Marketing Your Business in an Interactive Age by Cathy Freeman

Marketing your Business in an Interactive Age The manual for every growing small business and non-profit

By Cathy Freeman

Not sure if this is the right book for you? If you can answer YES to one or more of following questions, then you are in the right place.

Are you just starting out, with no marketing department to speak of and you want to get the word out about your new business?

Are you an established small business that is hoping to brush up on new marketing techniques and expand your reach?

Are you a non-profit organization that is interested in harnessed cost-effective new media technology to help raise funds and awareness for your cause?

Table of Contents The Basics The New Conversation Understanding Elements of Interactivity User-centered Design Mobile Messaging Virtual Environments Real-Time Communication Emotional Connections Screen-Based Storytelling Value-Added Content Social Relationships The Toolkit How to Build an Online Community Understanding the Social Stratosphere Online Participation and Influence: Who Uses Social Networks and Why? Avoiding Pitfalls: Policy and Privacy Making it Count: Gauging Results The Glossary

The Basics 6

Introduction The time has come. You are finally ready to dive head first into the wacky world of marketing in an age where virtual is our reality. Take a deep breath. We’ll start with an introduction to interactive marketing basics and then move on to a practical toolkit that will equip you to construct a campaign with your bare hands. Congratulations! You are one step closer to building your brand, expanding your reach and boosting your business through a better marketing campaign!

“The time has come,” the Walrus said, “To talk of many things: Of shoes—and ships—and sealing-wax— Of cabbages—and kings— And why the sea is boiling hot— And whether pigs have wings.” The Walrus and the Carpenter, from Through the Looking-Glass, 1872 Lewis Carroll

The New Conversation Before the Internet, marketing relied on traditional nontargeted media such as newspapers, TV, magazines and direct mail. Messages were carefully crafted by communications professionals and directed to the masses in hopes of gaining attention and possibly inciting some action. They were almost always one-directional because organizations and marketers held tightly to the control of their product and brand. At that point, effective marketing relied on strong relationships with the media, interruption tactics and traditional advertising. The computer forever changed information sharing with its easily accessible digital porthole called the Internet. One click and you’re barreling down a rabbit hole into an imaginary world of blue links and constantly streaming stories. The Internet changed every previous notion of marketing strategy. It gave us a way to transform our one-directional monologues into open, malleable conversations with multiple users. In the past, marketers could get away with feeding consumers scripted lines and slogans. Today, marketers are held responsible for engaging customers in an ongoing conversation. The Internet permanently changed the relationship between business and customer and put the public in the driver’s seat. In 2009, there were approximately 1,668,870,408 Internet users in the world1. That is an impressive number, but it is also important to pay attention to how long those users are online and what they are doing while they are there. In the United States, the average American spent at least 12 hours online every week2. And what are they doing while they are logged on? They are having conversations, meeting people, finding old friends, looking for a new boss – they are being social. In the past year, Americans have tripled the amount of time spent at social networking and blog sites. A 2009 study released by The Nielsen Company reported that 17 percent of all time spent online in August 2009 was spent on social networking sites. This is a 6 percent increase from August of 20083. It is clear that online development is being driven by consumers’ desires to connect, communicate and share with each other. The 8

beauty of our Web 2.0 world is rooted in the reunion with our innate need to discern and to create for ourselves. Whether it be through Web sites, tweets or blogs, “non-media” members can now assume the coveted press badge from years gone by. We can all profit from collective intelligence thanks to the groundswell of user-generated content. In case you have not noticed, we are all hyperconnected. Hyperconnectivity is the constant human-computer connection we experience through devices such as email, phones and Web 2.0 technologies. You may deny it, but chances are you are texting, messaging, emailing or browsing as you read this. These incessant connections force us to seek streaming information from 24-hour news cycles where content must be updated by the second on our hip, in our purse or right into our hands. Hyperconnectivity is drastically changing our information gathering and sharing. Post it. share it. Link it. These are all common phrases that are relatively new to our vocabularies. To keep up, organizations have to use more tools like social networks to engage loyal listeners who were once satisfied with having just a daily update of yesterday’s news. This revolution has its advantages and disadvantages (misinformation for example), but at its heart, it should be celebrated as an advance towards better, liberated choices. In the media world of recent generations, creators only funneled information down to a consumer. Communication theories of the 1940s, such as Harold Lasswell’s model and the Shannon-Weaver Mathematical Communication Model, both use one-directional lines that do not illustrate the ability of today’s consumer to also act as a creator. Needless to say, those models just won’t cut it in a world where Google is a verb. And eventually the shift in our way of thinking and communicating will need to be reflected in a revised communication model that accounts for new non-linear interactive media. A suggested adaptation could look something like an hourglass, focusing on three major elements (the creator/consumer, the media and the message). The creator/consumer is the focal point of the hourglass. When it is turned over, it is still the center of the model, suggesting the two personas are interchangeable axes in the flow of communication. The media is the device through which the message is filtered. If you flip the hourglass over, the flow of communication 9

remains the same, though the roles of creator and consumer may switch. Regardless, both roles have the flexible ability to receive, transmit and process information. As users take a more targeted and purposeful approach to the Internet, marketers must parallel this behavior in order to maintain genuine conversation with consumers and still influence behavior. As the function of the Internet becomes more social and therefore horizontal in terms of information-gathering, marketers are losing the ability to control what is being said and demonstrated regarding branding. In todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hyperconnected culture, we have to rethink our marketing strategies, no matter how long they have worked in the past. Now we must find customers where they enjoy spending time online and speak to them through meaningful two-way conversation. Enter interactive marketing.

Translation: Interactive Marketing Defined Interactive marketing is an on-going conversation that allows consumers to interact with marketers in a meaningful attempt to share present and future preferences. Marketers retain consumersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; personal tastes and later offer pertinent value to the customer. Interactive marketing usually involves tools such as multimedia technology, the Internet, social media communities, virtual reality, point-of-purchase displays or any device that allows the user to generate content in a two-way dialogue with brands or marketers.

Forrester Research found in 2009 that overall advertising budgets were declining as marketers take a more targeted and direct approach. Dollars are moving away from traditional media towards interactive tools that are far less expensive2.

The chart above shows Forresterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s forecast for interactive marketing spending through the year 2014. It projects future increases in spending in mobile marketing, social media, email marketing, display advertising and search marketing and an estimate of $55 billion spent in interactive marketing in the year 2014. According to this data, interactive marketing will expand steadily in coming years. In other words, this is NOT a passing trend!

Main Street Example Joe just opened a local coffee shop on the corner of Main Street. The café is beautifully quaint, reasonably priced and well staffed. It is instantly popular among downtown regulars who depend on Joe for a quick cup of coffee at the start of each day. One customer in particular, Susan, never fails to pick up her large extra-hot half-caff no fat hold the whip soy mocha latte at precisely 6:30 a.m. every morning. Soon Joe has her “usual” down pat, and to Susan’s delight, begins making her order in advance so it is ready by the time she walks in frantically before sunrise. Susan appreciates the customer service, attention to detail and extra minutes on her way to work. She looks forward to her stop at Joe’s every morning, where she trusts that he will always be on time with her custom order and a friendly smile. One day, along with the receipt for her order, Susan finds a coupon for a free mocha latte and the reduced-fat cinnamon roll she eyes longingly every morning. Joe smiles at her and thanks her for being such a loyal customer to his new business. Truly touched, Susan hurries to work, where she feels compelled to tell her co-workers about her experience at her favorite new café. That afternoon, Steve, Susan’s coworker, stops by the café to ask Joe if he can cater an upcoming morning meeting with a big client. Joe says that he has yet to offer breakfast catering, but that he would be happy to oblige to help a friend of Susan’s and a beautiful partnership is born. This situation did not take place online, but it is a great real-world example of interactive marketing. The Internet allows business owners to implement the same real-world relationship building, customer service, targeted advertising and word of mouth marketing shown here, but to an infinite number of potential customers.

Understanding Elements of Interactivity Despite rapidly evolving technology, marketing strategy will be unsuccessful in the future unless it taps into consumers’ basic human needs for conversation, intimacy, personalization and control. As it expands, interactive marketing will become more real-time, emotional, screen-based, value-added, user-centered, social and mobile in order to accommodate the technological and emotion needs of this digital era. “Interactivity” can be difficult to define, but it is not as complicated as you may think. You don’t have to complete a long checklist of items in order to make your campaign interactive. This section describes different elements of interactivity you can work towards in hopes of better engaging with your audience. User-Centered Design A week does not pass that I do not spend at least one night at my local Barnes and Noble. It’s something about the coffee aromas and mere presence of volumes and volumes of information at my fingertips. It’s the tangible hardcopy of my dear friend and confidant Google, even if it is a meager microcosm. Every time I visit the store, I am surprised by just how many people frequent the store, especially on a weekend night. It is sheer luck when I can snatch the last remaining comfy chair in the entire building. What is going on here? What makes people put on pants and find their cars keys and fight the traffic to sit Indian-style under the fluorescent lights of a mega bookstore? Is it something in the coffee? I think the answers to these questions are important to the future of both interactivity and marketing. People are attracted to bookstores like Barnes and Noble because that is where they find control, valuable information, community, and a rich user-centered experience. No one monitors how long you’ve been reading a book before you pay for it. You can sit there all day long and read three books and leave without paying a dime—and many people do. No one makes you download the trial version of your manual or self-help book before you take if off the shelf. And certainly no one pops out of the bookcase with an annoying flashy advertisement. This model 13

works because it offers the consumer a user-centered experience, complete with tasty coffee, comfy chairs and most of the conveniences of home, minus the pajamas. It offers a lot for a little in return and it works because people really appreciate it. If you want to be effective in wooing consumers online, look and see what works in the “real world.” Your first goal should be to find what would satiate your consumer’s intrinsic need for things like control and community. This goal has to trump your personal agenda to sell or market whatever your latest and brightest idea may be. “If you build it, they will come,” is dead and gone. The new model puts the power in the hand of the user. Interest networks, especially those that revolve around a lot of user input, are good opportunities to target audiences with similar thoughts and preferences. Marketing is no longer about the quick sale. It is about developing relationships and providing unparalleled customer service that positions brands more as caring, sensible humans. To be usercentered, marketing must offer control, valuable information, community and a rich user-centered experience, complete with the opportunity to dialogue through user-generated content. When the public can see that a company has relinquished the reins of control, it can establish a sense of trust for the brand and its products. In the words of Hulu CEO Jason Kilar, “It’s not about the Internet. It’s about the customer. The Internet is just a means, it’s just a tool to deliver a much better customer experience.” After developing a career at Amazon, Kilar designed Hulu as a free service aligned with the movement towards more user-centered media. Ninety-five percent of all songs downloaded in 2008 were not paid for and more video content has been uploaded to YouTube in the last two months than if major networks ABC, NBC and CBS has been airing new content every day, all day, year-round since 1948. The user is the new producer. People are collaborative, social, creative and naturally on-the-go and marketers will need to adapt to today’s evolving user instead of struggling to demand order and control. As consumers become more resourceful through each other and the Internet, marketers and corporations will face the facts that users are in the driver’s seat for good. Marketing will no longer be about the quick sale. It is about developing relationships and providing unparalleled customer service that positions brands more as caring, 14

sensible humans. To be user-centered, marketing must offer control, valuable information, community and a rich user-centered experience, complete with the opportunity to dialogue through usergenerated content. When the public can see that a company has relinquished the reins of control, it can establish a sense of trust and loyalty for the brand and its products. Mobile Messaging “Just text me when you get there.” “I’ll send you all a Facebook message with the directions to the restaurant.” “IM me when the layout is finished.” If you listen closely, these online meeting places are becoming a stronger element of our every day conversations. It is impossible to ignore the weight of mobile marketing and evolving interfaces for the spreading of information. Before you craft messages and designs for an audience, you have to find out where the conversation is in the first place. If today’s marketing messages were a cup of coffee, they would come in a Venti-sized to-go cup. Instead of sticking to the communal office coffee pot, messages should follow consumers wherever they go, much like the omnipresent Starbucks’ empire found on every street corner. To create relationships with people, marketers and their messages have to be found where consumers are. There is no electronic device more personal and omnipresent than the cell phone. The number of cell phones worldwide is larger than the number of households with Internet connections or even TVs. This ubiquitous lifeline stays in most people’s pockets or purses because it is the most convenient method for sending and receiving information at the drop of a hat. Now and in the future, a cell phone is no longer just a way to call home. It is a GPS system, a music library, an Internet browser, a digital camera, a movie screen and a file cabinet for any and every application. Due to the localized, personal and constant opportunity provided by the mobile market, mobile marketing is becoming an integral part of the mobile landscape. 15

As of 2008, more than 250 million of the 303 million residents in the U.S. have a cell phone4. In addition to its growing prevalence worldwide, mobile phones are being used more often for online search. Comscore reported in 2008 that 20.8 million U.S. and 4.5 million European mobile subscribers accessed mobile searches during June. This figure was an increase of 68 and 38 percent compared to June 20075. To keep up, mobile marketing will have to become an understood part of the mobile landscape. According to early estimates by Nielsen Mobile and eMarketer, the U.S. mobile advertising market is expected to grow from $806 million in 2007 to $3.6 billion in 2010. This includes features like mobile messaging, display and search advertising6. Obviously, the localized, personal and constant opportunity of the mobile market cannot be ignored – but there is a lot of work to be done. It needs to be intuitive, user-friendly and consistent. Practically every age group is using a cell phone, but they’re not all comfortable with the Internet –and they’re especially not comfortable with tiny buttons and bite-sized font. You can only sell an innovative product for so long before people have to come to grips with usability in every day life. People will always favor what is simple and predictable. The Internet, especially the mobile market, is about convenience and speed. The goal is to make life easier. The opportunities for the mobile market do not end with mobile browsing and advertising. Mobile devices are ideal tools to use to execute proximity marketing, or the distribution of localized marketing information. Using Bluetooth systems, companies can automatically send messages within a certain distance up to 30 feet. Bluetooth and other forms of proximity marketing are generally used with technically savvy audiences who voluntarily opt in for location-based marketing content. In the future, marketers will most likely employ things like 2D bar codes, image recognition and mobile sticky notes to target mobile subscribers. Two-dimensional bar codes allow mobile phone users to photograph or scan items with their actual phone. The bar code reader software links mobile browsers to specific mobile sites that 16

was programmed into the bar code. It can also send a text message to a user or contact information directly to an address book on the mobile device. Image recognition requires a user to capture a picture of an image and send to an image recognition company using email or short code. The information regarding the image is then send directly back to the phone. Similarly, AT announcements are opt-in services that allow users to send text messages to the service that automatically locates the user. The message is then sent to all of the user’s friends who are signed up with the same service, or any friends of friends who are nearby. In the same category of community-building, mobile sticky notes provide users with the tool to write mobile reviews to share with other users at reviews sites such as Socialite. Restaurants have the opportunity to create a channel and then advertise their mobile reviews. Pew Internet’s most recent survey, titled The Future of the Internet III, invited technology experts and social analysts to produce predictive statements tied to compelling considerations for the year 2010. Survey participants were asked to respond to the following scenario: “The mobile phone is the primary connection tool for most people in the world. In 2020, while "one laptop per child" and other initiatives to bring networked digital communications to everyone are successful on many levels, the mobile phone—now with significant computing power—is the primary Internet connection and the only one for a majority of the people across the world, providing information in a portable, well-connected form at a relatively low price. Telephony is offered under a set of universal standards and protocols accepted by most operators internationally, making for reasonably effortless movement from one part of the world to another. At this point, the "bottom" three-quarters of the world's population account for at least 50% of all people with Internet access—up from 30% in 2007.” From the respondents, 81% mostly disagreed, while only 19% mostly disagreed. The general consensus being that mobile Internet 17

devices will increase in popularity worldwide due to factors like cost-efficiency7. Because these future concepts are far from prevalent, they will require a significant amount of public education. Marketers must be very clear about how what users can do with their mobile devices and any and all costs that might be involved in the transaction. If it can develop a user-friendly interface, the mobile market is the most significant marketing trend of the future. If it can become more intuitive, the services available through opt-in will satisfy users needs for proximity, intimacy and convenience. Virtual Environments There are people attending concerts, buying clothes, selling land and building homes right on your desktop in the virtual world of Second Life. Virtual worlds like Second Life are cost-effective ways to deliver meetings, hold events, host simulations and start conversations. Second Lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s effect on online marketing is slowly developing as more brands realize the potential power of marketing and advertising through virtual environments. The possibilities are very similar to those in the real world. Whether you throw an event for your nonprofit, sell any imaginable merchandise in the Second Life Boutique, hold a live concert or buy a billboard, there are countless opportunities to send your message to a captive audience of highly creative and educated users. In January 2008, residents spent a total of 28,274,505 hours â&#x20AC;&#x153;in world.â&#x20AC;? The maximum concurrency recorded is 88,200 in the first quarter of 2009, according to its developer Linden Lab. More and more people are expected to weave higher percentages of augmented reality into daily life, whether it is through the use of GPS on a smartphone or through marketing on Second Life. This means that marketing messages can be transferable between the real and the virtual market. This is good news for organizations that have already made the move to this market. Interactive media company CNET and global information company Reuters are both present in Second Life, hosting virtual news bureaus and covering the events of the world. It is also good news for various non-profits that are using 18

the site as a low-cost and highly interactive fundraising tool. The American Cancer Society is an excellent example of fundraising success through Second Life. The 2008 Relay For Life® was the most successful fundraising event in the history of Second Life. Even though the average donation was only $3, it raised a total of $214,000, with participants and volunteers from at least 14 different counties8 It is the largest contiguous event Second Life has ever seen, including interactive cancer information resource center, peer support groups, live concerts, jewelry sales, auctions, fairs and dances. The point of the matter is that if your consumer market is spending three hours a day in a virtual world that mimics our own, then your marketing materials must be just as easily consumed by the man on the street as the avatar on the screen. Real-Time Communication An asset of the Internet is that users can access current information and conversations happening in real-time. “Real-time” events happen can be shared instantly. Instant messaging and microblogging services like Twitter are examples of popular realtime information-sharing tools. As soon as a user types and sends a line of text, it is immediately visible to the World Wide Web. In some instances like Google Wave, other viewers can even view each character as you type it. Vice President of Dynamic Web Strategies, Edwin Jeffords, points to the need for real-time feedback for brand-risk management and authentic conversation. “The biggest trend I see in marketing from a web perspective is the conversion from static data to real time results. A search on the web using Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc. will provide you with a list of links from sites that have at some point been crawled by the search engine spiders. A person can publish a blog or a new website, and it may not get crawled by the search engine for weeks. What the web is moving toward is real-time search results. Take Twitter for example, all the data you tweet is stored on the Twitter servers. Therefore, when a search is performed, the results appear and are 100 percent current or real-time. If I posted on

a blog somewhere, it may be 3 weeks before it appears in a search result on a search engine.” A recent Cision Executive White Paper titled, “Web 3.0 and the Semantic Web: What You Need to Know Today and Tomorrow About the New Environment,” also illuminates the reliance on realtime results monitoring in the future. Web 2.0 analytics already measure aspects of social media conversations beyond basic traffic like average time spent on a site, comments and on-topic replies, inbound links, and discussion thread size. The white paper states that Web 3.0 will usher in real-time reporting on topics like positive-tonegative qualitative measures of tone and prominence in news articles. The new semantic nature of the web will rank the influence of organizations and individuals where they reside with more automation. Therefore, ROI will be available in real-time when it used to take weeks to be processed by a human9. With real-time feedback, there is also an opportunity to complete more customer service in a timely matter and therefore satisfy more customers. Jeffords suggests using Twitter as the new focus group, risk management platform and customer service channel for marketers. “Marketers are finding new ways to leverage the simplicity of microblogging for huge return on their investment,” he said. Jeffords referenced Southwest Airlines as a good example of marketing success using microblogging. “There are three full-time employees for Southwest who tweet on a daily basis as a customer service channel. They speak directly to the customers having issues, all in a public timeline. They may direct someone on how to claim lost luggage, notify followers of special deals or just answer questions regarding new routes. This not only creates a positive brand experience for the customer, but it attracts the hyperconnected customers that are the target demographic of so many marketers.” Though he agrees with using the strategies outlined above, he reinforces the importance of maintaining a human element. “I think that the less a marketer tries to actually market with those tactics, the more successful they will be,” he said. “An open and public conversation shows true human interaction. Less marketing and more humanity sells on the web.”

Real-time results will “sell” in marketing because they provide convenience and instant (or close to instant) gratification. Anything that can boast to offer both of these assets will be a popular item in the future. Emotional Connections Whether based in love, hate, humor or pity, human relationships revolve around emotion. It is the primary motivator of behavior. With increasing noise in all media channels, audiences are unlikely to act unless the message at hand has deeply resonated with at least one emotion. Kevin Roberts, CEO worldwide of advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi and author of Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands, describes lovemarks as organizations that are willing to embrace emotion and develop relationships. Lovemarks excel on mystery, sensuality and intimacy, much like any relationship10. The basic idea is that companies in the future will need to represent passion and involve customers in great stories. According to Roberts, “Everyone in business is experiencing the impact of the consumer revolution. The idea of lovemarks was inspired by the desire to respond to this radical shift in what consumers need and desire. The new consumer is no longer willing to passively accept whatever comes their way from producers. Welcome to the challenge of the attraction economy- the ability to entertain, satisfy and surprise consumers across the wide range of their taste and passions.” The attraction economy is a fundamental element in the future of interactive marketing. Attraction is emotion with a purpose and it requires personal attention, interactivity, engagement and respect, just as love between two human beings would require. There are seven important elements in the attraction economy: 1. Surprise- Surprise attracts delight and therefore prompts continual innovation on the part of the marketer. 2. Empathy- This concept is based on the idea that “like attracts like” and is demonstrated in Amazon’s personalized

3. 4. 5.

recommendation system. Visitors are given suggestions for future purchases based on prior purchases. Sense Appeal- Emotional connections must be made through the senses. Design- Effective design skills are essential to attracting potential customers. Interactivity- Users who can interact personally with a brand are more likely to commit to it. Attraction is a two-way process and people in the future will expect to be able to interact directly with brands. Entertainment- This is where the power of the story comes in. Marketers who can create a story that help an audience member get â&#x20AC;&#x153;lostâ&#x20AC;? in the narrative are more likely to establish a genuine connection. Music- Music effects mood and emotion quickly. Used in an appropriate way, it can instantly draw an audience.

If marketing messages can incorporate the majority of these attraction-based objectives, they will be successful. The key is to provide unique content with every product and message in order to maintain the number one item on the must-have list â&#x20AC;&#x201C; surprise. Screen-Based Storytelling The easiest way to evoke emotion is through the art of storytelling. A great story plants the audience inside the situation at hand, with real emotions and consequences at stake. It resonates with viewers because it creates a circumstance that is universally identifiable. In generations past, stories were communicated around campfires or through novels and magazines. As technologies evolve and more people seek information solely through digital means, storytelling methods will move from passive print to compelling interactive screen-based narratives. In the future, there will be a dramatic increase in screen-based storytelling. Whether on laptops, iPods, iPads or interactive billboards, people are using screens to access stories.

Kevin Roberts describes this transition as SISOMO, or screen transformation through sight, sound and motion. It is the livelihood of the attraction economy and fulfills the demand for real-time emotionally compelling stories that intersect with technology11. First and foremost, SISOMO is highly interactive. One interactive SISOMO of the future will be found in interactive signage that becomes active when people nearby turn on Bluetooth to accept a message. The user can send a text message to a code found on the site or visit the mobile URL on the sign. For example, Spectacolor HD is the first digital billboard in New York City’s Times Square that shows advertising spots, streaming news, live HD broadcasts and an audio channel received via mobile phone. Advertisers have access to Bluetooth downloads, interactive games and content sent from short code and free WiFi. It is an innovative technology that lets thousands of New Yorkers in the vicinity have unique experiences with the interactive billboard. The recent and fast-paced success of free online video provider Hulu.com is another example of gravitation to the screen. In its first 18 months, Hulu attracted 38 million users, more than the combined subscriber base of the U.S.’s two leading cable companies. When asked about the future, Hulu CEO Jason Kilar predicts that video and media will finally be “what you want, when you want, how you want it.” He says that customers will be served in the end with more power from relevant advertising, real-time results and greater transparency. He also believes the power of screen to dominate media, saying that mobile will eventually be a “very big part of the future of media.” Whether it is through a mobile device, interactive display, YouTube video, or podcast on an iPod, the public will be captivated by good stories presented in entertaining screen format. Value-Added Content The interruption-based strategy of pop-up ads and quickie commercials during a primetime television show are no longer a valuable part of marketing strategy. Before the Internet, advertising techniques were designed to reach mass markets by interrupting the audience and simply announcing messages.

Today and in the future, successful marketing will be based on opt-in services and permission only. By targeting an audience and learning about its specific desires through genuine conversation, marketers can provide value to consumers instead of unwanted disruption. The primary tactic is to provide a resource that improves the life of the customer. In his book The Next Evolution of Marketing, Bob Gilbreath says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Marketers who provide meaningful connections help to forge an important bond between their brands and their potential customers, going beyond providing incentives and information to create a significant value-added relationship with their target consumers. When successfully executed, meaningful connections take the product, service or brand to a higher emotional level, tying the brand to something that is of deeper importance in the consumerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mind, usually through good old-fashioned entertainment, by creating a unique experience, by providing a creative outlet, or by building or enhancing a bond of friendship with another person or group of likeminded individuals.â&#x20AC;? Brands that exhibit genuine interest and concern in the well being of their customer and even potential customer will be most successful. This trend ushers in a new sense of corporate responsibility that will leave the public with the expectation that companies will not only do what is right for the world, but also for each individual. Social Relationships Social networking is becoming a fixture in the modern world of marketing. It reinvigorates a portion of human identity that needs personal attention, community and conversation. Social networks provide a way to engage very specific audiences in one place. Potential customers can be targeted based on information provided willingly and openly on public sites. Also, marketers are able to engage in interactive conversations with users for the first time, generating more enthusiastic and energized customers. Becoming an active part of an already ongoing dialogue is an effective way to reach audience members where they enjoy spending time. 24

Here are a few statistics for the most popular social site of its kind, Facebook: More than 300 million active users 50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day The fastest growing demographic is those 35 years old and older Average user has 130 friends on the site More than 8 billion minutes are spent on Facebook each day (worldwide) More than 45 million status updates each day More than 10 million users become fans of Pages each day Applications: More than 2 billion photos uploaded to the site each month More than 14 million videos uploaded each month More than 2 billion pieces of content shared each week More than 3 million events created each month More than 45 million active user groups exist on the site The term groundswell, first introduced to the marketing world by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, represents a social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations. The social technographics profile dissects technology consumers into categories based on participation in groundswell activities. Instead of describing consumers solely based on age, gender or race, online participants can be described as creators, critics, collectors, joiners, spectators or inactives. Targeted messages should reflect how audience members fit into these categories. Messages and tactics are useless without some insight into ongoing consumer conversations and aptitudes. In December 2008, Forrester Research found that most marketers surveyed were already using social technologies. Of those, 95 percent were planning to increase or at least maintain their investments, despite the current recession. Forrester also found that 43 percent of these companies had marketing budgets of at least $10 25

million12. Social tools may not look like Facebook and Twitter in the future, but they will serve the same community function and vocal outlet. To embrace social media is to embrace humanity, the â&#x20AC;&#x153;bigger pictureâ&#x20AC;? trend taking place in the future of marketing and media. Impersonal corporate speak is being replaced by a demand for genuine, honest and human interaction that more closely resembles beating hearts than hungry salespeople.

The Toolkit 28

Building Community Online With all the friending, tweeting, buzzwords and passwords, the galaxy of social networks can be intimidating. But it need not be. With a clear social media policy and purposeful strategy, social networking can be rewarding and even fun. Understanding the social media stratosphere: Traditional media like magazines, television, radio and newspapers carefully craft a message that is funneled to audiences on a one-way street of communication. This is called a “push” technology because receivers generally lack the ability to control messaging or provide any feedback to senders. On the other end of the spectrum, interactive media uses Web 2.0 technologies to “pull” in an audience. Users get what they want, when they want it. Receivers in turn become senders, providing valuable dialogue with other receivers. Information is shared back and forth on a two-way, multi-lane super highway that encourages user-generated content like audio, text, video and other multimedia. Social media is simply any tool that allows user-generated content (UGC) to be disseminated online, usually through social interaction. In 2009, social media thinkers Brian Solis and Jesse Thomas created an information graphic called the conversation prism to help visualize the social media big picture. Each petal of the prism represents a different type of network, along with popular sites in that category. In case things like wikis and blogs are not in your vocabulary, I’ve translated the prism into chart form and added brief definitions below. Use this as a reference tool when you are studying social media use for your organization and keep the conversation prism handy so you can remember the dialogue at large.

Category

Definition

Examples

SMS/Voice

Uses phone to access sites or communicate with other users

Pinger, PingMe

Lifestreams

Documents daily activities in online diary

Feedity, Profilactic, Dandelife, Blippr

Twitter Ecosystems

Sites that add value to Twitter

Twitter Search, TwitPic, TweetBeep, FriendorFollow, Twitscoop

Micromedia

Users share multimedia content

Twitter, Yammer, Jaiku

Blog Communities

Connects bloggers and users interested in blogs

Blogged, VOX, xanga, blogs.com, Technorati

Blogs/Conversations Blog Platforms

Backtype, Ask, Sites that allow users to publish personal blogs

Wordpress, tumblr, Blogger, Typepad, Movable Type 37 Signals, Zoho, Mindtouch, ThinkFree

Collaborations Crowdsourced Content

Idea marketplace available for knowledge sharing

Wikipedia, Helium, Epinion, Mechanical Turk

Comment and Reputation

Discussion communities that collect and index online comments

Disqus, cocomment, backtype, sezwho, intensedebate, Artikilz

Social Stats: Now you know where conversations are happening, it is time to figure out size and scope. •

• • • • •

52% of social networks users have become a fan or followed a brand or company online. 46% of those users have said something good about a brand or company (twice as much as those who have said something negative) 13 Facebook is the second most popular site on the Internet behind Google14 Twitter is ranked as the 12th most popular site on the Internet15 Twitter experienced a 347% increase in mobile browser access from 2009 to 2010 More than 3.5 million events are created on Facebook each month More than 1.5 million local businesses have active pages on Facebook

• • • • • •

More than 20 million people become fans of Facebook pages each day Facebook pages have created more than 5.3 billion fans Every minute, 20 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube 51% of YouTube users visit the site weekly or more often In December 2009, there were 248 million unique monthly users on the top eight social networks in the United States, an increase of 41% from January 200916 61% of Internet users have a profile on a least one social network17

Why use social media? It can be intimidating to undertake a social media campaign. If you are on the fence in your decision to expand your online presence, this list will hopefully show you some of the advantages of social networking. Powerful marketing follows the conversation. People are talking online. They talk about boring things like breakfast burritos, but just as often they are talking about news stories, upcoming events, favorite brands, the best non-profit to support, great articles, restaurant recommendations, bad customer service, good sales – the list goes on. With one quick post, a comment or video can grow like wildfire as people re-post what they find interesting or newsworthy. This is referred to as “viral media,” because it spreads quickly from person-to-person. More than likely, people are already talking about your organization online. If you aren’t a part of that conversation, you are passive, defenseless and left out. The truth is that if you aren’t managing your brand online, other people are doing it for you. Social media is the new “word of mouth” on steroids. There is no better spokesperson for your company than a satisfied customer who has access to millions of potential customers. The strength is in the numbers. According to a study by The Nielsen Company, global web users spent two more hours per month on social networks in 2010 than in 200918. The active unique audience to social networks grew by 30 percent, from 224.2 to 314.5 million. In the United States, this 34

number grew from 115 million in February 2009 to 149 million in February 201019. That counts just active users, not total membership accounts. Facebook, the largest of these social networks, boasts more than 400 million active users. Those users are sharing more than 5 billion pieces of content each and every week. Content ranges from links to news stories to online videos, blog posts, events, causes and corporate fan pages. A platform like this has never before existed in our history. Social network users merely click “share” or “post” to inform hundreds or potentially millions of eager ears. Because it is easy and effective, online communities like Facebook have become primary “news” aggravators and home pages for many users. Customer Service By listening to your customers online, you can get instant feedback. When they say something positive, you have free PR and advertising for your company. When they say something negative, you have a great opportunity to provide personalized customer service. Success Story: CoffeeGroundz Much like the scenario with Joe and his Main Street coffee shop, J.R. Cohen found huge success when he started using Twitter with his local coffee shop based in Houston, Texas. It wasn’t long before CoffeeGroundz reached more than 1,000 local followers. The shop’s popularity skyrocketed after Cohen unexpectedly fulfilled an order tweeted by one of his customers. The small business now thanks Twitter for its tremendous growth.     It’s cheap!     Unless you pay a membership fee to join a network, marketing through social media will probably be the cheap (possibly even free!)   part of your marketing campaign. Instead of sending thousands of   35

event flyers in the mail, you can save thousands of dollars and do it digitally through an event posting online. Getting Started: Strategy Online community development isn’t very far removed from the building process that took place in your very own neighborhood. Developers begin by researching who might live in their houses and what they want to look at day in and day out. Certain thoughts then cross a developer’s mind. Would a centrally located pool or clubhouse provide entertainment and social networking? What about security concerns? Can children roam the neighborhood safely? What about things like nice trees or front porches so neighbors can get to know each other? Are there rules against airing dirty laundry? These are thoughts and discussions that come before the bulldozer even makes an appearance. Strategy is the first step to social media engagement. Just as a builder drafts a blueprint, you need to forecast your goals, mission and game plan. This prevents “bandwagon” mentality and a lot of wasted time. It takes a handful of minutes to set up a Twitter account and start tweeting. This easy start-up is great for your time and resource budget, but it is also the reason why social media is oftentimes misused. If Twitter isn’t advantageous to your industry, don’t use it. If your users aren’t on Facebook, find another outlet. Know what you’re doing, where you’re doing it and whom you’re doing it with before you even think about taking that goofy profile picture.

Before Your Account Set Up: Tips for Building Your Online Community Know your members. Find your customers online before you make them find you. Meet members’ needs by researching preferred platforms, advertising tolerance levels and other favorites. Try tools like Survey Monkey, online polls or discussion forums to get feedback from customers before you step out in the social media spotlight. Listen. Study brand mentions, hot topics and big talkers. Who is most vocal about you or your industry and why? Find out using trending sites like Blogpulse, Technorati or Twitter Search. If you are introducing a new brand to the market, take the time to learn what people are saying about your competitors. By understanding customers’ likes and dislikes, you can better communicate what makes your product unique. Go where the conversation goes. Join a conversation already in progress rather than trying to dictate your own tête-à-tête. For example, The 2010 Social Media Report by Foresee Results announced that 69 percent of online shoppers regularly use social media sites20. 50 percent of those consumers regularly use Facebook. Queue light bulb. Make viral content. Notice it says “viral content,” not “make content viral.” Your job is to make content that is valuable, not to hand deliver it. Viral content can be anything from an inspirational short story to a laugh-out-loud home video. Your clever or information-packed 30-second spot or short animation is just a click away from being shared to millions of glued eyeballs. Chances are you have passed along the link to your favorite YouTube video to at least one unsuspecting loved one or cubicle neighbor. Be Relevant. Content generates vast appeal when it becomes culturally significant to its audience. This is dependent on its meaning to particular demographics based on age, race, gender and other factors. Timeliness is also key to relevance. Timing can make the difference between something being appropriate or offensive.

Create an Emotional Response. The viewer must identify with the content in order to appreciate it. Create a human-interest appeal that allows audience members to personally connect with the subject matter. Emotional reactions can range from shock and awe to tearjerking nostalgia – anything to get people talking. Innovate. Virtually everyone is equipped with a camera phone or publishing forum at all times. With today’s media noise, content must be unique and creative in order to get noticed. Blaze a new trail or add a fresh perspective to something familiar. Make it Quality. Good lighting, high resolution, camera steadiness, audio volume, copy editing. If it isn’t presented well, it won’t be valued. Make it for Multiple Platforms. Allow viewers to manipulate your work in a way that best suits their changing needs. In order to be spread, content must adapt to fit multiple formats like mobile phones, social networks or TV.

Online Participation and Influence: Who Uses Social Networks and Why? Online participation is a strategic key to your success -- whether you are a newsroom, non-profit, corporate brand or citizen journalist. Learn how to engage your online audience and you will see results in your sales, reach and global influence. Answering the following questions will help you better understand who is controlling your organization’s conversations and how you can share more information online. Do you remember the social technographics profile? As we implement new and developing technologies of today, our strategy should revolve around this key. Every user enters a network for a different reason. The social technographics profile helps dissect technology consumers into categories based on participation. Instead of descriptions based on age, race and gender, online participants can be described as creators, critics, collectors, joiners, spectators or inactives. Targeted messages should reflect how audience members fit into these categories. Should we market our new tennis shoes using Twitter? Can we fundraise using YouTube? These questions are in the forefront of every marketers mind in the midst of the groundswell. WHO: Depending on levels of online activity, online participants fall into the following categories: Creators – Write and publish content to be uploaded to sites Critics – Post ratings, reviews and comments Collectors – Gather information through blog rolls, RSS feeds or bookmarks Joiners – Create accounts or profiles on sites like Facebook Spectators- Consume without creating original content Inactives – May be online but have not committed to any site or activity

Of course, one individual may qualify for more than one category. If a man is filming a video blog, or vlog, that he uploads to Wordpress, he is considered a creator. If he is also keeping track of other people’s blogs and commenting regularly on his favorite blog, he is considered a critic and collector as well. How to Influence the Influencers: Naturally, some people are more motivated than others to participate online. The most active creators and critics are considered “influencers” over the remaining less vocal public. A 2010 study by Meteor Solutions found that on average, approximately 1% of a site’s audience generates 20% of all its traffic by sharing the organization’s information with others. Your goal is to find that 1% percent of active participants within your industry and get them to make your job easier. Here’s how: Start tracking conversations about your company. Use an analytics program like SocialTALK, Radian6 or ObjectiveMarketer 40

that helps you measure your social media presence and impact. Analytics programs help us understand exactly what is being said and who is saying it. They deliver exact analysis of our online conversations, pinpointing influencers and brand evangelists. Also, determine keywords for your industry. Once you know the hot spots, use a blog search tool like Technorati to search for vocal individuals who are using your industry’s keywords. Don’t forget about your own website! In order to encourage sharing of your online content, enable shortcut buttons that make it easy for users to repost content. Post icons or links to sites where people can log into their own account and share your stuff. Encouraging Participation Through your Company Blog Follow some of these suggestions to help your blog lurkers find a voice: Ask a question. Ending your post in an open question encourages readers to reply to you. The more contentious your conclusion, the more likely you are to elicit a response. Create a poll. Gauge your public’s opinion through quick and easy polls that allow readers to bypass lengthy or time-consuming commenting. Use polling tools like Bloggeries and Blogpoll to help you get started. Reward participators. List top commentators on your blog with a widget or plug-in. On WordPress, this can be easily done with the Show Top Commentators plug-in. Keep them updated. This goes for your audience members and your blog posts. By posting consistently, you will keep readers engaged over time. Take it a step further and allow readers to subscribe to comments, so they are alerted when follow up comments are made.

WHAT: What are your users sharing? The chart below from Pingdom analyzes different participation categories and age brackets and shows what they are doing online. If you are interested in generating participation in a certain age group, enable them to get involved by studying what type of online activity they enjoy. Do they like to write their own content or simply aggregate what they find? Maybe they would rather be sitting on the couch with the remote and a sandwich?

Think about your involvement thus far in social networks. Do you have any personal accounts set up? How does your contribution compare to that of your dad, best friend or your sisterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s kids? Often times, different generations are comfortable participating online in very different ways. Notice that 64 percent of Twitter users and 61 percent of those on Facebook are 35 years old or older. Though Twitter and Facebook are popular sites, remember to research other sites that are popular in your target age demographic.

WHERE: Knowledge is useless without the necessary tools. Finding out what your audience does online is the first step. Next, you need to find out where they do it. The following chart shows a breakdown of online sharing, with Facebook leading the way in content swapping.

WHY: Account profiles can easily show us what age groups are frequently which sites. However, it is a little more difficult to figure out what is motivating those groups to participate. Whether seeking a new friend or a self-administered pat on the back, people who participate online expect to receive something in return. Online participators are motivated by anything from anticipated reciprocity and recognition, to a sense of efficacy or a feeling of community. Any one or combination of these factors can drive someone to publish or communicate through the Internet.

Avoiding Pitfalls: Policy and Privacy Your online footprint is the scope of your digital reputation. It includes every blog, post, comment, profile and picture tagged of you on Facebook. We are creating permanent files that chronicle all of our thoughts, purchases and rash decisions. What’s the worst that could happen? Well, you could be Kevin Colvin. Colvin, an intern at Anglo Irish Bank sent his boss an apologetic email explaining that he must miss work and travel to New York on Halloween due to a family emergency. Unfortunately, he posted a picture of himself at a Halloween party hours later, complete with a fairy godmother costume and drag makeup. Colvin’s boss not only forwarded the picture and pathetic email to his entire office, but Colvin’s story was also spread across the entire Internet, making an appearance on major broadcast news networks. Now, if you Google “Kevin Colvin,” the first hit details this embarrassing story. What should we do about it? • • • •

Remove contact information from your online profiles. There are too many people who can manipulate this information to your disadvantage. If you can’t say something nice, at least say it to someone’s face. Rash decisions made in anger should stay as far away from your keyboard as possible. Be cautious about whom you trust. Think twice before you send classified information, even in private emails. Anything that is considered “private” can be made public. Be smart with your phone. Be careful who you give your number to and how you use GPS and other technologies that can pinpoint your physical location.

In today’s climate of viral content, public defamation can be toxic if you are unarmed with a social media protocol and crisis protection plan. As with any communications plan, there is always the risk for leaked information or legal complications. To help avoid these issues, outline your organization’s social media policy guidelines during your planning stages. Decide ahead of time who will speak on 44

your behalf and what they will say. Who will you turn to in a time of crisis and how will they allay the situation? A social media policy will keep your brand protected. According to a 2009 study, 91% of the Inc. 500 companies used at least one social media tool in 200921. This figure is an increase from the 77% that used social media tools in 2008. In the area of social networking, 75% of the group is very familiar with subject matter, 80% is currently using it and 14% is planning to adopt it if not already using it. Despite sweeping statistics of social media use in business, only 29% of companies reported developing a social media policy in a recent Manpower study22. It really shouldn’t be optional. If you are experimenting with social networking, it should be only after careful strategy and policy building in order to ensure brand protection and effective community building. Case in Point: Social Media Gone Wrong Honda: Crosstour Controversy When Honda released its new crossover car, the Accord Crosstour, it introduced the car to its consumers through its Facebook fan page. Unfortunately, customers had mostly negative things to say about the car’s aesthetics. Without interfering, Honda watched the online community verbally destroy the new car model. That is until Facebook fan Eddie Okubo joined the discussion. Okubo spoke up saying, “Interesting design. I would get this car in a heartbeat. I may be the older crowd with my kids out of the house and still need some space and performance. Don’t need anything big.”23 This was the first positive comment made about the car in the online forum. However, the comments that followed it were far from complimentary. Just a few minutes after Okubo’s post, several people recognized that he had failed to mention his position as Honda’s manager of product planning. One user commented, “sounds like you are trying to save your job at Honda,” and another posted links to Okubo’s LinkedIn profile24. In response to the controversy, Honda deleted Okubo’s comment and released the following response that ignited even further outrage. 45

“The photos: Arguably, the two studio photos we posted didn’t give you enough detail, nor were they the best to showcase the vehicle. There are more photos on the way. Maybe it’s like a bad yearbook photo or something, and we think the new photos will clear things up.” Though it was written in an approachable tone, the released comment failed to address the issue at hand. Honda damaged its authentic conversation when it removed Okubo’s original comment. Even worse, Honda failed to disclose the identity of some of its glowing reviews and risked ruining trust with its online audience. Facebook and other social media forums can be efficient avenues for product feedback and promotion, but the participating organization must be honest and transparent in the process. Belkin: Buying Happy Customers In 2009, a Belkin employee was caught exchanging money for positive reviews of a Belkin router. The offer, posted in plain sight on a technical website, incited a backlash against the company. Belkin president Mark Reynose released the following comment: “Belkin has always held itself to the highest standards of corporate ethics and its employees to the highest standards of personal integrity. Similarly, we support our online user community in discussion and reviews of our products, whether the commentary is good or bad. So, it was with great surprise and dismay when we discovered that one of our employees may have posted a number of queries on the Amazon Mechanical Turk website inviting users to post positive reviews of Belkin products in exchange for payment. Belkin does not participate in, nor does it endorse, unethical practices like this.” 25 After this comment was made, another employee came forward on the site Gizmodo and made the following statement: “While never mentioned in an "official" policy, for years it has been pressed upon ALL Belkin employees to do whatever is needed to get good product reviews and good press. Everything from sending blog writers a device with custom firmware that hides known bugs yet claiming it to be 46

official release firmware, faking hardware logo certifications (specifically Apple and MSFT), releasing blatantly inaccurate data from test results making our devices look superior to others, to placing "tailored" reviews of our products into places visible to consumers (as reported Amazon, etc), as well as writing poor reviews of competitors products. We have paid magazines for positive reviews, made custom devices or fixtures for use at trade shows to ensure quality demos. One such example would be a fixture that runs hidden cable to a TV or audio receiver, yet claiming the broadcast is coming from a wireless transmitter, or through a USB hub. This has been going on for years.”26 Aside from being illegal, these activities are an example of terrible social media protocol. The advantage of a social network is that any user can express opinions freely and exchange dialogue with other users. Any attempt to control the conversation is considered inappropriate and counterproductive to the social network. Belkin would have benefitted from allowing its customers to speak freely and openly in an online forum where the company could engage and better serve customers. Domino’s: Damages Brand With One Upload In 2009, two Domino’s Pizza employees in Conover, North Carolina, created a video in which they did unsanitary things to pizza items in the store. Very shortly after the video was posted to YouTube, the pair was charged with felonies for food tampering. Soon after the incident, the video was the only topic listed in the Google results for the search keyword “domino’s.” This PR disaster played out on major news networks for days and weeks. Domino’s Pizza faced both legal and loyalty consequences for its rogue employees. In an admirable attempt to stay engaged in the very heated conversation, Domino’s released a counter YouTube video that addressed the issue and apologized for the isolated incident. Though it obviously had no prior social media policy that might have prevented a debacle like this one, Domino’s made the right decision by choosing to maintain the conversation in the same medium in which it began. 47

Nestle: Needs to Play Nice In 2010, Nestle found itself once again in hot water over the controversial use of palm oil from deforested regions in Indonesia. A barrage of negative comments began appearing on the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Facebook fan page. In a fairly harsh post, Nestle posted on the profile that it would be removing fans that distorted the Nestle logo in any way. As fans rebuked the request, Nestle used increasingly sarcastic and demeaning language to speak to its customers. It soon became obvious that first and foremost, businesses should be respectful and accommodating when it comes to dialoguing with customers.

What to Consider When Building a Policy: Determine Your Purpose Translate your organization’s mission statement into social media terms. You would not do anything online that you wouldn’t do in person; so restate your values in the context of your online presence. If you aim to provide a valuable product to your client base with honesty and integrity, explain how you will do so via the Internet. Verbalizing your goal will educate your whole team and enlighten your entire customer base. Establish Voice What does your brand sound like online? Social media allows you to interact with the public in a very conversational and intimate way. Develop your organization’s personality before you post. It will most likely resemble the writing style you have used in print or advertising documents in the past. Social media tools make you relatable and approachable, so try to be a little more relaxed than your formal documents. The web allows you to play around with friendly and fun tones and still remain true to what is appropriate and consistent for your organization. In addition to establishing your voice, decide who is speaking on your behalf. Perhaps a marketing director will tweet to keep followers abreast of latest activity and upcoming events and a CEO will blog about high level big picture issues. Establishing rules will keep your voice and message consistent across multiple platforms. Disclose Identity When possible, include a picture with every voice so your audience can get to know who is speaking. And if someone publishes under another person’s name, be sure to disclose the change in voice. For example, if an intern tweets for your marketing director one day, the world should know. Along that train of thought, never participate on any social media platform on behalf of your company without fully disclosing your place of employment. That means absolutely no commenting on ratings forums under the cloak of a customer’s disguise (but of course you already knew that.) 49

Be Transparent All sources, resources and funding should be fully disclosed at all times. If someone is speaking under another personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s identity, it should be communicated beforehand. If a blogger receives samples or products to test or review, it should be known that he or she was paid or received goods in exchange for the review. Full disclosure creates an atmosphere of trust that facilitates communication between business and consumer. Separate Personal and Corporate If employees choose to engage in social media on a personal basis, private and business-related accounts should be kept separate. Corporate accounts and tweets should stay as professional as possible by making sure voices remain constant and are not cluttered with personal communication. Audience members will respect a corporate brand and message that is consistent. Places of employment should be made public in a private account if that account is used to communicate in a business-related network. For example, a private person should not provide reviews on a website without admitting he or she is employed with that company. Do it yourselfâ&#x20AC;Śkind of If you are in a pinch, use a social media policy generator like Policytool. Use of the site is free and will help you think through the important elements of your new policy. How much easier could it be?

Making it Count: Gauging Results Businesses sometimes make the mistake of avoiding social media because they find it unquantifiable. In actuality, it is possible to measure your brand development with free online management tools. Google Alerts – It couldn’t get much easier than this free service that sends you an email every time your keyword is mentioned on the web. Technorati – Search your keyboard for blog mentions with this search engine Twitter Search – This simple search engine allows you to enter a keyboard and browse real-time mentions on Twitter. Who Links to Me – Understand your realm of influence by monitoring anyone who links to you. monitorThis – Consider this your one stop shop. MonitorThis searches photos, tags, blogs, news, articles, microblogs, videos and websites from 26 different search engine feeds. Rapleaf – Rapleaf lets you trace your online footprint. Users contribute to your online score, so create an account to start managing your privacy.

The Glossary 52

Interactive Marketing Glossary Finally! You can use funky words like “wiki and “widget with confidence! Avatar- The graphic character that represents an individual in a virtual environment like a website or video game. Banner Ad- This image or animated object usually appears horizontally at the top of a web page and links to an advertiser’s site. The standard size of a leaderboard advertisement is 728 X 90 pixels. Blog- Video, images, links or text written by a user and published online in a series of entries Blogosphere- Refers to the online community that exists between bloggers and blogs Bounce Rate- Percentage of web site visitors who immediately leave a site after landing on it. This ratio determines if a site’s entry page is useful to its audience. Conversion Rate- Conversion occurs when a visitor completes whatever goal it outlined by the content creator. If an advertiser’s goal is to motivate a user to click a banner ad, a user’s click-though would serve as a conversion. A conversion rate is the ratio of goals reached based on attempts. CPC (cost-per-click)- The amount of money an advertiser pays a search engine when a visitor clicks on an advertisement via the site.

CPM (cost-per-thousand impressions)- The amount of money an advertiser pays for every 1000 views or impressions of an advertisement. CRM (customer relationship management)- The use of technology to manage client services CSS- CSS, which stands for cascading style sheets, is a programming language that uses tags to create consistency. CTR- The click-through-rate is determined by the number of times a user clicks on an advertisement based on the number of times of ad appeared online. CTR measures the likelihood an ad will be clicked. Display Advertising- In an online context, display ads include text, image or interactive multimedia that is strategically placed on a web page. Flash- Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform that creates interactive online content. Frequency- Measures the number of times a visitor is reached by a message Geotargeting- Marketing strategy that is targeted based on location GIF- Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) is a type of image format that can store up to 256 colors. Google AdSense- A free program that enables website publishers of all sizes to display relevant Google ads and earn

Google AdWords- This is the sponsored links section next to your search results. It is a pay-per-click advertising program. Hit- Any request for a file made by a server. Hits usually are not good indicators of traffic. HTML- HTML (hypertext markup language) is a computer programming language that uses a set of tags to define how content should be displayed by a browser. Hyperlink- A clickable link that connects one online piece of content to another Impression- An impression occurs when a user is purposefully exposed to something online, like an advertisement or a marketing message. Instant Messaging- Real-time communication that takes place between two or more usrs via a chat client like AIM or Google chat Interactive Marketing- Interactive marketing is an on-going conversation that allows consumers to interact with marketers in a meaningful attempt to share present and future preferences and in return receive something of worth. Marketers retain consumersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; personal tastes and later offer pertinent value to the customer. Interactive marketing usually involves tools such as multimedia technology, the Internet, social media communities, virtual reality kiosks, point-of-purchase displays or any device that allows the user to generate content in a two-way dialogue with brands or marketers. Javascript- Object-oriented client-side programming language that allows interactive web content

JPEG- A file format for graphics or the compression of a digital image Keyword- A word or group of words associated with a topic that are used when performing a search Microblogging- Microblogging is a real-time form of multimedia blogging where users send brief and often frequent updates through E-mail, text messaging, instant messaging or microblogging services such as Twitter. New Media- Media that is delivered online through an interactive platform Page view- Occurs when a user requests to load a page through a web browser Pay-per-click- Online advertising payment system that requires an advertiser to pay a set amount of money each time a user clicks on their advertisement Pay-per-impression- Online advertising payment system that requires an advertiser to pay based on the number of times a user is exposed to an object Reach- The scope of a message, measured by the number of people exposed to a certain marketing element Real-time- Communication that occurs in actual time or almost immediately. Users often gather news, watch media and have conversation online in real time.

Rich media- Multimedia content that is interactive in nature RSS Feed- Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds provide links to content as it is updated from blogs, news or other media Social Media Optimization (SMO)- SMO is a technique for generating publicity through social media and networking sites. Methods include adding RSS feeds, blogs, images, video and other interactive elements in hopes of generating brand awareness and ongoing dialogue with current and potential customers. The process of spreading content through “word of mouth” sharing is referred to as viral marketing. Information becomes viral when it is bookmarked and shared through social sites. SMO is an important part of online reputation management (ORM). Search Engine Marketing (SEM)- SEM promotes sites by increasing visibility in search engine result pages (SERP). SEM includes use of paid placement, contextual advertising and paid inclusion. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the science of using key words and phrases in online content to ensure that a search engine finds a site in results determined by its algorithm. Search Engine Optimization- SEO is the exercise of improving a website’s prominence on a Session- Time spent by a user on a site within a certain time frame. Session help in web analytics to determine a site’s popularity Spider- Software applications that index pages by following one link on a page to another. SMS- Short message service (SMS) is the same thing as a text message that is sent from one mobile device to another

Traffic- Measures amount of data sent and received on a site based on factors like number of visitors and average number of page views. Once measured, web traffic indicates site popularity. Tweet- Messages sent on the microblogging social network Twitter. Tweets must be kept under 140 characters and are viewable to the public once sent. Unique visitor- Specific individual who visits a website, no matter how many times URL- The address that is put into a browser in order to view a site or web page User-Generated Content- Video, photo, text or any other content produced by the user. This can be anything from a post on a forum to an online form or a short film uploaded to YouTube. Vertical banner- Online advertisement that typically measures 120 by 240 pixels Viral Marketing- Something passed quickly from person to person due to its popularity. This is the new “word of mouth” in an online setting. Widget- Widget is short for “window gadget.” It describes the small application of some sort of data visualization. This includes desktop calendars, calculators, sticky notes or text boxes. Wiki- A wiki is a website that allows for collaborative editing and content creation. The most notable example of a wiki is the community encyclopedia Wikipedia that lets anyone make entries and edits. 58

XML- Extensible Mark-up Language (XML) is a mark-up language that resembles HTML, but it was designed to carry data, rather than displaying it.

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http://bx.businessweek.com/automotivemarketing/view?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.adpunch.org%2Fentry%2Fthe-hondaexample-social-media-marketing-can-go-wrong%2F 24

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/01/22/belkinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s-online-review-payolaplot-thickens 25

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