continue to visit and should I ever have the means to take such a luxury trip they will have my business for sure.

Applebee's  I work as a bartender at Applebee's so I was happy to follow their Twitter page this week.  I was somewhat impressed with their setup and content.  Veterans Day is a big day for them as all vets eat free so they spent a great deal of time this week promoting that.  There is a picture of both of the guys who are on their social media team on the page which I feel is helpful in personalizing it.  They also did a nice job of responding to others.  To me, it seemed like a good mix of personalized marketing.  When you have a food or drink establishment, I feel that Twitter can be extremely useful in getting the word out about a last minute special or an event that you have going on.  Applebee's did a good job of doing this.

Southwest Airlines  While I enjoyed some of Southwest Airlines other social media outlets, I was a bit disappointed with their Twitter page.  It was not full of the varied news and events that I enjoy on their blog.  They are great at answering other tweets but not so great about tweeting on their own.  But then again I do not know how useful Twitter is for such a large corporation.  It seems to me that Southwest may be too big of a company to really have a Twitter marketing campaign.  They may be doing the right thing just by having a Twitter presence.

Using Twitter in Social Media Marketing


Because it is so very time sensitive, businesses have to work hard at getting the full potential out of Twitter.  Tweets should happen often and be timed to be sent out at the best possible time for everyone.  I feel it is important for things to be kept as brief as possible and for links to be included for more information if desired.      Twitter is going to be a better platform for some business; however, I feel it is necessary for all businesses to participate and establish some sort of presence as not doing so could eliminate a large part of the social market.  I personally feel that the smaller, even local businesses are going to benefit more from Twitter as well as the service industry (restaurants, hotels, clubs).  If a restaurant owner decides to have a weekend special or offer a last minute happy hour special and tweets right before the end of the work day, I feel that he will see more results that the larger "corporate" companies.  Whatever the case, all tweets should be kept short and to the point.  They should begin with something that grabs your attention.  Just make sure to always remain active and pay attention to what is going on around you.

 A Couple More Social Networking Sites


You can almost find a social networking site for any niche these days.  The number of new sites and communities is growing at a rapid pace and it does not show any signs of slowing down.  I looked for a few that we have not reviewed yet.


LinkedIn:  I really like this site.  It is geared towards the professional adult.  So far they are the only platform in the world to have achieved a huge following solely focusing on professionals. It is dedicated to helping business professionals maintain a list of contact and connections.  Job opportunities are a common benefit listed for using LinkedIn.  While listening to an interview with the CEO of LinkedIn (http://cnnmon.ie/mTbBpV) I learned that that Facebook was a horizontal platform whereas LinkedIn was vertical.  A vertical business is going to cut out any unnecessary utilities and features and get right to the point.  Members of LinkedIn prefer to keep their personal lives and the professional lives separate.  I don't see the site as the type to produce a successful mass marketing campaign, however businesses and professionals can certainly market themselves and make connections that otherwise could not have been formed.  I almost see this site as marketing in a very pure form, where you simply need to exist and connect to find success.

Xanga:  Xanga is a social blogging website.  It was launched in 1999 as a way to share book and music reviews and since has grown into a top social network.  The site allows you to create your own blogs and join in other blog rings.  It gives users the best of both worlds by allowing them to create their own blog as well as follow other blogs.  This could be a great platform for the specialized small business to market from.  There seems to also be a lot of product reviews on the site, so all companies would be wise to pay attention to it.

Medical Specialty Social Network:  All sorts of specialized social networks are beginning to pop up.  Some that caught my eye the most were designed for medical professional.  These networks will enable them to talk among other professionals.  The best thing about them as far as marketing goes is that they will enable pharmaceutical and other health care companies to market directly to the proper audience.  One of the largest talked about sites I could find was called ACG GI Circle.

You Tube

This week I spent some time researching using You Tube in your marketing plan.  I'll admit that I have always seen You Tube as a site full of videos that individuals create, not so much as a serious marketing tool.  It turns out to be a quite impressive way to market and it is much, much larger than I thought it would be.  I found a video of Andy Stack, the Product Manager at You Tube which I found very useful in gathering tips on what you should and should not do.  He suggests things such as creating content, not commercial therefore brands and retailers need to develop a content strategy, not necessarily an advertising strategy.  He also stresses the importance of having an entire social media strategy built around the launch of the You Tube video.  I also like how he points out that each video has the potential to be a conversation.

After I did my research, I looked around You Tube and found a few videos that I thought had good design and ideas behind them. 

Disney

A few years ago, in celebration of the Magic Kingdom's birthday, Disney decided to give a new meaning to the phrase "it's a small world after all."  They introduced a series of videos using tilt-shift photography making everything in the video appear to be miniature.  It is an example of an amazing use of technology.  This was my favorite video that I discovered.  I thought it was a clever idea.  All of the videos were from sunrise to sunset and had no words, only music.  I felt this was more powerful than having words.  The only message I got was "celebrate."  It was one of the coolest videos I have ever seen.

Pampered Chef

Next I looked at a direct selling company that my wife used to sell for, The Pampered Chef.  They have a series of great videos on You Tube where one can learn baking and cooking how to's and conveniently the tips and tricks lead you to needing their product. There is even a video with a lesson on using a can opener.  I feel like this is a great way to become a constant source that people will seek out and spread your videos.  I like that the videos can be informative and people can learn something from them whether or not they are buying Pampered Chef products.  The introduction video below kept my attention by the way I had to keep reading what was appearing on the screen.  There was a good mix of narration and nonverbal messages. 

Orion Telescopes 

I am a huge space nerd so I was excited to find so many wonderful videos from Orion Telescopes.  I own an Orion and I love it.  The videos that they have on You Tube are so very detail oriented as far as explaining what on a particular model is and how it is different from a different model.  The videos were simple enough for a beginner to understand yet interesting enough for a more advanced user to understand and appreciate.  I enjoyed the landscape in each video and I thought that the narrator was effective.  This may not be a large, mainstream product but Orion has done a wonderful job presenting its products in video format to capture those who may be searching for telescopes.

Facebook / Google +

This week I looked into marketing through Facebook.  While researching I compiled this list of things necessary for success on Facebook:

• Have a colorful and clear profile picture.  Whether it is of you, your product or someone with your product your photo needs to be clear and catchy.  Society does judge a book by its cover so put your best cover forward!
• Build personal connections by commenting on members' activities that are relevant to your company.
• Don't wait for people to find you, go out and start adding friends.
• Use the photos and videos as marketing tools.  If you have a bakery, then show photos of what goes on in the kitchen.  
• Take advantage of the Events feature.  If you have having an event or a sale then take the time to invite people.
• Always look for ways to stand out.  Be unique and inventive in your postings.
• Offer something special for those who "Like" you.  Whether it be a special page or a coupon, make sure there is an incentive.

These are just a few of the different suggestions that seemed to make the most sense to me.  I used them while reviewing the following Facebook pages.  I will list them in order from the one I liked most to least.

Welch's   I have always enjoyed the history of Welch's.  Started in the late 1800's because Mr. Welch was  very much against alcohol   I was happy to explore their Facebook page and was not at all disappointed.  I thought that the profile photo that they had was bright, clear and had a good contrast to it.  Once you like the page, you gain access to it.  There is a product page that profiles each of their different products which I liked a lot.  There is a page for fans with special offers, contests and events.  The posts were full of recipe and craft ideas as well as product coupons and talk of uses for Welch's products.  There was a lot of fan involvement and activity.  I though that this was a very well rounded and successful Facebook page.

Smoothie King  My wife moved up here from Florida where Smoothie King was part of her daily routine.  There was good and bad news for her when she got here.  Good news was that there was a Smoothie King, bad news was that it was in Medina.  So her daily turned into weekly and then monthly.  She is still a big fan of their Facebook page so I checked it out.  It also had a clear photo which drew me to it when I was searching for it so that was good.  As soon as I liked the page I was directed to a coupon.  The page itself lacks all of the wonderful content of the Welch's page, but still deserves a good mention.  Posts here were more focused exclusively on smoothies and/or nutrition and I noticed that replies to comments and questions were somewhat inconsistent.  They need to make sure to reply to everybody whenever possible.  When they pick and choose like they seem to, it could lead to people getting offended.  They did have a neat pledge that you could take and it looked like a way of signing up for their email list.  I thought that was clever.

Redbox  Since we dumped Netflix we have been using Redbox a lot so I thought it would be a good Facebook page to checkout.  It was my least favorite of these three though.  As soon as I liked the page I got a code for a free one night rental which was nice.  The page itself seemed to have way too much going on.  I get easily overwhelmed when there is too much content on the screen and this one did it for sure.  Their actual wall was okay, this was on the Redbox page.  They had a page of questions and unfortunately they questions seemed to be very outdated.  I don't think they should have the page on there if it is not going to be updated regularly.    There were a lot of comments from fans and Redbox even answered a few of them by name which I thought was nice.  I suppose that such a large company would have a difficult time getting that personal, but someone could be employed to do just that.

Facebook vs. Google +


I will admit that I have never heard of Google + before taking this class.  I have done some research and it seems that the two sites do have some major differences that companies will need to consider.  Google + allows you to target groups which will make it easier to send messages or announcements to certain groups of people.  You can also choose how you want your profile to look to certain groups of people.  It also seems to be more populated with professionals and preferred by males.  Google + seems to be much more secure and is backed by the Google name, something that Facebook could never achieve.  I found a very useful article which I have posted the link to below.  It explains that Google is aiming to create a central hub for accessing all of your online activities.  Personally I feel that all of these sites will be able to exist together for quite some time.  Facebook is not going anywhere anytime soon.  I feel that Facebook will always have an edge in allowing marketers to create a personal relationship with their fans.  Google + seems to be more sterile.  Google + is certainly worth looking into as it seems to be attracting a more mature, more business, less social crowd.  

Be sure to check out this article.

Blogs

Classmate Blogs
Carol B. had a very good blog entry titled What Makes for Effective Social Media Marketing?  I enjoyed it for several reasons.  First, she threw in a tidbit of personal information.  I think this is important so that you connect with the reader on a personal level.  I also liked how she took us through the process of her checking out different company's uses of social media.  I got a good sense on the steps she took and what she discovered along the way.   Her six guidelines of what and what not to do were clear, practical and very easy to read.  My favorite was to have fun, as this step is easy and successful but often overlooked. I liked the simple way it was written while still sounding educated.


I also liked Ralph's blog on Marshall McLuhan.  While I enjoyed reading and learning about Marshall McLuhan, it was not easy to get a clear picture of his thoughts as he was a very complex man.  Ralph's description of him helped me make more sense of all the information I had about him.  In his four paragraphs he summarized and made clear everything I had read about McLuhan and made it simple to understand.


Blogs About Social Media Marketing
My favorite Social Media Marketing Blog is soshable.com.  There has not been a post on there since I started following it that I have not found useful.  I highly recommend checking it out.  A couple of my favorite recent posts are summarized here:
  
In the post Social Media is a Reflection of One's Social Skills, it speaks of the importance of applying real life social skills to social networks. Such a simple common logic, but it is easy to see how it can be left out of one's plan.  Having good social skills will help you in all aspects of life. Simple concepts like remembering to introduce yourself when you first meet somebody apply to social media just like the outside world.  A company that comes across as too technical will loose their fan base really quickly.  The post talks about human needs and the importance of meeting them.  It points out that people are online to meet their needs, and that is what you need to be doing as well.  


I also enjoyed the post 5 Situations in Which You Shouldn't Create a Facebook Page.  It may be instinct to just jump in and start now, but that is not a wise idea for your business.  This was a post I really felt covered an important topic and said that it is okay if you are not ready yet.  Take some time, get a plan together and then move forward.  Don't just assume you should immediately create a Facebook and/or other page.  If you do not have a well planned social media strategy, it may be best to wait before forging ahead into the world of social media.  You will not be well received and the damage could be large.


Blogs Used to Market
An online store that is a large part of my credit card bill each month is the women's clothing store Free People.  My wife loves it; it is her all time favorite clothing store and she spends a great deal of time on their site. So I thought I would check out their blog that she follows blog.freepeople.com/.  The grade I would give this blog is a C.  I wanted to really like it because she likes it so much.  At first glance I really did not like it.  I was put off by the disorganized, simple text and large pictures.  It did not seem engaging to me.  It grew on me a bit once I tried to put myself as a fan of the store.  One of my favorite things about it was the blogroll, or links to other blogs that I found.  I also really liked that they had categories, as this is something I have not seen before.  


I then asked her what some of the blogs she enjoyed were.  I do not have any that I am too familiar with.  She studies the travel industry and told me to check out www.blogsouthwest.com/.  I loved this blog. Definitely would give it an A.  I expected to see a lot of fare sales and other airline information, but I found a great assortment of information. From tips on going green, sports talk, funny airport happenings to reaching out to airline employees who are facing tough times, this blog was wonderfully well rounded.  Flashback Fridays offer followers a glimpse into the past of the industry.  It features the latest airline news off to the right side and is very unpretentious, not at all pushy.  Very diverse and easy to look at.  Anyone who followed this blog would easily feel a sense of community with Southwest.  I can see why she follows it and enjoys it so much.
   
The last blog I looked at was www.starbucks.com/blog.  This was an A for sure.  Another great mix of diverse topics.  And it had the categories again which I really like.  It was clean and very simple with only one photograph, if any.  So it was not overwhelming to me like the Free People blog.  Like so many I enjoy Starbucks quite often and will be looking forward to reading more of their blog.  

Blending Traditional & Social Together Through Planning

This week my class focused on planning.  I was directed to a couple informative articles regarding the marketing of your business.  Some of the simplest things that may be overlooked but will make quite a difference are all done in the beginning stages of creating your marketing plan.  One of the most important things any business can have is a mission statement.  It may seem silly and invaluable, but it will be referred back to time and time again by all who are involved.  A single statement can be quite powerful as it defines what you are all about and what makes you unique.   Listing clear objectives and creating a solid strategy are also no-brainers that should not be skimmed over. One of the articles broke down the 4 P's of marketing: product, price, place and promotion.  Again, simple concepts that should not be ignored. All too often it seems as though a company will jump into the marketing race without really spending the time to build a solid foundation.  Just as it is with life, it's the little things that make all the difference.

Another topic that I studied was successfully integrating traditional and social media together to create a powerful campaign.  The slide show "You Don't Need a Social Media Strategy," showcased a wonderfully creative and unique campaign that combined flawlessly both traditional and social media.  People fell in love with Salty, a salt shaker no longer needed by his family, and participated and followed him through social media outlets after they had viewed the traditional ads. Salty amassed quite a following, profits rose and competition was beat. Ebay still has Salty and Pep shakers for sale for over $150.00.  

From this slide show I also learned that it is best for social media to be part of the marketing plan from the very start.  Do not make the mistake and view social media as an add on.  In order for the campaign to reach its full potential, both need to be present and planned for from the start. Use traditional marketing to start the campaign and/or get a stale campaign going again and use social marketing to remind people and amplify market impact when the campaign is no longer running.  

I found a similar slide show "InteGREAT! Social Media and New Technology and the Traditional Marketing Plan" where a traditional and social campaign is used for the Palm Beach Opera.  It effectively compares traditional media with new media.  From the traditional media, "the more reach you buy, the more engagement you create" is contrasted with the new media, "the more engagement you create, the more reach you earn."  This slide show shows how the new social media tactics can easily be integrated and adapted into the traditional marketing plan.  This differs from Salty's campaign above where both were planned from the start; however, I feel it successfully shows how to integrate new social strategies into an existing plan.

The final thing that was studied this week was crowdsourcing.  Not too familiar with the term?  According to Jeff Howe, one of the first authors to use the term, crowdsourcing is the act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, to an undefined, large group of people or community (a "crowd"), through an open call.  I was asked to review and comment on my semester project of creating a marketing plan for my school's business division.  Our list of requirements is very specific and it is very clear what is required.  I feel that predicted tangible and intangible results should be listed.  This seems like it would have an extra appeal to those receiving the plan.  While I understand and appreciate the assignment being geared towards my school, I would have welcomed the opportunity to choose from several businesses to create this plan for.  All in all the assignment and requirements are clear and solid.  

Marshall McLuhan

"We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us"

-Marshall McLuhan

Marshall McLuhan was known for understanding how technology effects society.  He is known for coining the expressions "the medium is the message" and "the global village."  He pioneered new ways of thinking about how we communicate.  His work was controversial and constantly challenged for scientific proof.  The result was McCluhan's Laws of Media.  

McCluhan concluded that four things happen to all media and human artifacts:  Enhance, Reverse, Retrieve, Obsolesce. He insisted that all four happen simultaneously, never in chronological order.  Because of this, he settled on the tetrad to display the interlocking nature of these effects  (source). 

This tetrad can apply to any form of media and/or means of communication   It is easily adapted to social media by answering the following questions:

What does it extend?  The ability to connect and communicate.  We now see instant gratification when we communicate.  It extends our voices. Voice alone is no longer the norm.  We can now record and recall instantly what has been voiced.

   

What does it make obsolete?  Books and publications.  Privacy.  Isolation.  Certain publication and marketing/public relation jobs may become obsolete.  Bookstores will begin to disappear and newspapers will shut down.

What new opportunities does it create?  Everyone can be involved in the media.  It is no longer a monopoly.  No longer is anyone dependent on one source or one channel for news.  We now have access to learn whatever we want, whenever we want.  

What does it reverse to when it overextends?  This is the hardest of the four for me to come up with an answer to.  It may reverse back to a monopoly with the corporations that currently control the television, controlling the internet.  Freedoms that everybody has now may be gone.  

I stumbled upon some interested blog entries about Marshall McLuhan and social media.  They can be viewed by clicking here, here or here. 

Five Do's and Don'ts

The Internet is flooded with websites and blogs suggesting things to do or not to do with your social media campaign.  I have visited quite a few sites and the following are some tips that I feel are most relevant and useful.   Two of my favorite articles that I found can be viewed here or here.


Do make sure that your company has it's own website.  It would be extremely foolish to rely solely on someone else's website.  Look at how fast Myspace came and went.  It is most likely that these sites that we rely on heavily now will change and some may even disappear. Make sure that you have a mailing list that your customers can sign up for directly on your website.  This will eliminate you relying solely on the lists of sites like Facebook and Twitter.  If you make sure that your own website is consistently up to date and linked to, this will greatly benefit you in the end.


Do not ignore your customers!  Social media marketing is about the people you are connecting with.  If someone leaves you a comment it is important that you respond to it quickly.  Even if it is a negative comment it still needs a response.  Every source of feedback should be viewed as an opportunity to respond and improve so that you keep everyone happy and coming back for more.


Do create a blog.  It is hard to get your message across with just a few characters.  Some customers may not need the extra details, but some may like reading more and feel more in the loop.  Provide links to your blog whenever you can so that the customer can have the option of reading more, or just absorbing your quick message.


Do not over do it with status updates and Tweets.  Your customers want highlights, not a play by play of every single thing that is happening with your business.  Customers will become annoyed if you are constantly updating your status every few minutes.  Many will likely stop following you if you overwhelm them with too much.  It is all about finding a good balance.  Just think of what you yourself would consider too much if you were the customer.


Do follow and like others.  Supporting other businesses is super important.  The basic principals of social media revolve around connecting and networking with others.  It is vital to participate in these aspects of the media world.  Even if you don't like something, for the sake of you own business, "like" it.  Not only will it be showing support, it will also get your company's name out there to a lot more people.


Finally, here are a couple of videos that I found that I think you may find useful:

My Initial Take on Social Media

What I have learned so far about social media is that: companies can create brand awareness much easier and quicker than in the past acting as almost instant word of mouth; it is less expensive than traditional advertising, even free for the small business owner; it is very easy to get started with; interaction with company feels almost personal to most; and products can be promoted in real time.  Companies can now offer unique rewards or incentives to those who are willing to follow, engage and participate often with them. 

Social media is an awesome outlet for small businesses that have to really watch their advertising budget.  My wife used to have an online scrapbook store and I can remember how much we spent for a tiny 2” x 2” square in the back of a popular magazine.  I can only imagine how much more successful the business would have been with social media.    While the mega sites shell out a ton of cash to PR firms to run these social media campaigns, the average joe small business owner does not have to invest much other than time.  I ran across an interesting article (http://dannybrown.me/2010/01/17/the-real-cost-of-social-media/) about the real cost of social media.  It brings an interesting point of view to the table.  I believe social media still wins out in the end, however for a large well established company it will never be free. 

Grocery and household product pages seem to keep interest high with daily contests and coupons.  Local business and restaurants can issue a special or sale instantly to bring in business.  They can advertise a special theme night that they are having and create a buzz through Facebook or Twitter.  Larger companies with bigger purchase items such as cars seem to focus on customer loyalty and personalization.  I visited several car manufacturers Facebook pages to see what the marketing for a big ticket item vs. an everyday purchase would be like.  The car manufacturers seem to have created communities for people to ask questions, brag and even complain about their products.  I imagine this would give one a sense of “belonging” to the family.   I found a great list of social media marketing examples here: http://www.beingpeterkim.com/2008/09/ive-been-thinki.html.

I feel that logically social media will produce much better results for products people use and/or purchase every day.  I see it being less effective on big ticket purchases like cars and on services.  I say this based solely on my own household observations as I have not come across any research done to show effectiveness.  I may be completely incorrect, we will see as I learn more.  My wife recently stalked Welch’s Facebook page for the greater part of the day waiting for them to post a high value coupon.  Now that I think more about it, she is consistently following the “deal” blogs and “liking” companies on Facebook just to get a good deal.  My own personal Facebook page has become victim to updates from companies I never have even heard of, the worst one being Veet Hair Removal Cream.  Somehow, this page was “liked” through my account and I am now involved in the 31 days of hair removal. 

One site that I just discovered and will take the time to investigate is http://www.evancarmichael.com/blog/2011/01/25/the-top-50-marketing-blogs-of-2011/.  I’m looking forward to learning more about blogs.  It would be foolish for any business owner to ignore social media or to put getting started off.    It is everywhere we look.  I even noticed when I was playing my son’s Angry Birds game when an ad popped onto the phone screen.  The world of social media is new to me.  It has clearly been here for a long time and I am anxious to learn all that I can about it.  I hope that you enjoy learning with me!

Getting My Feet Wet

The term social media marketing is not one that I have ever really given much thought to.  It is something that I have unknowingly been participating in for quite some time.  I recently went back to college after a ten year hiatus and am enrolled in social media marketing.  This blog will serve as an outlet to my findings and thoughts on this global phenomenon.  Over the next few days I will be diving into this overwhelming virtual world and sorting through the ins and outs of this marketing technique.  As I learn and discover interesting blogs on this topic, I will share them with you through the box to the right.