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.

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

The vast changes in media have triggered a revolution in marketing.  Rupert Murdoch noted it in 2006.

“To find something comparable, you would have to go back 500 years to the printing press or 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.”

Business Response

Business is quick to acknowledge the changes but their response is varied.  In a recent survey of small business owners

“67% agreed that social media is a good way to increase business, yet 39% did not plan to use social networking in their marketing plan in 2010.”

79% of the  Fortune Global 100 are using at least one social media platform.  Most of the companies have had success with social media.

Office Max: “Marketing is all about change… At OfficeMax, we’ve embraced social media and incorporated it into our marketing strategy to reach today’s digital consumer through humor, entertainment and personalization.”

Cisco: “We see social media, such as blogs, as a great way to build your business and tap into the ideas and input of people using your products.”

Another study suggests “47% of brands are still in the experimental phase with social media”, meaning they “exhibit lots of social activity with little connection or integration with each other.”   Businessweek reports

“Over the last two years, social media have dramatically transformed the pace at which information is shared….71% of companies plan to increase their investments in social media, but only a third have guidelines for how it should be used.”

Clearly there is a marketing opportunity!  But business owners and marketing managers are overwhelmed with the new learning curve and question its effectiveness. Agencies are active in the social space, trying to make sense of all the new tools and prove its value for their clients.  Yet a new evolving group, focusing on Integrated Media Marketing and using social media as art of a comprehensive strategy, is opening up new markets and strategic opportunities.

How are you on implementing Social Media into your marketing efforts?

Traditionally marketing is about advertising or promoting something.  We scream “something”; we hope it is loud enough to interrupt the consumers’ attention and motivate them to take action.  That’s one way to do it.

Marketing has progressed — customer databases target select groups and the internet provides customers with search that directs them to company websites. We say something to the world, await a response and then respond back.  But the communication is still one way.

Social Media, the New Solution?

Enter social media. Two-way conversations are realized in real time – open communication is the objective, controlling the message is almost impossible. The focus is to promote conversations among customers and potential customers. Each conversation is a “touchpoint” with the consumer and provides the company with insights, data and new marketing connections.

To date most marketers see social media as a tool or a component of the marketing mix. Social media is much more than a promotion tool; it is the “atmosphere” or cloud in which more traditional efforts are magnified, grow and flourish.  It requires a comprehensive strategy to be successful.

Social media has begun to impact business communications (e.g., branding, customer service, recruitment, organizational development).  But it has not been integrated into ongoing traditional marketing efforts and the marketing mix.

Integrated Media Marketing, Generating Marketing Capital

Enter Integrated Media Marketing, the next step in the marketing revolution. This strategy is the seamless integration of traditional marketing with online, public relations and social media. This builds on the recent Forester study,  No Media Should Stand Alone which suggests;

“All types of online media can play specific roles in meeting marketers’ objectives — especially when seamlessly working together.”

From the outset Integrated Media Marketing is designed to be holistic; it is not just adding social media as another silo to the other media channels; but blending or “entwining” the components (TV, radio, online, public relations and online marketing) as a unified strategy.  Social media must permeate all elements of their marketing mix, as the driving force of an Integrated Media Marketing Strategy.

This Strategy augments and synergizes the different media components to generate a new asset, marketing capital. The resulting marketing capital is greater than the sum of each of the media inputs, generating new value added by

• Expanding exposure by effectively driving your message across all media
• Efficient use of marketing dollars
• Accessing the viral power of user distribution
• Addressing sensitive and negative issues
• Expanding customer touchpoints to gain new insights on their brand (corporate, employer); interactions on customer service; opportunities for recruitment and product research.

The Obama Presidential campaign successfully generated marketing capital with a unified brand of “Change”. President Obama’s team used all forms of social media and wove them seamlessly with traditional media and PR, while “integrating online advocacy into every element of the campaign.”  His expanded marketing capital resulted in an empowered volunteer network,  high approval ratings, 90% of donors were under $100 and a landslide election victory drawing from political center.

An Integrated Media Marketing Strategy develops engaging customer relationships which generates new marketing capital and a sustainable competitive edge.

Strategy! Strategy! Strategy! -  the key to successfully integrating social media into your marketing mix.  Business Week points out that  companies are moving from Discovery to Experimentation and finally to Adoption in their social media experience.

With this growing expertise, experts agree that 2010 is the year for Developing Strategy,  Integrating Media and Designing Metrics.

As Social Media Marketing is becoming more strategic, companies are adopting a strategy to align their objectives with metrics that define and reflect an Integrated Media Marketing approach.  This will define their success. Mani Karthik compiled an awesome list of ten social media presentations by thought leaders in the industry. These companies are using a social media strategy to achieve their objectives. We thank Mani for including the latest Entwine presentation as the first on his list.  We shared this presentation with executives at the Salem Roanoke County Chamber event in Salem, Virginia.

Who’s following You?  Have you looked in the mirror lately?

What’s the fastest growing marketing tool for businesses today?   It’s Social Media, and did I mention it’s free? We call it BIZ2.0. It’s a new way of thinking and doing business. For simplicity let’s focus on three of the most popular business tools - LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

So you’re collecting Connections on LinkedIn, Friends on Facebook and Followers on Twitter.

• What’s your criteria for following back?
• Are you effectively building your network?

Chris Brogan, a well respected social media thought leader, wrote “You’re Doing it Wrong” openly discussing how we participate in social networks. Here are some of his comments:

• You follow too many people on Twitter.
• You don’t allow blog comments.
• You add people to LinkedIn that you don’t know very well.
• You have ads on your blog.
• You use partial RSS feeds.
• Your blog posts are too short (too long).
• You shoot really long videos and don’t edit.
• You don’t follow people back.

Shawn Welch wrote a follow-up post suggesting that “Social media is not the place for instant celebrity…” and adding

“It’s tempting to join a network like Twitter and follow everyone under the sun because it’s easy and that feels like success. But even if you pick up 500 or 600 auto-follows or a few polite follow-backs, you’ll quickly find you’re not the success you think you are.”

Shawn states there are two key principles to social media:

Patience — slow growth wins over aggressive expansion

Build relationships along the way, interact and engage

What’s your strategy?

• Which tools are you using – LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook?
• What is your strategy for building these networks?
• What are your criteria for accepting a Connection, Friend or Follower?

The Tools – Each tool has a different reach and target market – who uses it.

Reach:

• Facebook - 400 million people globally are active users -50% active users log on to Facebook in any given day and more than 35 million users update their status each day
• LinkedIn - 60 million professionals with high personal incomes
• Twitter -18. 1 million unique visitors in December 09- 579% growth from December 08

Who uses it?

• Facebook – 35+ demographic now represents more than 30% of the entire user base,  55+ audience grew a whopping 922.7% in 2009.
• LinkedIn - In US 52 % are men and 48% are women; 38% make over $100k per year.
• Twitter – 70% are over 25; more females than males

BIZ2.0 Strategy
It’s clear that social media is impacting the business world as documented in Jeremiah Owyang’s Collection of Social Network Stats for 2009. Social media is re-defining and expanding relationships in the global business community.

The key to BIZ2.0 is the building of a strong and relevant network. In the traditional business world, networking is considered a very valuable marketing tool for sales, recruiting, exposure and building relationships. In a WEB 2.0 environment, BIZ2.0 is becoming a tool to build your personal brand, become a Thought Leader and generate targeted sales opportunities. This network represents you and reflects on the work that you do. In addition you now have opened your contacts to the business world.

Social media tools are new to most business people. For the most part they have not developed a strategy to build their valuable network. Many people just collect friends — as many, as fast as they can. They are called open networkers. There are no criteria. You are virtually accepted on a cold contact, based on their belief in open networking or referral from another follower. The more the merrier! The alternative is to step back and develop your personal BIZ2.0 strategy using your own social etiquette.