And, he’s been burned in our brains (and all over our computer screens) ever since.  I don’t fancy myself a gambler, but I’d be willing to place bets that we’ll see several interpretations of Old Spice Guy costumes this year come Halloween.

For many of us in the ad industry, the Old Spice Guy campaign has set the bar for what’s to come and what we should all strive to produce.  This doesn’t just mean producing great creative.  It means having smart account people to reign in all the moving parts and allowing media to do what media does: get in front of the right audience.

So, now the great debate begins: If a campaign is “popular” or “viral”, does that mean it’s also “successful”?  Many articles surfaced last week calling into question how the Old Spice Guy has impacted sales for Old Spice.  Yahoo! and BNET both claim sales are down while Mashable, PRWeek, and Forbes point to an increase in sales.

Either way, the underlying argument is: What is a great campaign really worth?  On paper, Old Spice sales are on par (or perhaps slightly on the rise, depending on the source).  But, in reality, they’ve created a social movement with its own set of viral “legs” on which to walk.  And, the most powerful thing is those legs are standing firmly on a well-executed platform of creative and media production/execution.

We are witnessing an evolution of analytics in an ever-changing media and creative landscape.  So what are the “right” success metrics – and, how should we deem something a success or a failure? Is it truly only about the successes we can tangibly see on paper (or on the Balance Sheet) – or, are those successes we see in reality (or in volume of YouTube video views) the ones that propel great brands further forward?

How would you define success for the Old Spice Guy? Sound off in the comments below.

Most important of all was to provide an application that would appeal to both the Jeep core consumer and a mass audience that could identify with the brand’s adventure-loving lifestyle.

Traveling across the southeastern U.S. just a month ago, I broadcasted my trip via Twitter and TwitPic. My friends and family loved it, following me along the way and sending texts of enjoyment. All the way, I wished there was an easier way to transmit my trip – for my friends (miles away) to enjoy in real-time, for my family (waiting at our vacation destination) to know my real-time location, and for me to relive all the memories at the end of the trip.

Enter TripCast by Jeep – not just a road trip tracker but an adventure tracker. Kayaking, hiking, or biking, TripCast by Jeep makes it easy to share an adventure in real-time and save it like a scrapbook. Too bad I took vacation last month…

In the end, the top-funnel awareness this sort of branded entertainment application can generate is just the kind of soft sell to which consumers respond more favorably. By offering an entertaining, utilitarian experience, the Jeep brand can build interest, engagement, and trust with its potential (and current) customers. That’s something everyone can love.

Do you love mobile?
But, unsure how to harness this emerging medium to invigorate your brand?
Take an adventure with the Tocquigny team – contact us today.

Why would anyone be interested in watching low-rated content? Does it work for Adult Swim because of its sub-cultural, “different is funny” target audience? Or, does it appeal to the more general market that enjoys rooting for the underdog?

Whatever the reason, Adult Swim’s unique and intriguing content delivery system seems to work: The most-viewed video in the “Top Rated” section is 50% higher in ratings but only 15% higher in views compared to the most-viewed video in the “Top Hated” section. Plus, I was immediately drawn to the section, wondering why these videos were hated from an anthropological perspective.

In general, “Top Rated” content sorting boosts views because videos, like all other viewable and downloadable content online, are subject to what sociologists refer to as the “Matthew effect,” or cumulative advantage. This is where “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” The theory goes that when others assign high social value to something – in this case, a video rating – that thing will tend to garner higher and higher social value still. We are, after all, a socially-influenced society.

Then why would a video with a rating 50% higher than another video only earn 15% more views?

The answer is clear. When it comes to online video consumption, it seems the factor that has the most impactful social influence is number of views – and not ratings. This certainly is not a surprise, but the technique that Adult Swim employs here is rather ingenious. While their low-rated videos usually might have fallen off the consumption map, they chose to highlight them instead – boosting views, popularity, and the quirky associations with their brand.



Would you ever highlight “Top Hated” content? Let us know in the comments.

Last Friday, June 11, 2010, Apple released the latest version of its Safari browser, sending tech news outlets spinning over a new feature known as Safari Reader. Safari Reader essentially lays a shade over a webpage that blocks ads and puts the focus strictly on the content of the page.

Apple’s website shows off the newest features of Safari 5, including Safari Reader. Safari detects when a user visits a site with significant content, giving the user the option to turn on Safari Reader and block out everything on the page except for relevant text and images. (Click image to view larger version)

The Guardian’s Organ Grinder blog called it a “threat to ad-supported online media,” while Wired said there are “grim implications for online publications.” Let’s ignore the fact that Safari only controls about 5% of the browser market.

Safari is at the bottom of the market share compared to other major browsers. However, every browser has seen an increase in usage over the past year except for Internet Explorer, which has gradually declined. (Statistics courtesy of Net Applications)

Then on the same day as some outlets claimed a “first blow” to online advertising, the Wall Street Journal’s Heard on the Street column wrote about Apple ramping up its iAds program, which sells advertising in iOS apps. So apparently Apple is not opposed to ads – they just seem to be opposed to ads on a platform they don’t control.

It goes back to the adage, “if you can’t change the rules, change the game.” Google controls the web and we all know who controls the app phenomenon. Who knows if it will work, but you can’t deny that it’s a brilliant strategy on Apple’s part.

To illustrate this point, let’s examine one way in which we recently assessed Tocquigny’s own search engine optimization efforts. Since we are an interactive marketing agency, the word “interactive” is very important to us for on-site content optimization purposes. A Google search for “interactive advertising agency” or “interactive advertising” reveals that Tocquigny places extremely well on results pages for interactive-related keywords. Using data from Google Analytics since Tocquigny’s new site launch at the beginning of March, we found that about 6% of all search engine traffic in fact came from keywords that include “interactive.” You might think that 6% doesn’t sound like very much, but the large majority of search engine traffic, about 64%, came from branded searches, or searches that included some form of “Tocquigny” (Tocquigny is easy to misspell, after all).

This keyword cloud uses all non-branded search keyword phrases that have driven traffic to Tocquigny.com since the new site launched in early March 2010. The larger the word, the greater number of times the word appears across all keyword search terms. A few big words indicate that our site is optimized for that group of words. (Click on image to view larger version)

Branded searches indicate different visitor intent than non-branded searches in that the visitor already knows what he wants, which is, of course, to find that particular brand. Also, branded searches often make up the “head” of keywords that drive the most traffic to any site, including Tocquigny’s. The long tail is full of multiple-word terms that individually may drive one or two visits, but collectively tend to drive the greatest volume of traffic to a site.

Keywords vs. Visits (Click on image to view larger version)

So, we know that the Tocquigny website is optimized and ranks well for interactive-related keywords, but how can we grow our visibility? One solution is to add keywords to our consideration set. Using tools such as Google’s Keyword Tool, we discovered that keyword phrases using “digital” in them were a common theme. More interestingly, Google’s keyword recommendations suggested that people are starting to use “digital” in place of “interactive” in their searches.

In order to test this hypothesis, we took a look at Google’s Insights for Search. This useful tool analyzes Google web searches to show how many searches have been done for a particular term relative to the number of searches for that term over time. The beautiful thing about Insights is that as more of the world uses search engines (especially Google) on a regular basis, the more accurate the data becomes as a tool for identifying market trends. Using Insights for Search, we were able to compare digital to interactive. The results were rather surprising:

Interactive Marketing vs. Digital Marketing since 2004 (Click on image to view larger version)

Up until the end of 2007, “interactive marketing” and “digital marketing” both saw roughly the same number of searches on Google. Then, by the beginning of 2008, something happened that caused “digital marketing” to totally diverge in a positive direction while “interactive marketing” has experienced a steady decline. Could it be that the term “interactive” in regards to marketing is on the way out? We used several other keyword combinations to help answer this question. The same phenomenon appeared when testing “interactive agency” to “digital agency,” “interactive advertising” to “digital advertising,” and others. In most of these cases, the digital-related term pulled away from the interactive-related term around the same time at the beginning of 2008. This indicates that more and more searchers have been looking to find information about digital marketing compared to interactive marketing, and this trend is quickly on the rise.

Using the Keyword Tool once more, we found that digital-related keywords gather a much greater global search volume than interactive-related phrases. The only exception we found is in the comparison of “digital advertising agency” to “interactive advertising agency.” This is probably because of the way advertising agencies within the interactive niche label themselves; the term “digital advertising agency” is just not as common in the advertising industry.

(Click on image to view larger version)

Certainly there are ways that we can refine this analysis. For example, we could segment our traffic to analyze only visitors that came to our site through a search engine and then contacted us for more information about our services. This would give us a very segmented view of our visitors that is much more aligned with our business goals and could allow insights into the terms they used to reach our site. All in all, web analytics provides an almost endless source of data to manipulate, interpret, and leverage for further business success.

So, what started as a mere SEO assessment turned into something much larger than we had expected. Using web analytics tools, we were able to identify a trend that has a potential impact on our own business. While any changes we make ultimately might be small, the key is analysis and optimization. Without data-driven analysis to inform optimization, any marketing effort will crumble.

Discover how we can apply the Measured Approach to analytics in your organization by contacting us.

We are in the business of interruption and acceleration.
It is our job to interrupt, disrupt, invade.
To have our message rise amid the noise, above the noise, despite the noise.
To say something unexpected, arresting, new.
To have our audience pause, take notice, halt.
To stir, to ponder, to prompt.
To act, react, and act again.
Without hesitation, reluctance, or doubt.
And then return to business as usual.

And because we want to win, we measure.
We define how the game is played, scored, won.
We are interested, intrigued, obsessed. Are we visible, seen, heard? (search engine rankings, impressions, views, ad position, plays, opens, reads)
Did we intrigue, resonate, engage? (clicks, reads, times viewed, time on site, clicks-to-opens, repost, tweets, forwards, return visitors, followers, likes, fans, posts, calls, queries, leads)
Did we hit the mark, the bull’s eye, the mother lode? (purchases, conversions, new customers, referrals)
And most important,
Can we do it again?
Consistently, efficiently, predictably?
Calibrate, innovate, accelerate.
Less waste, less time, less resources.
Faster, cheaper, better, more?
Yes. That’s our business.
To score, to win, to rule.
We love it.

Facebook itself calls the change a “more light-weight and standard way to connect with people, things, and topics in which you are interested.” Light-weight? As in low-involvement. The thought here is that users will more readily “like” a brand than “fan” one since liking requires less cognitive or affective involvement with the brand.

So, we sent an informal survey to the office to find out the difference between liking and being a fan of a brand. We asked respondents to indicate their knowledge of and engagement with Interbrand’s top 15 best global brands of 2009. And, Facebook’s bet on users increased willingness to “like” was right on.

Only 16% of all responses denoted being a fan of a brand, where 53% of responses designated some form of “like.” Interestingly, 24% of all responses reported a delineation of liking a brand but not being a fan.

Brands like BMW, Coca-Cola, Disney, Google, McDonald’s, Mercedes-Benz, and Microsoft received a higher volume of users that “like” the brand than users who delineated liking but not being a fan. Brands like GE, Gillette, HP, IBM, Intel, Nokia, and Toyota evoked more users to express their delineation of liking but not being a fan. Thus, it seems users are less likely to really engage with utilitarian, functional brands, like the latter set, and more likely to develop affinity for lifestyle brands, like the former set.

Click on image to view larger version.

In all age categories, users were more willing to report their “like” for a brand than their affinity as a “fan.” Two demographic groups in particular appear to offer some opportunities given the new button change. Users 25-30 “like” brands at a higher-than-average comparative rate (42.67%), and users 22-24 were the strongest in delineating liking a brand but not being a fan (29.63%). Both of these groups especially seem to be more willing to “like” than “fan.”

Click on image to view larger version.

So, great – more users expressing their “like” for my brand, more eyes seeing branded messaging on their feeds, more awareness, more engagement, right? Wrong. Since more users are willing to “like” a brand than “fan” one, the quality of the Facebook audience will now decrease. The true brand evangelists may get watered down with all the non-committal consumers who just “like” your brand. Plus, more liking means more brands getting inside more consumers’ feeds, increasing the noise and decreasing the involvement with your brand’s messaging.

All in all, there are quite a few opportunities and challenges arising from Facebook’s new change. What do you think will happen?

• Video description module has been relocated to underneath the video player
• The amount of “recommended videos” has more than doubled and its placement is more conspicuous
• Autoplay functionality has been built in to the “recommended videos list”, effectively allowing the user to view more relevant videos with few necessary clicks
• 5-star video rating system has turned into “thumbs up”/“thumbs down”
• Channels, channel videos and the channel subscription button are now prominently featured on the video pages
• A video’s view-count is double in size and on click, expands to a full public YouTube analytics module
• More intuitive functionality is offered at user’s mouse hover state
• “Highlights View” – offering users a summarized view of top-rated comments, uploader comments, video responses
• Various updates to YouTube’s semantic video search engine algorithms

Click on image to view larger version.

As you can tell, video discovery and simplicity were the key tenants of this upgrade – encouraging users to spend more time on site, and naturally, watch and discover more videos.

What does this mean to businesses? YouTube is now, more than ever, the community destination for video sharing. Also, web video content continues to develop as one of the most consumed types of content produced not only by entertainment companies and independent content creators, but also by businesses. Video, whether branded entertainment, brand films, product walkthroughs or user generated content, has become the new marketing collateral.

YouTube is not only a venue for video hosting, but offers a perfect setting for customer and prospect communication, discovery and engagement. Add in its implications to brand and product search optimization and its prominence in the social content sharing realm, and we have ourselves one of the most powerful communication tools of all time.

Location makes mobile advertising a much more salient option for businesses, as it offers one of the most important dimensions of consumer targeting. For searchers, location makes their mobile activity much more relevant and actionable. Google aims to bridge businesses and mobile search engine users with new search ad formats and features such as click-to-call ads and local inventory search.

Local advertisers who have adopted the mobile click-to-call ads from Google AdWords have seen a noticeable increase in response rates. Surojit Chatterjee, local mobile ads product manager at Google, says the increase can be attributed to consumers becoming more inclined to interact with a local ad that contains specific and relevant information, such as a phone number or street address.

Google's local inventory search provides users the ability to make smarter purchase decisions with the help of their mobile phones. Retailers are beginning to partner with Google to offer real-time inventory information, which can be accessed by searchers anytime the product they search is “In stock nearby”.

With the increasing amount of local searches taking place through mobile devices, local businesses need to consider how they are offering their information to mobile searchers. Google provides a great platform to engage with these potential customers by serving content that encourages action.

As many of you know, the annual South By Southwest Interactive Festival is a meet-up of the “who’s who” of tech visionaries. For those of you who couldn’t attend, here are a few trends I’ve seen so far at this year’s event:

Trends & Popular Subjects of SXSWi 2010

• Rampant debates over Foursquare vs. Gowalla
• QR Codes everywhere – bathrooms, sidewalks, on cars, on badges
• The masses rule — crowd-sourcing, viral media, and social sharing
• “Smackdown” in 1/3 of the session titles (“Tech Smackdown”, “Mobile Smackdown”, “Browser Smackdown”)
• iPhones + iPads
• Privacy on the web — especially within social media and mobile realms
• Panelists defending or discounting Augmented Reality

While market, technology, and consumer trends seem to define this annual event, I have yet to stumble on anything exceedingly revolutionary (although I do have two full days left). One thing I do know: 13,000 of us will head back to our respective offices next week full of ambitious ideas, and perhaps a few new contacts, that we’ll unquestionably put to good use.

What are your takeaways so far from SXSWi 2010?

These top ten secret eateries are all close in proximity to the Austin Convention Center and will give any visitor a quick tour of Austin neighborhoods during their foodie adventures.

1. Aster’s Ethiopian

Located directly off the Southbound I-35 feeder road, this small, homey restaurant will transform your senses with flavors that are unlike what you would expect in Austin.  It is hard to pick one entrée, so the staff happily serves a tapas style plate, Atakelt Beyaynetu, with five exotic entrees such as Fasolia Wott (potato, green beans, and other veggies with a garlic cinnamon, ginger sauce) and Keyi Miser (lentils with ginger and garlic). For an authentic experience use the bread as your fork and eat with your right hand.

2804 N I-35, University Area - Google Map
Aster's Ethiopian Website

2. Blue Dahlia Bistro

East Austin has transformed itself into a must-visit area of Austin. Blue Dahlia invites guests to sit outside in a romantic, bohemian setting, sipping wine and eating organic treats, such as open-faced sandwiches, tartines with ricotta, black pepper, and agave, or the amazing smoked trout platter with a surprising tangy garbanzo and olive salsa. Make sure to save room for the flourless chocolate cake.

1115 E. 11th St., East Austin - Google Map
Blue Dahlia Bistro Website

3. Buenos Aires

Located on the “Tex-Mex” mile, parallel to the popular eclectic area of South Congress, this Argentinean restaurant offers empanadas filled with spinach, ricotta, and onions, or variations with beef, chicken, or tuna. The Lomito Beef was voted the “The Best Sandwich in Austin” by The Onion.

2414 S. 1st St., South Austin - Google Map
Buenos Aires Website

4. Casa De Luz

If you’re looking for the ultimate SXSW hangover relief restaurant, Casa De Luz serves up a hardy combo plate of wholesome micro-biotic food in a Zen setting. Drink your caffeine in advance but head there for a lunch that will rejuvenate the mind and body in preparation for the long days of music, film, and technology.

1701 Toomey Rd., South Austin - Google Map
Casa de Luz Website

5. Koriente

As you walk into Koriente you will see a hand-painted story that explains, “My Mom started this restaurant because she hates to cook.” The narrative goes on to explain that Mom loved to eat out but could not find anyone who felt food should be healthy and balanced. The featured Asian-fusion curry is spicy yet comforting and is filled with chunky carrots, onions, potatoes, and onion with hearty rice medallions. The side salad and soup is a meal itself, but you can’t stop eating once you take the first bite.

621 E. 7th St., Downtown - Google Map
Koriente Website

6. Marakesh

Located just south of the Capitol, Marakesh provides freshly made Greek delights that rival eateries located in Greece. It is a struggle to decide which three combo choices to pick on each visit: hummus, tabouleh, falafel, stuffed grape leaves, or baba ganoush NOTE: that’s not three things.  Chunks of feta and fresh pita bread accompany the combo. Sit near the window and watch the downtown crowd stroll by.

906 Congress Ave., Downtown - Google Map
Marakesh on Yelp

7. Somnio’s Café

Located in the heart of the “78704” neighborhood (the “Keep Austin Weird” zip code), Somnio serves seasonal meals with produce from local farms.  They are vegetarian-friendly with their soups and stir-fries but also offer a Bison Burger. Since everything is local the entries can run out of food. Be sure to “bring-your-own-beer” to enjoy with dinner. 

1807 S. 1st,  South Austin - Google Map
Somnio's Cafe Website

8. Sushi-A-Go-Go (Trailer in Shell parking lot)

This is not only an excellent sushi “restaurant,” but they also teach sushi classes. The menu is impressive. Start with the Trio roll with salmon, yellow tail, and tuna and be adventurous with the Texan roll filled with steak, jalapeno, and Texas sauce. They also have a six-piece Go-go box with a six-piece sampler.

4001 Medical Pkwy, Rosedale - Google Map
Sushi-A-Go-Go Website

9. Veggie Heaven

If you are looking for vegetarian, eclectic Austinites head to Veggie Heaven for some bubble tea and 70 veggie variations with names such as Four Seasons Tofu - #41.  For a guaranteed great first visit order the Spicy Yam dish and Thunder Tofu.

1914 Guadalupe St. #A, University Area - Google Map
Veggie Heaven Website

10. Whip In

No doubt this is the hippest convenience store in America. It is filled with a staggering selection of wine and beer to rival any fine liquor store.  Within the store is the Parlour Café which serves both Indian food and “South Austin Mood” food.  Order fresh made naan with “The 78704Ever,” which contains black bean masala, cilantro, chutney, and queso (bacon is extra). Choose a beverage from their store and enjoy it with your chutney and queso.

1950 S I-35, South Austin - Google Map
Whip In Website

What’s for dessert?

Sugar Mama’s Bake Shop

Along S. Congress SXSW visitors flock to the Hey Cupcake trailer with the rotating, lit cupcake.  If you are looking for an adventure in cupcake flavors, go around the block to Sugar Mama's Bake Shop on South 1st and try the Black and Tan with a Guinness Stout cake and Irish cream cheese frosting, or the Elvis, a banana cupcake with peanut butter topping plus gold sparkles. This is a favorite SXSW stop for @zappos_spouse from Zappos and a destination for high-tech meetups.

1905 S. 1st Suite A, South Austin (closed Mondays) - Google Map
Sugar Mama's Bake Shop Website

Regardless of what you have to say, this audience chooses not to listen to your marketing message unless it is tailored specifically to their information needs. Scientists and medical professionals have two types of information needs — “Heads-Up” information and “Heads-Down” information:

• "Heads-Up" information includes news on technological advances, the competitive environment, and industry trends. They are more likely to read printed articles, ads (particularly banner ads placed on sites they trust), brochures, and email newsletters for this type of information.
• "Heads-Down" information is knowledge gained on the job and consists of data, specifications, or technical information on how to solve specific problems. They are more likely to use websites and blogs to acquire this intelligence.

Take a Straightforward Approach

Scientists and medical professionals usually purchase products after carefully weighing facts and making relevant comparisons. They prefer straightforward message tones, characterized by factual, low-key, professional approaches. Advertising copy should appeal to reason first and emotion second — because, for the scientist or medical professional, purchasing is a measured process based primarily on technical data, not pleasant feelings. Furthermore, the conceptual language used should be familiar to this audience (e.g., charts, graphs). Using their vocabulary is important because it conveys credibility and makes them comfortable with their ability to fully understand the message.

Get It Right the First Time

Scientists and medical professionals are trained to question information. They apply a highly critical eye to the choices that a vendor company makes in designing and marketing their products, and they won’t revisit their decisions. Therefore, inadequately executed efforts to influence this audience may do more harm than good. We recommend testing marketing campaigns before their deployment to be certain that the messaging and tactical implementation will be effective.

Use Social Media Marketing

How should a company go about marketing to a target who claims to be immune to typical advertising and marketing techniques?

Social media marketing is an excellent way to inform and influence scientists and medical professionals. Since recommendations from colleagues are one of the most trusted and valued ways they receive information and make decisions, they are likely to solicit the opinions of a small community that they trust. These professionals are quick to discover that they can greatly benefit from the experiences of others and are often eager to share information. By developing, monitoring and contributing to the right online communities, companies can build trust and awareness more efficiently than most other channels. When social marketing is combined with search marketing, an informative website, and a targeted display advertising program, the results can boost a company’s growth and profits.

Other proven marketing techniques to reach the scientist and medical professional include:

• Appeal to the analytical, intelligent mindset through the use of interactive tools to deliver branding and key messages
• Demonstrate how technical features deliver value through interactive, technical demos
• Provide offers of intelligent information to reduce perceived risks

Used together as a comprehensive strategy, we have seen these techniques work to gain the trust and focused attention of cautious decision makers. One-off efforts will not, however, lead to long-term success. An effective marketing strategy in which each tactic ladders back to support a specific business goal is the best way to build a dependable approach for the delivery of measurable results. For more information on how a strategy such as this can be created, please call Peter Moossy at 512-532-2907.

Social media is perhaps the most exciting, fastest-growing innovation in internet usage today, but why should marketers care? You may see how social media can work for youth-oriented products or big-name brands with lots of emotional resonance, but is it something that your company should be using? Maybe you’ve been marketing with banner and search ads for years, but you don’t see how social media really fits in.

Social media can work for your company — if you understand the right way to use it to your advantage.

From Niche to Mainstream

Social media is media that facilitates socializing — that is, it is a two-way communication employed to share ideas and send messages. Social media started in the late 1980s with the inception of the chat room, a forum for users to share their thoughts on a multitude of subjects. Later innovations, such as one-on-one instant messenger software, allowed people to use the internet for quick, to-the-point communications that previously would have required a phone call. The need for longer-form sharing spurred the development of the weblog, or more simply, the “blog.”

But the real explosion of social media occurred in the early 2000s, as MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other sites provided one central meeting place for networking and sharing that could then be subdivided into almost an infinite number of affinity subgroups. These sites gave people the ability to not only communicate, but also to identify, build, and manage networks of relationships among people with similar interests.

In fact, these three networks today have a combined total of more than 268 million registered users, a significant share of the world’s online population. Social media soon expanded beyond networking profiles with the launch of multimedia sharing (sites such as YouTube and Flickr) and social bookmarking (Digg, Reddit, and StumbleUpon). Each of these applications provided for more efficient and compelling two-way communication, all from the convenience of any device that has internet access.

Initial adopters skewed young, but since 2005 social media has attracted baby boomers in increasing numbers, providing a larger engaged market share and a significant facility for integrated marketing. Today, web applications (such as Twitter) and corporate blogs alike allow for two-way communication between businesses and customers as well as businesses and other businesses.

Virtually everyone in the world who has internet access is a member of the social media community whether they know it or not. You are engaging in social media when rating a book on Amazon.com; when searching for the correct way to clean your computer monitor on Apple’s message board; or when video-chatting on Skype with a prospective client in Dubai.

Target and Talk

Social media offers easy, compelling tools to build and manage relationships. Whether it is targeting future investors or getting back in touch with a high school comrade, social networks have become a standard for managing and building peer-to-peer relationships. In fact, a recent study showed that 74 percent of global social media users utilize social networks to contact friends. This community-building plays an integral role in social media success.

Social media can actually be more targeted and more trackable than traditional face-to-face networking channels. There is a plethora of search and analytics utilities available that makes it easy to identify and communicate with potential customers. These “filter & find” targeting tools provide more dual-sided, educated relationship construction.

When engaging online, people will unsurprisingly self-select the affinity groups they’d fit into. These selections will influence where people spend their time online. For instance, if I were a 38-year-old male IT Director from Boston, Massachusetts, I could potentially fit in to the following affinity groups: Age (Gen X), Geographical (Boston), Business (Information Technology), Interests (Boston Red Sox), Hobbies (Traveling & Sailing). The social media sphere is constructed of distinct communities particularly encompassing engaged, passionate, like-minded people. This aspect of self-selection, and its resulting targeted audiences, makes the channel an exceptionally valuable addition to the marketing mix.

In addition, extraordinarily compelling is the breadth of reach that social media offers. Of an estimated 272 million users of the World Wide Web, 57 percent have joined a social network, making it the number one platform for creating and sharing content. This startling fact proves that this channel offers a cost-effective solution for most marketing, sales, and consumer targeting campaigns. The marketing industry has for years been following the consumer to the places they gather. Instead of following, now is the time to gather with the consumer. Instead of communicating “to” them, marketers can communicate “with” their audience with the goal of building a close relationship, so the consumer will begin advocating for you and your product. If feeling compelled, brand loyalists will write reviews, author blog posts, tweet their assessment, post videos, and more — all about you and the useful good or service you provide. This is the birth of viral marketing.

Anytime, Anywhere

The World Wide Web never sleeps. As a global entity, you can now market your good or service simultaneously in a dozen time zones. Accordingly, you shouldn’t only be active from 9 to 5 — people are communicating with each other all the time, making countless decisions out of office, especially with the growth of mobile devices that allows internet access anywhere. Showing that you are active during “off-hours” can not only make you more personable, but also increase your chances of active lead generation and networking.

Accessible and Credible

So now you understand what social media is and where it fits into society, but without a proper grasp of the “do’s and don’ts,” your campaign could very well go awry. As previously mentioned, this channel is a two-way street. It was conceived to put two people on the same communicative level as each other.

• Converse online as if you were talking with a friend in person. The less robotic and more personal you appear, the more compelling you are. Be yourself, be friendly and approachable, and most of all, invite others into your life and business. This is an incredibly simple tactic, yet widely ignored.
• Create profiles on every relevant web community you can and monitor all of them on a consistent basis. Naturally, the more you participate, the more followers you will acquire.
• Conversely, react and respond to conversations initiated by others that affect you; for example, if you come across someone frustrated with your business or product, publicly acknowledge the issue and attempt to resolve it. This type of reputation management is actively employed on a daily basis by B2B and B2C companies like Dell, Sun Microsystems, JetBlue, and Comcast Cable on the Twitter social media site. Not only does the irritated consumer feel exonerated, the public resolution creates excellent PR.
• Be interesting. The companies that join a social network and talk purely about business and what they can offer the customer miss the central principle of social media. This is not the place for a formal sales pitch, but rather a channel for relationship-building and public communication.
• Offer incentives. For instance, Zappos — the web’s largest shoe retailer — has recently offered a special VIP store with free guaranteed overnight shipping exclusively to their social media audience. Companies like Rubbermaid and Sweet Leaf Tea regularly run interactive real-time contests with prizes. Access to a knowledge base, exclusive news, and insights can be just as desirable as promotions and freebees — especially from B2B companies.
• Be transparent. Wherever you lend your presence online, use your real name, your real title, and reveal what you do. One would rather converse with Jennifer, Marketing Manager at Company ABC, than just with Company ABC, Inc. This builds interest and trust.
• Make it a company-wide effort. Don’t just delegate an intern to man and build your social media presence; associates, directors, VPs, upper-level executives should all play a role in your web strategy. Flood the sphere with your brand and message — not only will you connect with social media patrons, but you’ll also be more optimized for search engine presence. Your blog posts, Facebook pages, and Wiki articles will potentially begin to show up as top results on Google and Yahoo! — further increasing leads and eventually, sales.
• Actively measure and analyze your effort. Tracking your presence, audience, campaign reception, and brand awareness (both quantitatively and qualitatively) will rationally communicate your relative strengths and weaknesses. The accurate analysis of these metrics can result in constructive adjustments within your social media campaign, insuring that your investments in time and money are justified.

Social media represents huge potential for marketers based on its reach, its targeting potential, and its forum for customers to interact in an immediate and personal way with your company. Nevertheless, it should not be employed as a standalone tactic, but it should be coupled with other marketing efforts (on- and off-line). Tocquigny has a thriving all-in-one social media practice that offers strategic planning, search engine optimization, pay-per-click, media buying, and design. Let us take the hard work off your shoulders and cultivate a social media campaign that fits your company and appeals to your audience.

1. Share

Whether related to your business or not, share your thoughts: how to revive the economy; what the new black is; which ’80s star you just shared a cab with; when your new, game-changing product is debuting. The more fascinating and unexpected your stories are, the more your audience will be inclined to share your posts, and the more attention you’ll get. Start with a simple blog, where you can establish a central hub that includes links to your Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and other social network profiles. Giving your audience more opportunities to connect with you means more ways they can share your brand with their network.

2. Listen

Social networks are vaults of valuable information. Your contact list is filled with opinions and ideas that can give you the answer to who, what, when, where, and why your audience makes its decisions. When you listen to what they say, you can forge relationships with your customers; you can also develop lists of relevant keywords to monitor other conversations, so you can learn even more about your audience — and how best to connect with them.

3. Track and measure everything

While there are certainly more in-depth measurement tools, Google Analytics provides a free and simple way to identify and measure your audience. You can track every click on every site they visit, and even the amount of time they spend on each page. The analyzed data will help you determine where your audience is, what they’re looking for, and most important, if they’re ready to consider the goods or services that you’re offering. Through this kind of measurement, you’ll have the opportunity to fine-tune your approach, communicate a more accurate and relevant message, and improve the overall success of your social media campaign.

4. Provide an incentive

The internet is far and wide, and that’s why you need to give your audience a compelling reason to engage with your brand. Contests, sweepstakes, and tangible giveaways can be sufficient, but there are many low-cost incentives that can provide even higher value: exclusive news, unique insights, private product testing, enhanced customer service, or even personalized, one-on-one attention can entice your audience to become loyal advocates.

5. Be transparent

Use your real name and title and reveal your true intentions for networking. Tell the world about your family and friends, your hobbies and recreation time, what makes you tick, and what keeps you up at night. Transparency cultivates trust, so let your audience know when you’re interacting simply to promote a product. And if your objective is to address concerns about your brand, respond to each issue honestly — and listen. Recently, JetBlue used Twitter to connect with its passengers on a deeper level. Through personalized messages, they fielded complaints, apologized for mishaps, and answered questions, all of which led to a boost in customer appreciation and brand loyalty. It just goes to show how openness and accessibility can increase your likability and build a credible, no-nonsense relationship with your customers.

Here at Tocquigny, we have experts who are ready to take your company’s social media presence to the next level. Contact us now to find out how we can customize a strategy for you.