Developing Your Marketing Campaigns Using Predictive Analytics

Technology has changed the way marketers reach their target audience. Communication is faster and conversations are being developed and used for quantitative/qualitative analysis. While understanding real time data is very important, marketers must use foresight to study market trends in order to understand their target audience better and increase a campaigns reach.  Predictive analytics is a broad term describing a variety of statistical and analytical techniques used to develop models that predict future events or behaviors. Marketers can pin point trends to increase efficiency, which will save money and maximize the campaign’s budget. IBM said it best, “Predictive analytics gives you the knowledge to predict…and the power to act.”

The speed of technology forces organizations to look and think ahead. Marketers participate in data mining in order to identify trends, patterns, and relationships amongst the gathered data. For example after the launch of a new loyalty program, company X will analyze the data to reveal consumer psychographics but also as a method to foresee changes of that target audience. Although the customer may have purchased the product, predictive analysis goes a step further to help companies understand what made the customer make that purchase and is there a high chance for return.  Not only will marketers understand why, predictive analysis can also answer the questions what’s next and what can we do about it? Instead of offering the same discount in the loyalty program, company X can analyze the information and determine if such an offer should be continued even though the customer just purchased the product. Rather than relying on intuition when pricing products, maintaining inventory or hiring talent, managers are using data, analysis and systematic reasoning to improve efficiency, reduce risk and increase profits. Predictive analysis benefits more than just the marketing department but also sales, business operations, and financials.

The increase in predictive analysis has also resulted in the growth of intuitive software systems designed to provide organizations with the technological framework to integrate into marketing operations. Two industry leaders are IBM SPSS and SAS. Both products have become industry leaders due to their vast technological capabilities that can be tailored to industries and specific organizations.

The Future of Predictive Software

Companies are obtaining vast amounts of information at very quick speeds from multiple devices. Data analytics management has become virtually impossible to manage without a CRM system. Therefore, analyzing the information effectively will require systems that can compute a large magnitude of information. The complexity of the incoming data has also shifted. Social marketing goes beyond general consumer demographics. When it comes to social media, predictive analysis can be used to assess how customers respond via social media and model what behavior might occur. While most brands marketing organizations still view social media and traditional media separately. An example of this occurs when traditional media is used to drive viewers to online initiatives furthering the conversation or vice versa. Without a robust platform, marketers will be unable to understand the ROI of the entire campaign. As more companies continue to adopt the IMC approach, expect predictive analysis software to grow due to the high demand for systems possessing social media capabilities. As technology continues to change online and offline interactions, predictive analysis should be adopted as an internal and external function of the organization.

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!

Mobile Technology and Millennials

There is no doubt that technology has changed the way we communicate, behave, and learn. Higher education has seen a change in learning and teaching initiatives as well as recruitment and engagement. Most campuses are utilizing a mix of emerging media and traditional media to connect with current and prospective students. Social media has now become the norm for almost every higher education institution. There is an acceptance and understanding that institutions must have some sort of presence on the main channels (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn).

Nonetheless, there is one opportunity that is at the top of the list for higher education professionals: mobile technology. Mobile technology gives universities a chance for deeper engagement where their target audience spends a fairly significant amount of their time: smartphones. Half of all college students used mobile gear to get on the Internet every day last year, compared with 10 percent of students in 2008, according to Educause, the educational-technology consortium. Millennials are avid smartphone users who believe that technology makes their life much easier. Just yesterday, I was on the campus of Brown University at Johnny Rockets and two undergraduate students requested to speak to the manager about an on campus food ordering application. The mobile application in development will allow Brown University students place orders at on campus restaurants directly from their smartphone devices. The cross strategy opportunities are endless for all parties involved.

Industry Trends

1. Mobile Website/Mobile Application: Websites are the focal point to experience a university in a cyber world. However, universities must understand that the web experience must also be transferred to smart phone devices. This can be achieved by creating a separate site that will identify mobile browsers (some content management systems automatically detect this) or the university can create a unique mobile application.  Third party learning management systems such as Blackboard have created mobile applications that can be used in conjunction with a university’s online and on campus courses.

2. Real Time Alerts: There are a variety of channels for real time alerts to students on campus or within a specific distance. These real time alerts can be used as a safety measure during a crisis on campus or even as a method of engagement for specials, promotions, or events. SMS, RFID, and Bluetooth are a few examples of notification channels.

3. Mobile Commerce: Shopping with mobile devices is catching on in the world of mobile technology, and this includes on college campuses. University of Denver and Stanford University are two examples of universities that are embracing on campus mobile payment options for their students. For the university this will allow enhanced monitoring of your best and least performing shops on campus.

4. Branding: QR Codes are actively being used on college campuses across the nation for various purposes. For example, QR Codes can be used for on campus brand awareness initiatives, video streaming, location based discounts, and even as mobile payment option. Universities can also customize their QR Codes by shape, color, and size. Another example is Purdue University’s Studio Project that takes real time status updates to create a collaborative learning environment. Professors can adjust their course content and enhance the learning experience in the classroom.

The Benefit: Gold at Your Fingertips

Integration of mobile technology in higher education means extensive data will be transmitted in a short amount of time. Universities must now analyze the information that has been gathered to really get a deeper understanding of their target audience. The type of data collected will vary depending on the tactic used however; it can range from behavior, learning, and commerce. This can result in new recruitment initiatives and insights to better leverage technology for learning in the classroom.

I came across a statement this week that made me really begin to wonder what the big difference is between buzz, word of mouth, and viral marketing. So here it is:

Word of mouth is a decaying function. A marketer does something and a consumer tells five or ten friends. And that’s it. It amplifies the marketing action and then fades, usually quickly. A lousy flight on United Airlines is word of mouth. A great meal at Momofuku is word of mouth. Viral marketing is a compounding function. A marketer does something and then a consumer tells five or ten people. Then they tell five or ten people. And it repeats. And grows and grows. Like a virus spreading through a population. The marketer doesn’t have to actually do anything else. (They can help by making it easier for the word to spread, but in the classic examples, the marketer is out of the loop.) The Mona Lisa is an ideavirus (Seth Godin, Unleashing the IdeaVirus).

Viral marketing is the heartbeat of the IMC profession. It encompasses all of these elements and disciplines to create a synergy and ultimately results in business development. In order for content to go viral it has to be stimulating and provoke an organic action from its intended receiver.

The term viral marketing is still fairly new in the marketing field. Steve Jurvetson and Tim Draper from the venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) coined the term “viral marketing” in 1996. It came about as they were describing the marketing strategy for Hotmail’s campaign to get consumers to sign up for free email accounts.  It turned out to be pretty successful and Hotmail managed to exceed 10 million users in seven months. In comparison, radio and television took 20 and 10 years, respectively, to gain the same number of users.

In essence, the message, and the messenger are responsible for viral marketing. Therefore, your viral marketing efforts must be supported by buzz and word of mouth. If it’s memorable they’ll be back again, and again, and again. Video is an effective tactic for viral marketing. The use of video in a viral campaign increases its chances of spreading across the web by as much as 75%. This also increases your SEO pull. As you can see emerging media simply propels this experience at lightening speed.

When thinking of market research in our digital age, I think it’s reasonable to question whether or not it still makes sense for marketers to continue to conduct focus groups to gain consumer insights. I suppose if you think about it, it does seem a little old fashioned, asking a group of people to sit around a table for an hour or two, probing them with questions. Especially as the world of consumer research is rapidly shifting to gathering information online through sophisticated tracking tools on websites and online surveys sent to emails. Companies are even looking to their Twitter feed as a main way of getting feedback and staying connected to their audience base.

What does this all mean for the focus group? As a marketer, I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of a number of focus groups and have seen firsthand the rich insights gleaned from these in-person sessions. Key findings and insights that cannot be learned from reading an online survey, analytics report or a Twitter feed, and have informed the strategy and tactics for successful campaigns.

Here are just a few reasons we shouldn’t discount the focus group as a key component of your market research strategy:

1.) Follow-up Questions: The beauty of the focus group is the ability to ask follow-up questions on feedback that you may not fully understand or on a topic that you want to hear more about.
2.) Emotions and Body Language: If consumers have a strong emotional reaction to your brand/product/service/idea – good or bad – you need to know it. And there’s no better way to understand these emotions than seeing and hearing them for yourself.
3.) Discussion amongst consumers: It’s such a unique opportunity to have members of your target audience in the same room discussing your company. You’ll find one person’s comment often sparks insightful commentary from another.
4.) Undivided Attention: Unlike other market research methods, you have a captive audience of people who have committed an hour or two of their lives solely to focus on your company and share their thoughts.
5.) Meet your Consumer: Every marketer worth her salt can easily spew off the demographics and psychographics of their target audience – age, income level, education, interests, etc. – but there’s something very powerful about seeing this person in real life. What do they look like? What’s their demeanor? Any surprises?

What have been your experiences with focus groups?

If you have been successful in one market, there is a high probability you will be able to repeat your success in another market. But it can’t be any market – it has to be the right one where your brand will be relevant, your success model can be replicated or where you can adapt to fit local needs.

The first step is to fully understand who you are selling to, and locate this audience in another market. Say you are selling a product to Hispanics, identify where the largest concentrations of Hispanics in the US are located. The second step is to dissect this potential market and get to know every aspect of it. Conducting an in depth competitive analysis is imperative, as well as understanding details about the market’s demographics, trends, current affairs and every aspect that can affect your brand, directly or indirectly. Perhaps your audience is there, but your product won’t be relevant to their local needs.

As mentioned, a competitive analysis can be a good indicator of a good opportunity. The best way to benefit from a competitive analysis is to not only look at what your competition is doing, but also, to observe what they have done, how they have been successful or how they haven’t. Why? Lessons learned can be incredibly valuable, so leverage someone else’s experiences to benefit your own efforts.

And look forward. How might the environment be changing in a way that accommodates – or not – your brand? Is there the potential and should you start planting seeds now, or will the environment change in a way that your brand will be obsolete in a few years?

The key is to be relevant at the right time just like Amazon is with its online community. You know your brand, and you know your audience. So you already have the tools to understand what can make you successful. Just make sure to look outside of your backyard. You often need to remember your roots to be able to grow and thrive.

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!

The good news is that our state and city public health officials are tackling this issue head on by developing public awareness campaigns to promote good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle for Massachusetts’ residents. For instance, the Mayor of Boston has recently banned sugary drinks in schools and in all city properties. Fenway Park has also taken steps to provide fans with healthier eating options such as sushi, vegetarian pizza and green salads. And the Massachusetts Department of Public Health recently partnered with ARGUS to create a campaign to educate the population on what calories mean to them to promote healthier eating habits.

As communicators, how can we effectively promote better nutrition and a healthier lifestyle? Here are a few best practices we’ve learned through our work with the Department of Public Health and other public health groups through the years:

• Education is key: In order to change someone’s behavior, you need to first help them understand why it’s important to their overall health.
• Be culturally sensitive: Understanding the audience you’re trying to reach and the nuances of their culture that may attribute to their eating habits. Also consider the medium that is most efficient to reach your audience.
• Fear tactics do not work: Asserting that their unhealthy habits will inevitably cause them a heart attack or cancer, will discourage them from wanting to make healthier choices.
• Focus on positive: Communicating the benefits on how good nutrition and a healthier lifestyle will enrich their lives.

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.

Social media is an invaluable tool that allows an organization to define itself in the virtual space. Three steps must be taken to build your businesses’ social media portfolio.

1. Decide which channels to target and devote time to.
2. Create profiles on channels that you don’t plan to utilize on a regular basis to protect your image from false information.
3. Execute with consistency.

In this first of this three-part series, we will explore step one in-depth.

1. Decide which channels to target and devote time to.

This is the self-evaluation portion of your social media strategy. You are laying the foundation for your positioning in the social media world and planning which channels you will include in your portfolio.

When choosing the social media channels that are right for you, it is important to keep in mind the following things:

• Manpower – Who will be updating and monitoring social media?
• Time – Maintaining social media can become time consuming, so plan early on how much time you are willing to dedicate.
• Content – Keep in mind that the type of content you wish to share may be better suited for specific social media channels.
• Voice – What is the voice of the company and how will you translate this electronically?

Keeping the above factors in mind, you can start breaking down the social media channels into three categories:

• Staple – These are the highly trafficked sites, such as Facebook and Twitter that every business should have a presence on. It is important to remember that the demographics of these sites are highly diverse and far-reaching. By establishing yourself on Facebook, the 500 million global users on the site are now at your fingertips — or rather, you are now at their fingertips. With Twitter, you can easily transmit important information instantly and concisely. These two social media tools are important because they transcend age, gender, ethnicity, time, and location.
• Target – These are sites that your business will be devoting time to in addition to the Staple sites, and will vary based on what products and services you offer. One example of a target site is LinkedIn. Individuals, who could be potential clients or future employees, use LinkedIn to gauge the credibility of a business. News, contact info, employees, past clients, and experience can all be listed on a LinkedIn profile.
• Stagnant – These are social media sites that you will have to create profiles on, but do not plan on maintaining or updating regularly. The purpose behind this is to establish a presence that can potentially be revived at a later date, and also to protect your business from misinformation. Sites similar to Yelp and Manta fall into this category because they can be created without the need for maintenance.

Stay tuned for Part II of “Building Your Social Media Portfolio,” focusing on stagnant social media.

When we want to move people, we are more likely to use words.

Of course, we can all think of numbers that resonate emotionally. Dates, for example. 1984. 1776. 9/11. These are numbers that remind us of shared experiences and require no additional information to be meaningful. Their impact can be powerful enough to make it difficult to use them in a different context. Try to read 911 as anything but a tragic event in American history.  And it’s not just dates: people strive to be #1, avoid the13th floor of buildings, and so on.

Even without the benefit of culture or shared experience, numbers can be used to provoke emotional responses. During the run up to the election, we heard politician after politician talking about the economy using figures that stirred both fear and righteous anger. Charities and social movements often feature statistics in their messaging front and center – though often with photos designed to “humanize” the numbers.

By themselves, numbers are empty of meaning. Given context, however, they can be truly evocative.  That’s what makes them such powerful tools for branding. Properly delivered, the right number can serve as a vessel for meaningful communication. An organization or movement can “own” a number in a way may be difficult or impossible with an existing term or concept. Think 501 Jeans, 747 jetliner, 60 Minutes.  It’s a counterintuitive approach that can yield original and effective results.

At ARGUS, we’ve had the opportunity to use numbers to help our clients develop memorable brands. 1for3 is a non-profit organization that works to provide access to clean water in developing countries. The numbers speak to an unambiguous benefit: buying a single steel water bottle will save three lives. Focused on numbers, rather than platitudes, the brand speaks to a clarity of mission and an essential transparency, which in turn inspires confidence on potential contributors. Going beyond the name and logo, ARGUS found a way to carry the theme into the transactions themselves: you don’t simply buy water bottles, you save a specific number of lives with your contribution.

The84 is a youth-led social movement to positively change teen’s attitudes towards tobacco.  The name “84” came from primary research conducted by ARGUS that discovered that 84% of Massachusetts teens choose not to smoke. By crafting a strategy around a number (rather than a typical “cool” name), ARGUS helped to brand a movement that engaged in an honest dialog with its audience even as it reminded non-smoking teens of their majority power in the community. Since its public launch in August 2007, the website has had over half a million visitors, with a more than a third of users logging in from outside the State of Massachusetts.

Both 1for3 and the84 succeed in part because of the way the brands leverage powerful statistics to deliver a message without artifice or sentimentality. We live in a skeptical age; brands centered around numbers may have an easier time breaking through the din to reach audiences that are wary of marketing and advertising. In any event, numbers provide an interesting and potentially rich avenue for brand development – a road less traveled, as it were.

The final level of the acculturation model is the Acculturated Hispanic, whom we refer to as: the Americans. Here’s a glimpse into their world…

Meet Tina

Tina is 39 years old and has lived in the United States her whole life.  She considers her parents, both hailing from Cuba to be Hispanic; however, she views herself as an American.  Her Hispanic roots are not necessarily at the core of her identity, but they give her a history and she has kept some of the traditional customs she grew up with in her own life.  For example, Tina will often cook the same traditional Cuban dishes her mother made throughout her childhood for her own family and friends.

Her husband is not Hispanic and they live what many would consider a “typical” American lifestyle.  They both are very focused on their careers and have one son. In their free time, Tina enjoys gardening, attending her son’s sporting events, and trying new restaurants with her husband.

Tina prefers not to be singled out because of her Hispanic heritage. For instance, she does not like receiving Spanish-language advertisements in the mail, knowing it is just because of her Hispanic maiden name. She would rather not receive these ads because she reads, writes, and speaks in English at home and at work. Tina does understand spoken Spanish for the most part, much better than she can read, write, or speak it.  She would like to improve on this because she thinks it would help her as she continues to build her career. Tina also encourages her young son to study Spanish, believing it’s a beneficial skill to have when he is applying for college and jobs, as well as a nice way to connect with his older relatives on his mother’s side of the family.

If you’re interested in learning more about our Acculturation Models, take a look at our last three posts:

A Lesson in Acculturation: Part III

A Lesson in Acculturation: Part II

A Lesson in Acculturation: Part I