Before we take leap forward, let’s take a look back at what 2011 brought us

2011 was indeed a year for emerging media. But this year, we really began experiencing what it means to integrate emerging media with traditional media.  I know there are still skeptics who may believe that the two entities do not belong together, but as people continued to spend more time online there is no way around it. More organizations sought to create an online and offline experience for their target audience this year then ever before.

Still not sold on it? Well think about it. If you answered yes to any of these questions below AND answered the call to action then you have proved us right.

• Did you see a TV commercial with links to their Facebook Page or Twitter account?
• Did you scan a QR Code on an advertisement in a magazine or direct mail piece?
• Did you watch a live TV show and tweeted your response to a question they asked at the same time or joined a tweet chat?

Social Media: Although social media is generally driven by consumers this year brands dominated the networks. We saw a major change in layout, advertising programs, and capabilities from the top social media networks. For example the Facebook Insights dashboard allows companies to become more social and engage with a wider audience by placing their brand directly in their presence without necessarily invading their space. Twitter’s usage continues to grow amongst multicultural audiences especially African Americans and Latinos. But, if there is one thing that stands out about this platform is that almost 48% of users access their account on their mobile devices.  Expect this to become the driving force behind 2012 changes to Twitter.  Nonetheless, the rankings probably will not change much amongst the top performers but keep an eye on Instgram and Tumblr in 2012.

Digital Design Media:

Content Creation- One design trend that was prevalent this year was content creation sites/applications in the form of reviews. The act of curation is becoming essential to staying current with fresh content on the Internet. For example, Stamped allows users to rate and approve things they like quickly. Rather than a standard three to five stars rating Stamped is a yay or nay proposition–it makes the review/recommendation interaction quicker and easier. Since Stamped starts members off with a finite number of credits it rewards users with more stamps if their recommendations garner attention via their social network. Ultimately the whole idea of Stamped is a giant call to action with one’s friends acting as the curators. In 2012, social marketing will go beyond just the networking sites.

Infographics- Now that you have extensive amounts of data at your fingertips-now what? Infographics merge data and design. Infographics are creative, engaging, and make market research much more easier to understand. If you have research to present, consider designing an Infographic in 2012. As popular marketing websites such as Mashable.com continue to use Infographics to explain data expect to see this trend continue in 2012.

Mobile Media:

QR Codes- QR Codes were everywhere this year…even on my toothpaste tube! Direct mail pieces really benefited from QR Codes because they provided an intriguing quick way to get deals and more information about the sender.  There is still life for direct mail, thanks to QR Codes. Therefore do not completely count them out of your strategy. Besides direct mail pieces, QR Codes have begun showing up on more product packages, poster boards, advertisements, and outdoor media.

Online Shopping: Online shopping numbers hit major highs this year. The emergence of tablets, mobile websites, and mobile applications made shopping online much more convenient for consumers. This Christmas 18.3% of online sales were from a mobile device up from 8% last Christmas.

Well that was our year in review and we look forward to 2012. Happy New Year from ARGUS!

Surprised? Outraged? We were too.

That’s why, in partnership with the Department of Public Health’s Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program (MTCP), we recently launched the OPPOSE campaign to educate adults about the industry’s new tactics and prompt local action.

As part of this statewide initiative, we created an online community (oppose.ning.com) to bring concerned adults and key stakeholders together on the issue of protecting our kids from these underhanded tactics. In addition to a paid media buy, we also created an interactive exhibit, Big Tobacco’s Carnival of Tricks, and we’re traveling to malls across the state to raise awareness of the sneaky tobacco industry tactics and what adults can do to protect their kids.

So far, we’ve had two successful events at the Burlington and Northshore malls and we’re looking forward to continuing this road show in other communities, including:

June 4th 11-3PM: Solomon Pond Mall in Marlboro, MA
June 11th 11-3PM: Southshore Plaza in Braintree, MA
June 18th 11-3PM: Holyoke Mall in Holyoke, MA
June 25th 11-3PM: Holyoke Mall in Holyoke, MA

To learn more, please visit oppose.ning.com and stop by Big Tobacco’s Carnival of Tricks if we’re in your area!

Biculturals live straddling two cultures, in this case, Hispanic and American. Why can they not be ignored? Biculturals’ buying power exceeded $800 billion in 2007, and continues to outpace general market buying growth by 5-to-3. In addition to that, they share positive brand experiences with an average of 23 people (compared to 10 people in the general market) and 66% of users forward product recommendations and warnings by email (compared with just 28% of general-market). They will also share information with their offline friends and family. Bicultural Hispanics are more likely to transact and conduct search online and express a strong desire to be courted for their unique multicultural identity, and tend to avoid marketing that seems to qualify them as generic “Spanish speakers”.

Biculturals can also identify as English dominant or Spanish dominant. Many English dominant biculturals might speak Spanish and understand it, but prefer to communicate in English. Spanish dominant are the opposite, perhaps understanding English but preferring to communicate in Spanish. But should your online effort be executed in English or Spanish? As shown in the AOL Cyberstudy, Spanish dominant biculturals prefer media in Spanish, but the biculturals in all consume more in English, so marketers and communicators need to make important information available in both Spanish and English. But it doesn’t end here. It’s not just about the language.

We know that a successful campaign is also about the content – those cultural insights that connect the audience with the brand experience. Bicultural users surf the net in a “Bilingual Mode” first choosing what content they want to be served and perhaps considering the language second. They actually choose different languages for information, entertainment, to make transactions, to engage, etc. It’s important to adapt your content to communicate with the bicultural. The online space is where conversations happen, where brands can speak to their customers and customers can speak back.

A successful interactive marketing strategy will be one that includes a keen understanding of the varying levels of acculturation and language preferences among the biculturals group, as well as an understanding of how nationalism affects trends in buying patterns and brand patronage.

Today’s realities of record unemployment, job insecurity and home foreclosures, make the task of earning consumers’ trust even more challenging.  Consumers are paying closer attention to HOW they are spending their money and WHO is receiving it.

Creating a strategy focused on fostering trust can help you find your business on the receiving end of these transactions. There are a number of components that go into a winning trust strategy, including:

1.) Really get to know your consumer

Age, income, geography, education, ethnicity are all great starts, but you can go much deeper than that.  Consider where they come from (culture, values), their reality today (priorities and fears) and where they want to be tomorrow (hopes and dreams). These insights enable you to develop branding and promotional strategies that connect with your audience in a more meaningful way – make them feel like you “get them” and then in return, you deserve their business.

2.) Define the consumer experience

Once you’ve defined who your consumer is, you should now set your sights on defining their experience with your business. Your consumer experience is the sum totality of all interactions with your business at every touch point – your visual identity, website, social media strategy, customer service practices, sales, etc. Developing a consistent, positive experience that consumers grow to expect and love from you is the key to earning their trust and loyalty. Borders, who was recently ranked number one on Forbes’ “Best Customer Experience” list, is an example of how good customer experience can lead to higher sales and ultimately brand loyalty. Borders.com, for instance, has linked its online retail sales to a site that gives information on events that incites customers who do not buy online, to visit the store for a poetry reading and purchase items then. Whatever the overall strategy may be it clearly pays to provide great customer service.

3.) Leverage word-of-mouth

When you create a great consumer experience, people take notice and talk about it. We know that the average consumer will share positive brand experiences with approximately ten people. Today, word-of-mouth is more powerful than ever. Consumers are not only talking about their experiences, they are also taking their opinions to Facebook, blogs and Twitter. It’s important for you to be present on these social media channels in an effort to cultivate positive conversations about your brand and mitigate the negative.  For instance, monitor your company’s name on Twitter. If you come across a negative comment, apologize and within reason, do what you can to make the situation better.  This will certainly impress the individual you’re tweeting with as well as his/her network of followers. A company that utilizes this insight very well is Comcast, or as known in the twitter world, “ComcastCares.” Frank Eliason, Comcast’s ‘Twitter Man’, has successfully created a greater consumer experience thanks to the fact of back and forth discussions regarding Comcast’s services as well as stressing the importance of building customer trust through social networking.

There’s something very powerful about someone we know and trust recommending a brand. There’s also something very powerful about someone we look up to (celebrities, community leaders and other public figures), declaring public support for your product or service. Identifying influencers from your target audience and earning their trust so they will endorse your brand is an effective way to build brand loyalty.

4.) Communicate in-context

Sometimes it makes perfect sense to create a high profile TV spot to promote your business and sometimes it does not. Consider the time and place when consumers will be most receptive to the message, and then determine the most appropriate media channel for disseminating it. There’s a lot of clutter out there in the marketplace and consumers will appreciate your tact in speaking to them when they’re primed to receive the message. If you’re a financial services company targeting small business owners, I may not notice your billboard driving down the highway on my way to work; however, I may take notice of your online banner on a trade website I read every morning at the office.  Being more precise in your targeting not only earns the good graces of your audience, but also will save you money in the long run.

Leveraging these insights for a winning trust strategy will help your business be on its way to cultivating trust and retaining loyal customers. The bonus? These will also be essential in piquing the interest of new consumers and expanding your market base.

The third step to building your social media portfolio is:

3. Execute with consistency.

At this point in the social media portfolio process your profiles have been established and you have worked to correct any misinformation. Keep in mind that moving forward with consistency across a range of social media sites is extremely important because you want people to instantly recognize your business from the look and feel of your social media profiles. Don’t be afraid to take advantage of the customization features offered by sites, such as profile pictures and backgrounds.

Here are some guidelines that will help your business achieve a consistent and professional image:

• Layout or color scheme: The layouts and color schemes of your social media profiles should be based off one common denominator, generally your company website. If your profiles conflict, people may be unsure whether they are looking at the same or two different companies.
• Official logo: While this seems like a no brainer, it is very important to use the same logo version across profiles. This means keeping it on the same color background and displaying it prominently on the profiles.
• Update intervals: Set deadlines for when your profiles will post new content or updates. This can be as simple as deciding to post a blog every week and at least one Twitter post a day. Remember, just because you take a day off doesn’t mean the Internet does.
• Language and voice: It would be beneficial to carry the same voice and language throughout your profiles. You want to maintain a professional but approachable persona. Being consistent doesn’t mean having only one person write and update all profiles. It means setting guidelines for appropriate language and terminology that all contributors will feel comfortable with and follow.
• URL shortcuts: There are many different sites that allow users to shorten URLS. On mobile sites and character constraining sites such as Twitter, shortening URLs is a must. Internet users take a gamble when they click these links because they cannot determine where it will bring them due to the URLs being a jumble of numbers and letters. Use the same URL shortening site every time to avoid confusion and to establish credibility.
• Photos and images: Have four or five official photos of your business available. Some sites allow users to upload photos to enhance their experience and the site’s database. Keeping the same photos every time will cut down on the confusion.

One benefit of having these guidelines established ahead of time is that the process of making profiles on new sites becomes streamlined. The trick is applying the guidelines to whatever customizations a site may offer. Following guidelines across sites will also give your social media portfolio a professional and well-planned look.

This series was created to help your business plan its social media strategy and execute it effectively, thus creating a social media portfolio. Going into the portfolio process, you want to have a clear understanding of your businesses’ resources so that you can devote enough time to all the channels you plan on targeting. You also want to take control of your social media presence by establishing your businesses on channels you do not plan to utilize regularly in order to protect your image. Leaving content creation up to other users can damage your portfolio and make your business appear questionable. Lastly, you want to be consistent in the look and feel of your social media profiles by drawing up guidelines that can then be implemented across all your social media.

Social media is a valuable tool that can support your businesses’ communications goals. Building your portfolio is only half the work, you need to keep up with and maintain your social media. With the three steps in this series you can create a portfolio that emphasizes the value of your business, drives traffic, and adds to your online presence.

If you’re interested in learning more about social media and how it relates to business, take a look at our last two posts:

Building Your Social Media Portfolio: Pt. II

Building Your Social Media Portfolio: Pt. I

The second step to building your social media portfolio is:

2. Create profiles on channels you don’t plan to utilize on a regular basis to protect your image from false information.

Half of your social media portfolio is creating profiles and content on various sites. The other half is protecting your content and monitoring what is being said in social media to protect your image and stop false information from spreading. This is where the importance of stagnant sites comes into play.

There is a double-edged sword to social media. On one hand, it’s great that everyone can create content. On the other hand, it’s…not great that everyone can create content.

The classic example of this paradox is an electronic business directory. This is where the definition of social media can get a little fuzzy. Location based and check-in based applications like Foursquare or Google Latitude can act like a business directory in the same way that Yelp or Google Maps can. Location based and check-in based programs function to gather information about a business or a place that will assist and enhance a user’s experience. The catch is that the businesses being listed may or may not have created their profile on these sites.

Picture this: An imaginary tourist is sitting in the imaginary “Sunflower Café” a few blocks away from their imaginary hotel. The tourist takes out their smart phone and launches the imaginary check-in based application “The World in Your Pocket.” After using the search bar in an attempt to find the “Sunflower Café” with no results, the imaginary tourist decides to create a listing for the business without the café’s knowledge. The problem? The imaginary tourist has a touch phone and accidentally spells the word “sunflower” as “sunflwr.” The owners of the “Sunflower Café” do not dabble in social media and have no knowledge of this profile. The spelling mistake leaves their business looking questionable to other patrons using the same check-in based application.

Accidents like this are innately innocent, but they can create a bad image for your business. They are also a pain to clean up after the damage has already been done. The solution? Create the profile before someone else does. Or, check your business’ existing social media profiles to make sure the information is correct and make changes if necessary. You do not want someone else’s mistake detracting from the hard work you have done to build you social media portfolio.

Many sites have the option to “claim your business.” This means you can either create a profile, or edit an already existing profile by signing up for the application and going through a few simple identity-verifying steps.

Business directory sites are the easiest social media profiles to create and consequently forget about. They generally require little to no maintenance once created, unless they are being used to distribute special offers or for some other creative purpose. By going through various sites and establishing your business, you can prevent false information from circulating while simultaneously adding pieces to your portfolio.

Keep in mind that it may be necessary to use a smart phone when creating social media profiles. Many sites allow you to sign up online, but you can only go so far without the actual smart phone application . Sites like these include Foursquare, Gowalla, Google Latitude, Whrrl , Brightkite, Loopt, and Facebook Places.

Stay tuned for Part III of “Building Your Social Media Portfolio,” focusing on maintaining a consistent image across all your media profiles.

Credit: Creative Commons

It’s no secret that Facebook, Twitter, blogs and the like are no longer reserved for college students, techies and over-sharers. In fact, nearly 70% of online adults are using social media on a regular basis, a figure that is only increasing. Social media has become a crucial component of the marketing mix for companies of all sizes across all industries as a virtually free way to dissipate information, interact with your audience, and increase brand recognition and loyalty.

In this economy, social media has become more important than ever for the non-profit and public advocacy sectors. It is an incredibly cost-effective way of sharing news, raising awareness, as well as building and sustaining online communities in support of a common mission – when done correctly. This means going beyond setting up Twitter and Facebook accounts or posting the occasional YouTube video. It requires a clearly defined strategy with tactics that are designed to reach your target audiences in order to achieve measurable goals and objectives. Without a comprehensive strategy, those random tweets only create white noise and contribute to information overload for users. The strategy determines which social media channels you should leverage to best support your goals.

One appropriate tactic for non-profit groups seeking to raise awareness among their target audience is to start a blog that showcases the organization’s knowledge and expertise. Blogs have become a mainstream means to share information and incite discussion with over 57 million American adults reading on a regular basis. To ensure the post reaches your target audience, you could ask influential bloggers with an established readership to write a compelling post on the issue, and include a call to action that directs readers to your website. It’s important that your social media tactics do not standalone, but rather work together to proliferate your message and maximize your time and resources. For example, you can share a link to your blog post on your Twitter and Facebook pages to ensure optimal visibility and reach.

The golden rules of social media for non-profits and public advocacy groups are to keep your audience engaged and encourage their participation. It is important to regularly update your social media channels with relevant and meaningful information. New content cultivates interest and encourages people to share your updates with their online networks. Motivate people to interact with your organization by allowing them to comment on your Facebook discussion board or your blog posts, for example. Start a conversation with your audiences by responding to comments and answering any relevant questions to the best of your ability. Of course, this level of personal interaction requires some level of monitoring and maintenance, but it is a wise investment. If people feel that they have been heard and that their opinions are valued, they are more likely to continue their involvement in your organization and champion your cause.

As I’m sure many of you can attest, raising awareness on behalf of your organization is only half the battle in the non-profit and public advocacy world. Oftentimes, motivating people to take that extra step and do something is the hardest part of achieving your organization’s goals. Social media serves as an excellent vehicle to help mobilize your target audience into action. You can use social media tactics to drive traffic to your website to make donations, send Facebook invites to increase event attendance or arm your supporters with the resources to write to their local legislation calling for action on behalf of your organization.

As a final reminder, make sure to nurture the online community you have developed. Keep supporters abreast of any new updates, accomplishments and new opportunities to stay involved in the organization. An educated, responsive online community that feels appreciated is a valuable asset to any non-profit, and these supporters are likely to remain loyal to your organization for years to come.