Last week I participated in a webinar with HiveFire sponsored by Online Marketing Connect. Our topic for discussion: Integrated Marketing & Communication. I specifically spoke about integrating email and social marketing to deliver on your marketing goals. Thanks to everyone who joined us! More

By Julie Valenti

Last week I participated in a webinar with HiveFire sponsored by Online Marketing Connect. Our topic for discussion: Integrated Marketing & Communication. I specifically spoke about integrating email and social marketing to deliver on your marketing goals. Thanks to everyone who joined us!

We had nearly 500 registrants and when polled, most folks indicated they hadn't started integrating social into their marketing mix and/or were in the planning stages. This is not surprising. As the channel solutions are shifting and evolving quickly, we're all trying to get a handle on how to harness it's power to help achieve our marketing goals. I mentioned the recent study by ForeSee Results, in which only 25% of the top 100 online retailers have a formal Facebook presence and of those, 25% have less than 10k fans. This is despite the fact that there are 400M+ Facebook users and more than half of all online shoppers use Facebook. So, if you feel behind, don't. But that said, it's time to get going!

I broke the discussion into three components: 1) Weaving social media tactics into your email marketing programs, 2) Feeding your email marketing programs via smart social initiatives and 3) Mapping your integrated digital communications plan. There were lots of good questions, and some we couldn't get to so I've provided some additional information here.

1. Social Media Policy - I recommended drafting a social policy so that the social media experts across your organization are on the same page and you can encourage employees to retweet and promote company happenings. Here's Coca Cola's 3-page social media policy (via viralblog). Andy Sernovitz, a personal favorite of mine, interviewed Adam Brown, head of Social Media at Coca Cola and imparts his own wisdom on SM policies.
   
   
2. Resources for Social Media - we discussed budgetary and resource restrictions when developing social strategies; most often, I'm talking with managers already responsible for email or online media, and social/mobile tactics are simply added responsibility (for now). Our research shows less than 10% of companies have dedicated staff. We see maybe 250 community managers employed today. Our strategic partner, R2i advises to be successful, you need a community manager who can handle online PR situations. Per Page Sands at R2i, "this field will remain small until there is a clear tie between community building/management and ROI." He further add that to build the business case for community, connect the role to the following:
   • Increase in Web traffic (page views, referrals, etc)
   • Reduced lead-to-conversion time
   • Increased distribution of your value prop
   • Higher quality, customer centric products, that get released faster
     
     
3. Targeting high-income, luxury via social - Jetsetter and Gilt Groupe are two examples of how luxury companies have used web, email, social and mobile to target luxury goods to the higher-income bracket. They use Facebook and mobile friendly apps/sites to target customers. Further Gilt Groupe offers a $25 credit for references and accepts members by invitation only (though anyone can obtain an invitation); they have taken the viral component to the next level, all while keeping their product line exclusive. Both heavily use email to target new deals, offering unique daily discounts on high-end goods.

NOTE: for the few of you finding proven success with your integrated digital strategies, I'd love to hear from you! The social mindset is all about sharing and I'd love to swap stories over a virtual beer.

If you'd like to learn more, contact me at interactive@yesmail.com and join the Online Marketing Summit's upcoming conference later this month.

PS - I'm working on a separate post regarding B2B companies and their approach to including social media in their digital communications. Check back soon!
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Our partner, ShareThis released a survey recently about how content is shared in different channels.  Email remains the tool of choice for sharing content; accounting for 46% of content-sharing activity compared to 33% for Facebook, 14.5% via other channels and... More

Our partner, ShareThis released a survey recently about how content is shared in different channels.  Email remains the tool of choice for sharing content; accounting for 46% of content-sharing activity compared to 33% for Facebook, 14.5% via other channels and just 6% for Twitter. According to new research from Share This, Twitter and Facebook may be all the rage, but ordinary email is still king when it comes to sharing content online.

People who receive links through ShareThis also tend to spend time with the content, at an average 2.95 page views per click, followed by Facebook (2.76), with Twitter trailing at 1.66. This information definitely supports the notion that information being sent to you by friends is more highly regarded and trusted over the vast amount of content pushed directly to online audiences by businesses and organizations.

The company's "ShareThis" button has become ubiquitous at the end of articles and blog posts, linking to a widget that lets users share material via email, instant messenger and social networking tools including Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon and Yahoo Buzz. With user data from 200 million monthly visitors across 130,000 sites, the service has amassed a wealth of data about how people share and engage with content.

Read more from MediaPost News Less

In September,  I worked with our sister company, ORC to conduct a  consumer survey on their use of social media in planning for the upcoming holiday season. Not surprisingly, we found a flurry of social activities - checking Facebook pages... More

In September,  I worked with our sister company, ORC to conduct a  consumer survey on their use of social media in planning for the upcoming holiday season. Not surprisingly, we found a flurry of social activities - checking Facebook pages for gift ideas, checking out Twitter deals, and finding ratings and reviews will all be part of Holiday planning for 2009. Here's some of our research highlights on consumer behavior

Consumers are finding gift ideas from Facebook and other social networks. Let's face it - it sort of ruins the surprise if you ask "So what do you want for the holidays?' Instead our survey found that 27% of online shoppers who used social networks also planned to check out friends and family profile pages to get ideas for what to give this holiday season. By checking Facebook profiles and fan pages - there's a little less guesswork without ruining the surprise.  

Consumers are increasingly researching gift ideas online. Nearly one-half (45%) of the group surveyed will use social networks to research items, compare prices and look for offers. Additionally, 20% of those surveyed will look to blogs for gift ideas. While consumers may go direct, an increasing number will also look elsewhere for ideas and research products before purchasing - all without leaving their home.

Consumers look to Social Networks for deals. About one-fifth of online holiday buyers are specifically looking to social networks for exclusive deals or free shipping. This means the message might not just be PPC buys, online ads, and website promotions. Instead offers should include messaging through social networks.

What it all means - Consumers increasingly are deciding when where and how they would like to engage with a brand. That means to marketers ensuring a consistent message at different consumer touch points, and having relevant offers in multiple channels. If you haven't done so already, create a Facebook page, so that consumers can associate themselves with you. Integrate rating and reviews on your website, and in email campaigns, so that consumers can research their purchasing decision without leaving your site. Finally, make sure to extend offers to relevant social media channels - like Twitter or Facebook.Together, these tactics can ensure your brand stays top of mind as consumers plan for last minute holiday purchases.

But hey, don't just read it here - check out eMarketers' take. Less

Our parent company, infoGROUP, in Omaha, Nebraska recently started a campaign aimed at generating stimulus for local small businesses.  Created by infoGroup's Executive VP, Stormy Dean, the Storm Dawg Marketing blog offers suggestions to small business owners, as well as... More

Our parent company, infoGROUP, in Omaha, Nebraska recently started a campaign aimed at generating stimulus for local small businesses.  Created by infoGroup's Executive VP, Stormy Dean, the Storm Dawg Marketing blog offers suggestions to small business owners, as well as an opportunity to receive some custom advice.  Business owners submit their stories to the blog, then once a month Dean selects one business to receive a tailored marketing plan and a starting budget.  The company's progress is documented on the blog for others to read and learn from.

In Dean's own words, "This is a great example of where capitalism meets doing good in the world." By helping small businesses, "hopefully they can create new jobs and along the way we can learn something."

Ralston's Trinity United Methodist, one of the first clients, needed to get the word out about their new community center and benefited from a fund raiser that infoGROUP helped to host.  Church members found it to be a great learning experience.  They hope others who visit the blog will benefit just as much from reading about both the positive and negative outcomes of the event. "It's exactly what we were looking for," said Trinity United's Pastor Nancy Kaye-Skinner.

This is social media in action, at its best - helping and teaching others during a tough economic period, while preparing for a promising future.  For more information on Stormy Dean's small business stimulus plan, visit www.stormdawg.com.

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Last week thousands gathered via WOM to see Dave Chappelle in my own hometown at Pioneer Square. The Chappelle 'show' was a total success - by accident - purely by the instantanous word of mouth tools like text messaging, Twitter,... More

Last week thousands gathered via WOM to see Dave Chappelle in my own hometown at Pioneer Square. The Chappelle 'show' was a total success - by accident - purely by the instantanous word of mouth tools like text messaging, Twitter, and Facebook.

While Mashable has done a great How-To Article, and there's a good Slideshare presentation on how to do this, but here's my Social Media event planning playbook on how to create and market an event using social meda.

1. Create the killer event. Let's face it - in this economy, WOM won't work if it's just...blah. Create a topic that gives immediate answers that your audience is facing RIGHT now, or a unique challenge to traditional thinking, or bring in a speaker that is real buzz worthy is critical in stretching out that event message. Who is well... your Dave Chappelle? This is the most critical step in spreading WOM. Ensure you can spread the word- it's worth going!

2. Use your existing network - or find one. Whether you own your own business or market for one, where is your network? On Facebook? LinkedIn? Twitter? Do you have Salesforce.com? Maybe your target audience isn't in your digital or social rolodex, - can you find that subgroup in an existing social network? Are they talking on Twitter? How can you reach them? Keep in mind - you want a wide net, not just to send your message to one network, but to many.

3. Prepare your message. Get a consistent message and brand it. That means putting the event out on Upcoming, Eventful, Facebook events, messaging in your blog and creating event ads and emails to reachout with your peers to spread awareness. A consistent memorable message about your event can really aide WOM marketing. Get ready with widgets and links including hashtags for tracking - all in a one page 'play book' for your sales team and collegues to link to the event.

4. Set up incentives. You can start messaging early with hashtags and twitter by offering free event for the first volunteers, discounts for early birds and exclusives for coming through particularly popular bloggers, and more. This will help you fill the event and gauge how effective your different social channels are doing at attracting attendees.

5. Align your players. By now you have brainstormed on all the ways you can build word-of-mouth about your event. That means you+at least a dozen people who will spread the word on our behalf- in multiple social channels. Match the players with the channels they are best at spreading the word (including blogging, email, and even phone). This may likely mean, you are doing old-school networking - sitting down and selling your event- to have them get the word out for you.

6. Spread the word. Communicate what the event is, why you should go, what the offers are and how to RSVP, and communicate go-live dates for invites and reminders to your network.

7. Show the play-by-play. At the event make sure you have asked people to live tweet and blog your events - in advance. Chances are you may be too busy in the AV details and event itself - and capturing the event details are great in creating buzz around the event.

8. Capture post-event highlights. You can also ensure you've captured the buzz with pics on Flicker, and video highlights on YouTube. These help keep the energy and momentum of your event going even after the guests are out the door. Less

I'm super excited about our announcement today launching our partnership with ShareThis. This is the first of many capabilities focused on the power of social media that Yesmail will be providing our clients.We'll have much more to 'share' soon, but... More

I'm super excited about our announcement today launching our partnership with ShareThis. This is the first of many capabilities focused on the power of social media that Yesmail will be providing our clients.

We'll have much more to 'share' soon, but for now check out the press release. Less

If you haven't had the chance to visit the new Skittles.com site - now is the time.The brand has completely revamped their site in a way that fully embraces the world of Social Media. For starters, the home page now... More

If you haven't had the chance to visit the new Skittles.com site - now is the time.

The brand has completely revamped their site in a way that fully embraces the world of Social Media. For starters, the home page now has a widget like device in the upper left corner that features the standard navigation, a rotating image, and other legalese (or "gobbledygook", as they reference it).

Each navigation element is fully integrated with a different social media leader.

Products Navigation: Direct links to Wikipedia's page on each product
Media Navigation: Direct links to YouTube for video and flickr for photos
Chatter Navigation: Direct links to Twitter
Friends Navigation: Direct links to Facebook.

In fact the only page that is actually Skittles hosted content is the "Contact" navigation.

The strategy is bold. Skittles has effectively said that they will use the respective social media sites to publish content updates and to interact with their consumers. Given that they have over 585,000 Facebook friends it will be fun to watch the strategy unfold. Less