Many executives between the ages of 45-65 years are “digital aliens”. They were not brought up in the digital age and feel overwhelmed and sometimes fearful of the new technologies.  Many struggle with the changes necessitated by engaging in Digital Marketing. The result is the New Digital Divide between companies that are fully immersed in digital applications while others are deciding if Facebook is good investment!

Below is a road map of 18 practices* which will facilitate the adoption and successful implementation of a Digital Marketing Program.

1. Assess Current Market Practices- Determine the gaps and opportunities to position your organization in the digital world.
2. Adopt a Digital Mindset – Gain executive understanding and buy-in to the changes required to adopt a digital marketing program. Many executives are not aware of the scope and type of shift needed for successful implementation.
3. Dedicate Resources – Commit staff, provide training; allocate budget.
4. Be Transparent- - Be upfront about your intentions and purposes for your site and interactions.  Many executives fear losing control of their marketing message.  Openness and authenticity generates trust and opportunities.
5. Strategize… Strategize- Design a Digital Marketing Strategy that incorporates your assessment; clarifies goals and brand, integrates all media; tracks and evaluates. More than 60% of social media programs fail without a strategy.
6. Build on what you Do Best – Incorporate digital media to leverage and augment successful marketing efforts.
7. Listen, Research, Refine – Monitor social buzz, real-time customer feedback (forums, tweets, surveys, online reviews); refine your product .
8. Give Value– Focus on giving value before expecting anything in return, including downloadable resources, free advice, and links.
9. Be Consistent, not Overpowering – Maintain your Brand; increase your digital presence through regular conversations, but don’t push, overexpose or irritate.
10. Develop Sustainable Relationships – Engage in conversations, take the time to interact; this is a social environment. Conversations build relationships and encourage participation. Touch your current and potential customers with regular updates and newsletters.
11. Provide Social Sharing- Include easy to access to social amplification tools (e.g., social sharing buttons for Facebook, Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon, email) to spread the message.
12. Cultivate Satisfied, Loyal Customers- Focus on caring for, thanking, satisfying, and providing value for your customers.  This will engender trust and encourage your “customers do your marketing” via sharing your product with their networks.
13. Leverage Social Communities- Access related social communities that have a potential interest/benefit from your product. These groups can boost exposure and penetration with little additional expense.
14. Develop Online Environment as your Hub- Drive traffic to an integrated online environment including website, Facebook site, landing pages, and blog.
15. Integrate Media –Augment your traditional advertising (TV, radio, outdoor, direct mail, print) and PR with social media, mobile, and online efforts. Integrated Media Marketing forces companies to break down the old silos of individual marketing efforts to synergize elements between the media and generate the social buzz and viral distribution.
16. Monitor your Digital Presence- Track your company’s Digital FootPrint, company chatter and social mentions.
17. Evaluate your Social Return on Investment (SROI)- Evaluate SROI as an tool for measuring a much broader concept of value. It incorporates social, environmental and economic costs and benefits into decision making; it helps to readjust your strategy and tactics to meet your goals.
18. Keep Current…Generate Competitive Edge- Maintain your “fingers on the pulse” of your changing business ecosystem and the digital environment. Timely responses will drive innovation and competitive positioning.

Any other best practices to suggest?

* Expanded on Best and Worst Practices Social Media Marketing

Meeting the Digital Challenge: Part 1

There is little argument that social and digital media are profoundly changing how we, as global society,  engage with the media, our colleagues, family and friends, as well as how we do business.  Most executives and managers are aware of the digital revolution; many of them have explored it through mobile and social media; some have implemented it with varied successes; but few have integrated digital media as strategic priority in their marketing mix. This gap between the growth of digital media and the implementation of a Digital Marketing Strategy is exacerbated when comparing the U.S. with other countries.  The hotbeds for competitiveness and innovation related to the digital economy are Sweden and Singapore. The U.S trails at #5. To maintain a competitive edge, U.S executives and managers must embrace these changes and drive transformation in their organizations. This is the Digital Challenge!

The Revolution

In 2006 Rupert Murdoch, known as the global print giant, suggested we are entering a major revolution.

“To find something comparable, you have to go back 500 years to the printing press, the birth of mass media … Technology is shifting power away from the editors, the publishers, the establishment, the media elite. Now it’s the people who are taking control.”

These statistics demonstrate the Power of the Revolution:

• More uploads to YouTube in 60 days than all 3 major US networks created in 60 years
• 110 million tweets are sent per day on Twitter or 4+million  per hour (Twitter)
• Facebook generates 770 Billion page views, 700+ Billion minutes, every month
• StumbleUpon (43%) has overtaken Facebook (38%) as #1 source for US social media traffic
• In 2010, Asia Pacific had more than 825 million internet users, 42% of the global total.

In 2011 Google suggested that digital media has transformed our buying decisions. Marketing has a Changing Rulebook based on Zero Moment of Truth or ZMOT, “the moment when you grab your laptop, mobile phone or some other wired device and start learning about a product or service.”

These statistics tell the story of how our buying behaviors have changed:

• 65% of Asian Pacific consumers use online services to locate nearby products and brands
• 70% of Americans say they look at online product reviews before making a purchase
• 79% of consumers say they use a smart­phone to help with shopping
• 83% of moms say they do online research after seeing TV commercials for products that interest them

Murdoch transformed his investments, building a global Integrated Media Empire including the purchases of MySpace, Hulu, Chinese Media company and Wall Street Journal online. As he suggested, “The world is changing very fast. Big will not beat small anymore. It will be the fast beating the slow.” In 2011, his company’s phone scandal violated the foundations of social media (e.g., transparency, accountability) and is being challenged in the social media.

Google has responded to these changes, “Marketing strategies are simply not keeping pace… modern marketing strategies have to evolve with the changing shape of shopping.“ They are now providing core digital training in ZMOT for all members of their sales team internationally.

How many U.S. Executives are prepared to respond to these challenges?

“Digitally Handicapped”

Even as marketing agencies reinvent themselves to respond to the digital revolution, the reality is that most managers are struggling to learn new skills and evaluate the impact of social media conversations.  More than two-thirds (2/3) of managers admit that they are “digitally handicapped” in relating to understanding and measuring social media conversations and impacts on their brand.

• “80% [of] marketers admit they are concerned their brand is at risk from not being as engaged with customers, or failing to have a good grasp of how online conversations are impacting their brand.“
• “Less than 33% have a strong understanding of social media conversations related to their brand.“
• “70% have very little understanding or use a few tools to measure social media conversations.”

Furthermore, many executives are “afraid of it“.  Here are 28 reasons why CEO’s fear social media.

New Digital Divide

Although the U.S. has led growth in digital technologies, marketers have been slow to respond and incorporate in the marketing mix. Forbes Insights reported that only 11% of US and UK executives surveyed at large businesses listed social media strategy as a leading priority in 2011.   eMarketer reports that 78% of U.S. executives think that a social business strategy is important to future business success, but only 27% deem it a top priority. According to 2010 Economist Intelligence Group’s annual “e-readiness” rankings, “In the race to stay competitive in the emerging digital economy, Nordic nations continue to rule the roost. The U.S. has gained ground, and Asian countries are on the rise.”

In fact, inconsistent responses by U.S. marketers have brought forth a New Digital Divide

“…between companies that truly understand the potential to go deep with their digital marketing efforts, and those that are still contemplating what to do with their Facebook presence… some of the world’s most sophisticated work is being done in [Asia] this region, [while] other companies are still not going beyond the basics.”

On one hand, there is growing demand for Digital Marketing services in U.S. but there is a gap in understanding, skill set, and application.  There is a shortage of Business Schools and training programs to fill this need. To fill the void, some of the most innovative work in Digital Marketing is being put forward by groups in Asia, Scandinavia and Europe.

Conclusion

To fill the void and remain competitive, U.S. executives must go beyond the confines of traditional marketing and embrace digital training as a strategic priority or risk falling behind. They must extend digital literacy and lead an organizational commitment to integrate digital marketing into their corporate plan.

Meeting the Digital Challenge is required for survival and growth! Are You Prepared?

Part Two:  Digital Marketing Training … coming soon

GERVAS:  Goal – Engage – Relationship –  Value –  Action – Synthesize

GERVAS is the tool to guide the development of your social media campaign. Here are the six elements and the questions to ask?

As a business or organization launches a social media program, they try to anticipate the results and make the necessary refinements.   These are some typical questions:

• Is the content of your social media message effective?
• Is your target market communicating via social media and will you reach them?
• Are you choosing and optimizing your social media tools?
• How do you evaluate your strategy before launch?

Each marketer/ businessperson can apply six simple benchmarks to evaluate the potential effectiveness of your social media efforts. This can be done as a self-evaluation, discussion with your team or via a focus group.

1. Goal - What is the targeted goal of your advertisement, social media program or  campaign?

• Is the goal measureable?

2. Engage – How effective is the message in attracting or involving your target market?

• Does it reach your target markets?
• Does your content provoke an “emotional” attraction?
• Did your targets take note or remember the message?
• Can your message easily be shared in multiple channels?

3. Relationship – Did the message stimulate the target to feel trust or common interests?

• Did the communication foster interactivity or shared dialogue?
• Did the communication help you to “know the users’… needs, preferences, interests”?
• Did the tool inspire ongoing conversations?

4. Value –Does the product or service and related message communicate added benefit for the individual, organization or company?

• Does it answer a need or solve a problem; address a “pain point;” make you more ________ (e.g., competitive, feel better about yourself); or help you to be a better parent , businessperson,  or citizen?
• Is the message clear and focused to consider action?
• Can the user perceive Value/Benefit in the offering?

5. Action- Does the message move you to act?

• Is the activity clearly defined?
• Is it accessible?  Is it being communicated where the target market “hangs out”?
• If the activity is successful, will it meet your goals?
• Is the activity, trackable and measureable? (e.g.,  sales, orders, leads, database, social referrals, downloads, reviews, social mentions, website visits)

6. Synergize- Is the tool an add-on to current marketing efforts or is it integrated into the campaign?

• Is the message designed to “weave with” and leverage other marketing efforts?
• Does the message link to other media and generate new sources of traffic?
• Is it designed to be passed on to different communities to create viral buzz?

GERVAS is a powerful, yet simple approach to analyze your social or integrated marketing applications. Please share your analysis and we will share them!

Part Two (coming soon) :  Let’s look at using GERVAS Benchmarks to analyze how  social media applications effect a organization’s marketing strategy.

We are in the age of the Social Consumer, where social networks are transforming business as the attention of the consumer is focusing on their social streams. They learn, discover and share with their friends.

Facebook has generated a lot of BUZZ lately with its unveiling of a new location based “Places” with local deals. Successful companies are integrating Facebook into their marketing strategies. Fortune 500 companies are racing to see who can get the most “likes” and companies like WalMart are banking that you will share their deals with your friends.

Here are 5 reasons it is imperative that your business have a Customized Facebook Business page.

1. Fish Where the Fish Are. With over 500 million active users and 50% of them logging on to Facebook in any given day you are bound to have clients on Facebook.  Companies embracing social media will hold a strong competitive advantage.
2. Engage and Build Relationships. It’s not about selling your products and services but building relationships. To build relationships you need to create followers or fans of your brand, otherwise known as those who “Like” your page and content. Facebook’s Wall element provides a perfect opportunity to engage your visitors in 2-way conversations. Status updates can engage your clients by providing value as well as direct visitors to answer questions, post their comments and share their photos and videos.
3. Effective and Reasonable Marketing (Ads). Facebook ads are reasonably priced and you control your daily budget. You can target your niche market with pay-per-click and pay-per-impression options. Ads can be directed back to your business page to grow your fan base or directed to your website to make a purchase or redeem a coupon. Facebook recently included a social element to their paid ads with a set of metrics for the ad administrator. Nielsen report claims that almost 70% of users are more likely to click on an ad previously visited by their friends.
4. Maintain Strong Brand Awareness. You can build brand awareness with a customized Welcome page,  Product or Service page. Facebook Contests generate brand awareness especially when used in combination with Facebook ads. Users submit essays or photos and then ask their friends to vote for their entry. They can also share their entry on their wall making your brand visible to all of their friends.  You can also increase brand awareness results by integrating Facebook with traditional marketing channels.
5. Provide Customer Value.  Value can come in the content you share, from how-to videos to customer service tips. You can offer specials for Facebook users only. Facebook Places is a location based tool for smart phone users like the iPhone and the Android. Once a business claims their place they can offer a deal or coupon for mobile users who check in at their location. The deal then appears on the users news feed where all of their friends can take advantage of too. You can also receive company value through polls and surveys and gather research from questions.

The results of these 5 elements will be the number of “fans” or “likes” your Facebook Page will produce.  How much is a Facebook fan worth?  Retailer Daily concludes,

“The average value a Facebook fan provides a brand is $136.38, but it can swing to $270.77 on average for “best” fans or go down to $0 in the “worst.”

Entwine Digital has created and managed many custom Facebook pages where clients have grown their fan base significantly. Darin Kidd’s page received over 1000 fans within the first 48 hours.  Our most recent project with Tony Williams, song writer and musician of Call the Law it’s Christmas, is to use Facebook to promote the Black Friday release of the animated video of the holiday song. Williams said, “I don’t know much about it but I do know I have to be on Facebook to let people know about my song and get the video to go viral.”

Integrated Media Marketing is when you effectively integrate social media with traditional marketing. Here are 23 ideas for integrating Facebook and Twitter in PR, direct selling, customer services, advertising and sales promotions.

Back of Business Card

1. Add Facebook Widget /plugins to website or blog
2. Show Twitter stream on website
3. Use buttons in footer, contact page and sidebar of  website
4. Add Share/Like/Tweet buttons on products and content on website
5. Include links on your business cards
6. Include info in email signature file
7. Add Facebook /Twitter to voice mail messages (office and cellphone)
8. Include Facebook/Twitter info on invoices and receipts
9. Incorporate Facebook/Twitter in radio and television commercials
10. Add Facebook/Twitter to all printed brochures and catalogs
11. Include info in newsletters
12. Incorporate Facebook/Twitter logos in silk screen designs for t- shirts, canvas bags, umbrellas, hats
13. Include Facebook/Twitter info on menus and place mats
14. Include in proposals and RFP’s
15. Add info to billboards
16. Include Facebook/Twitter info with hours on storefront doors
17. Add Facebook/Twitter everywhere you include a phone number
18. Include on tradeshow displays
19. Add to tradeshow giveaways (pens, notepads, rulers, etc)
20. Add links to other social networking profiles (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Yelp, Google, Bing, Yahoo)
21. Include links on PowerPoints and other presentations
22. Include links on YouTube uploads using annotations
    

    Direct Mail Catalog

23. Remind customers to follow you when they call customer service lines

This is a pretty comprehensive list but I’m sure there are others.  Let’s build an incredible list, add your ideas in the comment area below.

Anyone with a bit of tech savvy can set up Facebook and Twitter accounts and begin posting updates. . But can they accomplish the needs of a business in this digital age?  Can a tech savvy youth create competitive advantage, the key for businesses in meeting their goals?

For most small businesses the answer is NO!   They will contribute to the plethora of un-optimized, under-utilized social media accounts. The result —many small businesses “try out social media” and contend “it doesn’t work!”

There is an alternative approach- Digital Marketing Optimization (DMO). DMO leverages the power of each media platform and integrates them to drive traffic to your online environment, while achieving your business goals.

DMO designs an online environment that easily connects to other social communities, expanding the reach and exposure of your site. It increases “socially referred traffic” as unique users can easily share comments through audio, video and text links.

Here are six keys to make Digital Media work for small businesses:

1. Design a Step-by-Step Digital Strategy
   • Begin where your company is—based on marketing efforts and staff expertise
   • Incorporate the company culture and values
   • Focus on customer engagement, not selling the company message
   • Review website for effectiveness
     • expand to Online Hub
     • add call to action
     • refine search engine optimization
     • link to social networking sites
2. Clarify your Brand and Value Proposition
   • Target your niche market
   • Differentiate your company position in the marketplace
3. Optimize Digital Media Platforms
   • Increase the reach and effectiveness of traditional media, PR, and online hub/environment by connecting and integrating content with social and digital media.
   • Develop the potential of each platform to increase site traffic, search engine rankings and sales revenue
     • use same keywords across all platforms
     • enhance the  user’s digital connection and participation with your online hub
     • build interactivity, conversations, relationships
     • incorporate engaging “calls to action”
     • implement Digital Asset Optimization to note all online content
4. Develop an Engaging, “Sharing” Content Strategy
   • Create rich content that promotes sharing easily with friends, colleagues
   • Encourage user to mix your content with here input (mashup)
   • Reward conversation and engagement
   • Include keywords in content updates
   • Produce consistent updates
     • Utilize staff resources through training
     • Outsource updates through regular client input
5. Expand your Database into Targeted Social Communities
   • Leverage current users by allowing them to sign-in with social network identities
   • Make it easy to share user content to other sites
6. Monitor, Measure and Benchmark Performance
   • Analyze user interactions to determine  “opportunities left on the table”
   • Track referral traffic
   • Relate performance to customer goals, satisfaction and results
   • Use expanded Return on Investment (ROI) for evaluation

Digital Marketing synergizes social media with other media channels to realize ROI. Many companies launch into social and mobile media without creating a strategy.

The old school marketers are transaction oriented. Their strategy is to buy more media eyeballs, potentially creating “buzz” and sales. The new media marketers are customer focused, generating interactivity and relationships.

The five phase Digital Marketing Strategy  is comprehensive, customer-centered, and focused on delivering ROI.

Five Phases

1. Assessment
2. Strategic Branding
3. Online Hub
4. Integrated Media Marketing
5. Monitoring/Evaluating

The Assessment Phase utilizes customer insights, touchpoint analysis and digital footprint to determine a company’s market position. Strategic Branding incorporates these findings into a strategy and a Brand. The third phase, Online Environment (website, blog, landing page), is the Hub of the Digital Marketing Strategy.  We select and integrate traditional and social media tools that drive clients to your Online Hub.  Each tool is targeted to different stages of the Integrated Digital Marketing Lifecycle.

Entwine has three new clients that are approaching Digital Marketing from a holistic perspective. David James Custom Homes is one of the largest custom home builders in Virginia. They have a strong reputation for building quality homes. They have been using traditional media (TV, radio, print, direct mail) to gain customer recognition in the market place. Management wants to determine which media channels are most effective at moving a customer through the touchpoint conversion lifecycle – from Awareness to Interest to to Action. They have focused on Assessment before embarking on a Integrated Digital Marketing Plan.

Nancy’s Candy Company, a wholesaler of homemade chocolate candies and confections, has recently opened a new retail store. They are looking at Social Media Marketing as a way to drive traffic into the new storefront. They decided to start with Facebook to test the social media waters.  When they came to Entwine they had a very basic business page with 30 fans/likes.  By using a digital optimization strategy including keyword optimization, custom welcome page, engaging updates and Facebook ads; Nancy’s Candy’s Facebook Page has grown to 240+ fans/likes. The next phase of the project will include a customized targeted Facebook Contest meeting the Facebook Promotion Guidelines. Here’s a sneak peak of the contest.

BMS Direct Inc is a B2B direct marketing solutions provider that upgraded their online environment to be social, interactive and content managed. Our Strategic Branding sessions revealed their need to expand their brand and offer comprehensive solutions. We designed and optimized a WordPress site for their Online Hub, with FTP and ecommerce functionality and a Facebook business page and Twitter account to build an integrated marketing platform.

Clients generally have unrealistic expectations of a integrated digital marketing strategy.  They expect results immediately or within the first 3-6 months. We prepare our clients for real expectations by reviewing a Digital Marketing Timeline.

An Integrated Digital Marketing strategy has five stages during a 27+ month period. (note: the timeline can be collapsed to 6+ months depending on the relevancy and the timeliness of the promotion) During each stage the number of touchpoints,  client marketing efforts that  touch the customer, are expanded. These touchpoints build on each other and grow exponentially.  As your network expands the media (traditional advertising, PR, online, social) begin to synergize with each other. In the future a successful strategy will be self generating and grow virally.  The goal is to convert your network of touchpoints to actions that support your strategic objectives. Here are the expectations projected for the five stages of the Digital Marketing Timeline Strategy.

SETUP   (0-3 months)

• assess touchpoints in relation to customer lifecycle
• build online environment
• establish baseline
• setup digital media infrastructure
• establish listings on search engines
• gain followers
• initiate relationships
• develop content strategy
• assess digital footprint
• increase member interactions
• begin gaining new referrals/leads
• initiate brand mentions

TRACTION   (4-9 mo)

• transform touchpoints to conversation points
• implement digital media optimization
• gain traction on social media sites
• integrate mobile with social media
• gain responses to call to action
• place on search engines
• gain new sales/members
• gain initial thought leadership interactions
• build member satisfaction/feedback
• increase customer service  

POSITIONING   (10-15 months)

• convert conversation interaction points to conversion points
• gain positions on search engines
• gain thought leadership interactions
• gain new sales revenue
• develop brand loyalty

EXPANSION   (16-27+ months)

• stabilize position on search engines
• establish some recognition as a thought leader
• gain brand  power
• gain consistent stream of revenue

VIRAL GROWTH (future)

• expand networks exponentially through fan/follower networks and social communities

To be successful at social media you need to have a plan.  As the publisher, you control the power to distribute your content through digital media platforms such as blogs, mobile, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.  Most businesspersons are overwhelmed with all the options and how to implement them.  These six steps provide a roadmap to use social media to achieve optimal results for your business.

Step 1 –Determine Social Media Value for Your Business

• Develop an understanding of social media and online communities – How can you gain traction for ideas and grow your network to benefit your company?
• Determine goals – What does your company want to accomplish with social media?
• Evaluate social media – Is it a good fit for your company/institution?

Step 2 – Identify Challenges Facing Your Business When Implementing Digital Marketing

• Determine organization’s changes – how will your company adopt social media?
• Demonstrate value added – how will you gain support for this new, often misunderstood initiative within your company?
• Determine your social media team – who will design and implement your social media strategy?
• Determine your audience – who do you want to reach?
• Determine competition’s social media activity

Step 3 – Select the Best Tools

• Choose social media communities – select the tools that will best support your goals.  Setup the Applications – Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, Twitter, Mobile, blogs
• Train your team on using the tools – optimizing profiles, frequency of use, portraying professional image
• Guide the team on Marketing the Tools – gaining followers, building your network and engaging your community
• Leverage Current Marketing – integrate digital media with your current marketing efforts

Step 4 – Develop Content

• Develop compelling content – content that your community wants to read, content that will benefit them and content they will share with their communities
• Remember SEO best practices – use keywords and key phrases
• Include trackable links – content with links to your hub or online environment, video or photos produce best results
• Post content frequently – consistency is key, good content with few hard sales
• Develop Action Responses – ask questions, opinions, advice; direct the user’s response for feedback, to engage in conversations

Step 5: Content Distribution

• Apply widgets to drive viral action – like buttons, share, and repost
• Syndicate your content – RSS feeds, NetworkedBlog, email
• Use applications and tools – simplify efforts, schedule in advance, tracking URL’s
• Integrated digital media strategy – design, implement and manage your social media and integrate it with traditional advertising, online solutions, business networking and integrate it with other social media networks

Step 6: Feedback

• Monitor company chatter – your team should use Google alerts, searches, free and paid tools
• Prepare for feedback – prepare for potential effects on your company, plan how your company will responds to positive and negative feedback
• Evaluation and reporting – through tracking and monitoring determine the effect of your social media strategies and what changes in the landscape have affected it
• Determine ROI – what is the return on your investment from your digital marketing strategy, identify the RGV (resources generating value)
• Adjustment – review your strategy and make the necessary changes and implement the next phase.

‘Prove to me social media works!’

That is the cry of many businesspeople when challenged by the hype of Twitter and Facebook. The answer will not come simply from growing social media followers.  Rather, it will come from the effect social media has on expanding and converting your company’s touchpoints. The marketing strategy of every company is to touch their customers, engage them, and move them to a targeted action.  But most companies are not aware of their touchpoints, their effectiveness and why they work.  “Touchpoint Optimization Strategy ” is a 5-step process that tracks the conversion from a one way touchpoint to an “action point” in the customer relationship lifecycle.

Step 1: Listening

Many companies view their touchpoints as one-way, passive listening posts to the voice of the consumer or feedback on the effectiveness of traditional marketing efforts.  Sales and consumer insights measures include surveys, ad test, awareness tracking, contact centers, media tests, customer satisfaction studies, and brand tracking.  However, these listening posts often provided measures that are “time challenged”, needing to wait for the end of a marketing effort before being able to “listen” to the results and gain feedback.

Step 2: Conversing

With the emergence of social media, the measurement response time has been shortened. Social media transforms listening posts into “conversation points.”  Now we engage customers in live conversations on Facebook, online new products surveys, customer service Tweets and Four Square locations posts.   These conversations occurring prior, during, and after marketing efforts can tracked and measured.    They challenge companies to be more involved and responsive, as they provide real time information needed to make adjustments in strategies and tactics. Furthermore, each conversation point can be developed into a relationship and build brand loyalty.

Step 3: Converting

At each action point, the company needs to focus marketing efforts to convert the user to specific calls to action: downloading information, answering a survey, requesting a quote, or buying a product.  Effective Social Media Marketing targets these conversation points to be transformed into “action points.”  The Touchpoint Conversion Lifecycle shows the movement to action.

Step 4: Analyzing

The analysis determines which touchpoints are contributing value to the company.  The company must assess:

1. What data can be gleaned from the listening posts/touchpoints?
2. What web analytics are critical at each point?
3. What numbers of touchpoints have been expanded to conversion points?
4. Which points are resulting in lasting relationships?
5. What marketing inputs are required to effect different actions?
6. What is the cost of these inputs?

Step 5: Evaluating

The last step in the Touchpoint Optimization Strategy is to evaluate relative value of each action in terms of developing brand loyalty, thought leadership, reducing operating costs, optimizing marketing budgets, and increasing profits. This evaluation will determine a social media ROI and the most cost-effective mix of traditional, online, PR and social media to achieve the company’s goals.