Before designing a Digital Strategy, my clients often ask the “million dollar” question — “How do I know Digital Media works?”

My response is simple –there are no guarantees in this world.  But if I had the answer, I would own the most prolific global digital agency.

Rather, I suggest addressing this challenge through a series of questions that are the foundation for a successful Digital Marketing program.

• Is the content of the social media message effective?
• Is the target market communicating via social media and will you reach them?
• Are selected social media tools appropriate and optimized?
• How do you evaluate this strategy before and after the launch?
• Does the marketing effort meet the client’s goals?

A simple approach is needed to answer these questions. I searched for a methodology to evaluate current and future online and social media efforts in terms of meeting the basic criteria considered necessary for a successful Social Media Marketing campaign.

After considerable research and testing, GERVAS was developed to benchmark these efforts. During the past year this methodology was used successfully to analyze current campaigns and “design stage” marketing efforts including:

• Websites
• Online newsletters
• Facebook welcome pages
• Blog posts
• YouTube videos
• TV advertisements
• Digital Marketing campaigns

It was used as a guide to develop the digital marketing strategies for Lynchburg College School of Business and Economics and Fez Sacred Global Music Festival , as well as a learning resource for a Social Media Marketing University Course.

The tool has been refined and expanded as SERVAS Digital Analysis. SERVAS reflects the ultimate goal of “serving your customers” through conversing, caring, supportive and sustainable actions.

SERVAS is a tool that guides the development of your Digital Marketing Campaign.  Each marketer/ businessperson applies six simple benchmarks to evaluate the potential effectiveness of its digital marketing efforts. This analysis can be applied to the different phases of a campaign:

• Strategic phase:  to position the product/organization
• Design phase:  to anticipate results
• Market Testing phase (via team discussion or focus group): to refine the product or  presentation
• Final Evaluation phase:  as a post mortem for a current campaign to better understand the elements  that need to be adjusted

SERVAS is an easy to apply tool using these six critical benchmarks for digital success. By probing and asking related questions for each benchmark, marketers will gain insights on the potential effectiveness of their marketing efforts to achieve desired results.  Here are the six benchmarks:

Sustainable goal

Engage

Relationship

Value

Action

Synergy

Sustainable goal – What is the targeted goal of your advertisement, social media program or digital marketing campaign?

What differentiates a traditional corporate goal from a sustainable goal?

A traditional goal focuses on meeting business objectives (e.g., brand recognition, profits).    A sustainable goal results in benefit for the community, as well as the business.  For example, a business designs a product that supports community values (e.g., social responsibility, community action, environmental stewardship). Based these actions, the business might affect their customer base increasing customer loyalty and advocacy. Dr. Philip Kotler shares many examples of companies developing sustainable goals in Marketing 3.0.

Sustainable Goal addresses these questions:

• Does it benefit the business and society, while expanding businesses’ opportunities?
• Does it make a meaningful impact on a target market and society?
• Is senior management committed and is it integral to company values and operations?
• Is it definable and measureable?

Some sustainable goals include:

• Creates exposure to company values
• Builds service into brand for a target market
• Generates positive actions and  X traffic to the website

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

Engagement is the “elevator pitch” for your digital campaign. The first 10 seconds are critical in attracting and maintaining the interest of your target market.

Engage addresses these questions:

• Does your message reach your target markets?
• Does your content provoke an “emotional” attraction?
• Does the message “speak to your target?” (involving them, not speaking  at them or broadcasting to  them)
• Did your targets take note or was there a “hook” to remember the message?
• Does your message extend beyond the initial impression?

Relationship – Did the communication foster interactivity or shared dialogue with the company, blogger or contact?

A successful social media message initiates interactivity and a two way conversation building a relationship.  A relationship requires openness, trust, transparency and vulnerability to grow to become sustainable with ongoing interactions.

Relationship addresses these questions:

• Did the tool provide easy venues to initiate conversations?
• Did the message stimulate the target to feel trust or common interests?
• Did the message create a feeling of openness and encourage dialogue?
• Did the communication help you to “know the users’… needs, preferences, interests”?
• Did the tool inspire ongoing conversations?

Value –Does the product or service and related message(s) communicate added benefit for the individual, organization or company?

The value component of a social message is crucial to moving a user/viewer to adoption or action. The value proposition is a promise of value to be delivered and a belief from the customer of value that will be experienced.

Value addresses these questions:

• 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?
• Can the user perceive Value/Benefit in the message?

Action- Does the message move you to act?

Action is the dependent variable of most traditional marketing efforts.  How does the message translate into results? In a digital campaign, “results” bring forth a much more expanded meaning including social sharing/advocacy, social referrals, downloads, reviews and social mentions.

Action addresses these questions:

• Is the desired action clearly defined?
• Is it accessible?
• Is it being communicated in media where the target market “hangs out?”
• Is the message clear and focused to promote action?
• Does the message motivate the user to share it or advocate the “brand” with their extended network?
• If the activity is successful, will it meet your goals?
• Is the activity, trackable and measureable? (e.g., sales, orders, leads, brand recognition, database, social referrals, downloads, reviews, social mentions, website visits)

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

Synergy is the key ingredient in leveraging social media to generate a viral campaign. Many companies add a social media tool to their marketing package without leveraging its power or integrating it with their existing campaign.

Synergy addresses these questions:

• 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?
• Can your message easily be shared in multiple channels?
• Does the sustainable goal translate in a meaningful way to consumers or does it need to be adjusted?

SERVAS Digital Analysis is a practical and easy methodology for staff and outside agencies to benchmark a social media application and its effect on an organization’s marketing strategy.

Preparing Future Managers for the Digital World:Digital Marketing Alive Course

Marketing and Public Relations are being reinvented daily.  Advertising agencies and marketing managers are challenged to learn new skill sets and develop more comprehensive and integrated strategies.

How are we preparing students to become future executives and managers and address these challenges?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfjZnGJS4Qs

University Business Schools at both the MBA and undergraduate levels are just starting to dip their feet into the digital waters. Many of the efforts are adding a course or incorporating social media into an existing course. The critical element is changing the Mindset from old school push marketing to pull marketing. The focus is on engaging the customer, developing relationships and encouraging sharing the message with their social communities. Placing ads or posts on social media without developing conversations is continuing the old school “sales“ focus without leveraging the power of the new media.

Digital Marketing Alive Training

To address this need, Lynchburg College’s School of Business and Economics launched Digital Marketing Alive,  an innovative Social Media Marketing course in the Spring 2011.  The goal was to provide an “alive,” interactive Digital Experience that translates to future jobs. Students share their experiences.

The training was designed to adopt a digital mindset – customer (student) centered, interactive, participatory, engaging, and transparent. It was structured in three integrated parts: digital marketing strategy; social media tool development and a “live” business project.

Objectives for each student

1. Challenge familiarity with Facebook  and translate to Social Media Marketing
2. Instill digital mindset (truly customer centric)
3. Think strategically about marketing
4. Integrate all marketing functions with social media
5. Expand confidence and use of social media tools
6. Access power of social communities and social sharing
7. Understand and use evaluation metrics
8. Expand concept of ROI

Social Media Classroom

The marketing concepts (strategy and social media tools) were shared via engaging formats. The students experimented and refined their skills with these concepts/tools through an interactive online learning environment, Social Media Classroom. This user friendly environment designed by Howard Rheingold and developed by Sam Rose allows for students to learn and experiment with blogging, wikis, forums, social bookmarking and micro blogging in a private safe setting. In the Social Media Classroom they build confidence and gain experience while interacting with their teachers and colleagues in preparation for using these skill sets in a live Social Media Marketing campaign.

Interactive Student Presentations

To further understanding of Social Media Marketing concepts, students were asked to choose a topic to present to entire class. They selected class readings and prepared a 30 minute multimedia session including questions for the group. Each student wrote a blog post on their reflections on the presentation.  This proved to be challenging for the presenters and engaging for the class.

Digital Alive Projects

Students were offered the opportunity to work on the implementation of a Social Media Marketing campaign for two clients. The work environment was designed to be similar to that of a small marketing group. The six member groups had to organize tasks, agree on the strategy and tactics to be developed and a timeline for implementation.  At the end they had to evaluate the results and make a presentation to the clients. They were asked to apply all the concepts that were discussed in class and presented by the student teams.

• Fez Sacred Music Journey www.fezsacredmusic.com.  Sarah Tours the client has been doing tours to Morocco for 20+ years and to the Fez Sacred Music Festival for 15 years. Client has invested some $15,000 this year to promote the Festival and the Journey.
  • This class was responsible for launching a national sweepstakes for free tickets, Social Media Marketing (Facebook , Twitter, YouTube Sites),  online web environment, online newsletter, press release, and direct mail.
• Lynchburg College School of Business and Economics (SOBE) www.facebook.com/LynchburgSOBE.  Client looking to implement a Digital Marketing Strategy and increase its Digital Footprint.
  • This class was responsible for launching Social Media Marketing (Facebook , Twitter, YouTube Sites),  refining online web environment, and online newsletter.

Feedback

In keeping with the digital model, feedback was encouraged throughout the semester among the students and between the instructor and students. In their last blog entry each student was required to compare their course expectations before the course began with the experiences at the end of the course.  The following are some of the student reflections.

Students’ Reflections

Challenging Yet Inspiring by A. Diamond , Senior

“At the beginning of the semester it took me a while to get used to the “Blogging”, for I still have difficulty doing so. Looking back through all of my blogs I can honestly say that I have grown to become a better blogger--Better in a way of incorporating creativity in my blogs with different pictures, links, and research.

We were introduced to the SERVAS Digital Analysis in the beginning of the semester-- Sustainable Goal-Energize-Relationships-Value-Action-Synergy. At first I wasn’t quite sure what it would be used for but now I think what could it not be used for?  SERVAS is a helpful tool for evaluating a company’s performance on their Social Media Marketing Campaign or specific advertisements. The SERVAS analysis is extremely beneficial to a company, it allows individuals in charge of this campaign to be able to look back/at and evaluate its effectiveness. This allows for the company to make changes before the campaign goes viral/live. This tool is a very effective and useful, I definitely see myself using this in my future.

One of the most important concepts I learned was that Social Media for Businesses involves a two way communication with listening, engaging, interacting, and responding.  A concept that has evolved from the traditional marketing  is pushing messages to consumers and not necessarily interested in listening to their customers.

My group project was the Fez Sacred Music Festival group. I am not going to lie; I was a bit skeptical at first because yea, I like music but it wasn’t a huge passion or interest of mine. This project was great! It was a great opportunity because it allowed us to use what we learned throughout the whole semester and apply it to this real world application- a very hands on approach. Having a real world application has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantage was measuring our effectiveness as we progressed with the project; the disadvantage was the stress and deadlines, having to do a lot in a little time. I have grown personally from this class. Once I graduate I want to pursue all of the marketing for the store that I manage. I now know effective ways and tools to use for integrating Social Media through listening, engaging, building relationships, and acting.”

The End -- Reflections on the Semester by N. Como, Senior

“Before the class started, I knew of many of the different social media platforms but now I can say that I know how to use them effectively in the scope of business usage.  When marketing for a business with social media, there is conversation involved, it is not just one-way communication, a concept I had not understood until taking this course.  We have explored many ways to develop this communication.”

What a Social Media Adventure by S. Smollen, Junior

“During the semester I went beyond Facebook and developed a strong relationship with Twitter.. Through Social Media Marketing I have learned (although I have not always been able to properly implement it) to use Twitter as the social media conversational device that it was intended to be used.

…The most important lesson that we learned was that social media is a lot tougher than just a couple of clicks on a mouse. It takes consistency on all platforms, clever wording, and a whole lot of patience in waiting for bites.”

Where has the time gone? by P. Berry, Freshman

“The tools that we thought we knew at the beginning of the semester, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, were all much more than they originally seemed. They were not merely places to socialize with friends, where some few companies had content posted; they are valuable assets, platforms on which companies and individuals can spread ideas, all from a single computer. The possibilities and opportunities are endless, the social media world will continue to grow, and with the ratio of viewers to publishers/editors being so high.

Thanks for an awesome class and shedding some light on our journey through the marketing revolution that is social media!”

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.

In the past two years the social media revolution has ignited the automotive manufacturers to success.

IT  WORKS  > >

Auto Social Media Factoids:

• Alan Mulally, Ford CEO, declared, “Social media is the future.” ….Ford’s prowess and investment in social media is legendary.
• Auto industry will spend about $1.2 billion this year on social media advertising, projected to grow to $4.6 billion by 2015
• Michael Wiley, GM Director of New Media says ”The secret to GM’s success is listening to conversations, including the negative comments.” GM is targeting the 80% not in the market to purchase. They are “turning to social-media to engage in meaningful connections with their customers.”
• JD Power Roundtable, “Social Networking: Should it be more About Relationship Building than Selling Cars?” Social media reaches more potential new-car buyers than Google.

What is the buy-in at the dealer level?  The Dealer Debate

The two largest dealer groups diametrically disagree.

Penske Automotive Group is conservative about their role of social media for dealers contending they have “not found any real business results.”

In contrast, AutoNation  is committed to social media with its “UnDealer “campaign. “It is not about selling cars or making offers. We’re doing it because we’re trying to engage with customers.” says Gary Marcotte, Senior Vice President of Marketing for AutoNation.

Many are seeing the current Social Media Revolution as the Internet of 15 years ago!  2010 Internet is focused on social networking sites for branding, interactivity and relationship building. So the resistance in the past to the Internet adoption is now being mirrored in social media as the Internet changes in format and mindset. It’s not “IF” the dealer will engage in Social media it’s “WHEN”!  Will the dealer be an Innovator or a laggard?

Is Social Media going to ignite local Chevy or Toyota dealers?

Or are the dealers going to continue the battle on TV with who has the best 0% interest deal. Is it about who can shout the loudest and most often? Or is it about who is really listening and where are they engaging?

Car purchasing is more than a price tag war. Millions of buyers are looking for a relationship with a dealer and/or salesperson they can trust. Social media changes the mindset of the Dealer – Buyer days from a focus on “Selling Price” to “Engaging the Buyer” and “Building a Relationship”.

Dealers have lived and breathed (and it has worked in the past) broadcasting Price Driven messages. Can dealers accept that there might be a different way?  Social media is not a hype; it has become part of the fabric of social and marketing communications for Fortune 500 companies and small businesses.

More than 65% of car dealers are just beginning, are ready to start or are not using social media. There is a clear marketing opportunity.

Here’s the proof from dealers across the US:

Hyundai of St Augustine (FL) “Our positive customer reviews provides us with tremendous credibility. Web traffic has increased by 40%, nearly doubled our monthly sales, having one of our best months, when the industry is experiencing one of its worst.”

Universal City Nissan (Los Angeles) boosted sales by using mobile codes. “We get as many as 20 to 30 text inquiries when we run the radio spot.”

Scott Clarks Toyota (Mathews NC –near Charlotte) “Our goal is to stay connected with our customers and have the biggest dealer fan base in the US. Social media is not an advertising medium to sell cars directly. Our 4000+ Facebook fan base allows us to stay in our customer’s minds, engage them in what we are doing; serve as a platform for community involvement; and drive users to our website without increasing the bounce rate.” Internet Manager

Acton Toyota (Littleton MA – near Boston) “Our Youtube presence was to showcase our dealership and engage our employees in a playful way. It was not used as individual sales tool with a specific ROI.  Rather it is part of broader SEO strategy to gain viral value to increase our search engine results.” General Manager

They have realized that social media increases brand recognition, connects with their customers and significantly increases traffic to their website. The challenge for the auto dealer is how to implement a Social Media Marketing Strategy and remain competitive on a daily basis. These are not mutually exclusive.

A step by step Digital Marketing Strategy begins with where the dealer’s marketing effort is.   Social / digital media must be integrated with traditional advertising and online marketing.

The dealer’s social quicksand is “I can have my son or friends daughter do it. They are social media junkies— texting and on Facebook all the time.” Dealers need the discipline to outsource this powerful marketing tool to specialists that know how to optimize digital media to extend their current efforts.

The real question to dealers is not if social media works – but if dealers are ready to accept that customers are asking to be spoken to in new ways thru new media. They need to invest some of their resources in connecting with buyers, where they are… on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube.

As Dave McAllister, Internet Manager at Scott Clarks Toyota said “Social media is the defining effort of business as a whole. Dealers who get involved will have a DISTINCT Advantage in the coming years. The future of dealerships is in Relationships!”

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.

After many years as a senior manager, consultant, and co-owner on the retail side of the automotive industry I have a unique “view” as I watch the typical automobile dealership management team wrestle with the idea of implementing social media into their organization.

It seems the manufacturers have done a great job of educating the owners of their franchise on the importance of getting on-board the social media wave. However, most, with little or no understanding of  Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, etc., are struggling with how to get it done.  It doesn’t seem that many years ago we were dealing with a similar issue.  At that time the Internet was the “buzz word” and the majority of us were trying to get an understanding of how to best utilize this new “tool”.  For most of us our new internet manager was someone we chose from our sales team who had an interest in the internet and enough knowledge to ensure us that we were making the right decision.  With the internet manager in place and our limited understanding of the subject we went back to the day to day challenges of running our stores. In hindsight, by hiring from within, it caused us to under-utilize the potential the Internet provided.

Now the “buzz” is social media and I am hearing managers say they could hire teenagers, relatives, college kids etc. (saving money) to run their social media campaigns.  How do you educate someone that does not yet understand the difference in having a personal Facebook profile versus a company running an effective campaign using Facebook, Twitter, etc. and integrating these with their other forms of advertising? Having the benefit of 30 years in the auto industry and a good understanding of the potential of social media, it is somewhat frustrating to witness the lack of understanding that managers have.  On the other hand, as discussed earlier I went through the internet learning curve just as confused as what I am witnessing today.

Complicating the issue, most dealerships are still reeling from the financial hits taken by their business during the last 18 months; so finding ways to stretch their dollars is a high priority.  Unfortunately their inability to see the potential results combined with their tight purse strings will cause many to miss the advantages associated with getting on board early and distancing themselves from the pack.

Like the adoption of the Internet, the only question is not “If” the dealer will join the social marketing wave but “When.”  Will they be an innovator or a laggard??

The dealer’s job is finding a consultant that can patiently walk them through their challenges and prove the value!

I am interested in hearing from auto dealers and marketing consultants on how they are adopting social media into their marketing mix. Are you using a staff member, a consultant, a friend or relative or a combination? What is working best for you? Please use the comment section below to leave us your thoughts.

Have you tried to explain to clients, colleagues, businesspeople or students:

• Why social media works?
• Why consumers feel they are not listened to?
• Why traditional advertising has lost much of its power and is not trusted?
• Why the Digital Media revolution is alive and growing?

I recently re-discovered this 2 minute video. It’s a very powerful demonstration of digital marketing and answers all of the questions above. Take 2 minutes and watch The Breakup.

As a viewer, you just experienced the five keys to Digital Marketing in a dinner dialogue between a man (the Advertiser) and a woman (the Consumer). The acting, the content and the gestures are exquisite as it shares the growing gap between traditional advertising and the consumer.

The five keys to a successful Digital Marketing Strategy are reflected in this video.

1. Listening – The Advertiser is a bit arrogant and not listening to the Consumer.
2. Engagement – The Advertiser is talking past the Consumer by shouting “non-genuine” messages. They are not engaging in conversations.
3. Relationship – There is no relationship between the Consumer and the Advertiser. There is NO trust therefore they don’t communicate or share in the dialogue. When she says “I want a divorce”, he won’t even listen!  She is done with traditional advertising!
4. Value – The Advertiser is sharing all the things he is doing for the Consumer but she says “you don’t know me”, as if saying “I find NO Value in what you are offering; I don’t receive any benefit.”
5. Access – The Consumer states that “they don’t hang out in the same places.” The consumer can’t access the advertiser’s messages because she doesn’t use the same media outlets.

At the conclusion the woman (Consumer) leaves the restaurant –“ I’m out of here” reflecting our current consumers turnoff with traditional media and their attraction for digital marketing with their use of social media.

Showing this 2 minute video has helped our clients understand the need for digital media and the new role of the consumer in the marketing mix. As a marketing professional, what other ways have you explained this shift in marketing to your clients?  As a consumer, was this video helpful in demonstrating the power of digital marketing?  Please leave your comments 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