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!”

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

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.

Healthcare professionals and marketing consultants converged in New York City this month to attend Social Communications & Healthcare; Case Studies and Roundtables, a conference hosted by Business Development Institute. Ira Kaufman, President of Entwine Inc, and I were honored to have been chosen to Moderate Roundtable discussions.

Hospitals, non-profits, pharmaceutical companies and medical professionals are searching for effective venues to engage patients. They are investigating the application of social media as they are confounded with compliance issues, newly proposed FDA regulations and conservative management. The conference featured case studies of healthcare companies and organizations that are using social media in different contexts.  Some of the companies included:

Center for Disease Control (CDC)

The CDC has been using social media for the past 3 1/2 – 4 years. They integrate health messages from campaigns and interventions using social media to help get the word out.  They use as many formats as possible to be where the people are. The CDC performs a yearly satisfaction survey and they found that visitors who use social media have a higher satisfaction rating (a full 5 points higher) and rate the CDC site as trustworthy.

Johnson & Johnson

J&J uses multiple platforms and integrates them to redefine relationships. They use blogging, video, Facebook and Twitter along with their main websites to engage and contribute to the conversations. J&J also has a successful social community for it’s Diabetes Institute.

Pfizer

Pfizer is very proud of its progress in adopting social media.  They have gone from crawling to walking. Their Twitter feed is one of the top feeds in NYC. They have an active Facebook page, and more importantly their employees can now access Facebook. YouTube is proving to be a big part of their social media strategy.  Pfizer has successfully used social media to do clinical trial recruitment, monitoring and brand protection, as well as drug counterfeiting education.

Our roundtable discussions were focused on Harnessing the Power of Social Media. We challenged participants to consider six new perspectives in using social media platforms in healthcare environments.

1. Twitter is more than a traditional broadcast tool. It is a powerful conversational initiator. Too many companies only push their brand on social media. Healthcare organizations need to change their mindset and create value to attract visitors.
2. Twitter and Facebook have very powerful search tools that allow users to gain a real time read on the comments and interest of other users and thought leaders in their targeted space.
3. Re-tweeting is a powerful distribution mechanism for your content and messages. Testing the effectiveness of different keywords in stimulating re-tweets produces results.
4. Careful keyword selection and inclusion in blog posts and articles realizes gains in search engine positioning. As each Tweet is a individual  page and optimized by the search engines, targeting your keywords will drive users to your content hub.
5. Social media has proven to be a very reliable sourcing venue for recruitment. Combining LinkedIn with Twitter and Facebook have produced great results for our team. Our results were recognized when Kissito Healthcare was listed as one of the top fifty employers recruiting with Twitter.
6. Monitoring your company brand and industry provides opportunities to engage patients and future clients. It serves as an immediate way to track conversations about your brand. Use 3rd party applications to deliver results immediately to your inbox.

Did you know…  Facebook’s value has more than doubled in the past 12 months to over $ 8 billion!

Did you know… Women aged 55 and up are the fastest growing Facebook demographic in America!

Did you know…  The average Facebook user has 130 friends.

Facebook stats are constantly being updated. Recently Mashable included a great graphic showing some little known Facebook stats that I found extremely interesting. They provided the code so we could embed the graphic on our site, so read on to find the most popular Facebook pages and other interesting statistics.

[Source: Online PhD Programs for MashableMashable.com]

Patient Touchpoint Strategy

Patient touchpoints or interactions with health care facility and professionals define patient centered care. They determine the total patient experience and satisfaction, affecting not only the clinical tasks but patient outcomes.  With the growth of online and social media, healthcare administrators have new tools to evaluate and effect patient centered care.

California HealthCare Foundation Study of Health 2.0 suggests,

“Innovative collaborations online among groups of patients, medical professionals, and other health care players are challenging the notion that health care happens only between a single patient and doctor in an exam room.”

In the growing Health 2.0 model, online and social media have dramatically increased touchpoints (34% of patients use social media, 46% health portals, 67% search engines).

Josh D. McGilliard, VP Marketing, Kissito Healthcare commented,

“Touchpoints or places where our brand constituents come in contact with our brand, are considered the underpinnings that hold the Kissito brand together. Whether they are external or internal before or after initial engagement, it is the only way to identify with the constituents on a consistent basis. Social media is becoming an important part of the mix.”

What are the touchpoints for today’s patient?  Now consumers research diseases, best practices, cures, pharmaceuticals on WebMD.  Medical information is shared by TV commercials, radio talk shows, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and brochures in doctor’s office.  Friends share stories and recommendations; patients join online support communities.  Interactions with medical/hospital staff are critical (admissions, billing, doctors, pharmacists, nurses. dietitians, CNAs, aides, social workers, therapists.) Patient discharge plans include regular interactions with case workers. The summation of these points is the Touchpoint Map.

The next step for healthcare professionals is to design a Touchpoint Optimization Strategy that will increase the quality of the total patient experience:

Step 1: Create a Patient Touchpoint Map

Interview a sample of patients to determine which touchpoints relate to their healthcare experience.

Step 2: Evaluate Patient Touchpoints Effectiveness

Determine which of these touchpoints each patient values at each stage of medical intervention (discovery, treatment, discharge, aftercare) referred as the patient life cycle. Then compare these touchpoints in generating conversations and patient relationships, increasing patient satisfaction and comfort level and effecting outcomes.

Step 3: Design Patient Touchpoint Optimization Strategy

Select a cost-effective mix of marketing tools that target your demographic and stage of intervention to increase touchpoints and conversations and improve the patient experience.

Step 4: Assess Patient Touchpoint Optimization Strategy

Evaluate the effect of the strategy in terms of increasing the quality and satisfaction of the total patient experience.

For example, a McKinsey Study of hypertensive patient’s habits for taking their medicines revealed that the adherence practices were related to six patient segments. They included skeptical patients, confident patients, concerned patients, confused patients, resigned patients, and proactive patients. By targeting a Touchpoint Strategy to these segments, the organization can greatly increase the effectiveness on their marketing efforts.