The days of social media for social media sake are over. The rationale for engaging with consumers online is clear. The actual impact of those activities is not. 
 
Brand Managers are now demanding deliberate metrics to evaluate the performance of both their campaigns, and of the brand's overall online health. And, many communications and marketing agencies are scrambling to build their own proprietary methods for measuring the effectiveness of their own campaigns.
 
In the past week, we have seen an increase in announcements of industry standard social media measurement tools for quantifying the total volume of conversation and the sentiment of those discussions. However, their definition of a conversation, in fact, how we define a conversation as an overall industry, has come to mean any mention of a brand online regardless of its impact. A conversation requires engagement between two or more parties. What each of the proposed methods lack are this vital component for differentiating between awareness versus engagement - and ultimately, the effectiveness of online conversation toward driving business objectives.
 
Zócalo Group identified a need for greater accountability in how the industry as a whole evaluates earned conversation. Together with DePaul University, we developed the Digital Footprint Index. Critical to this method for measurement, and unaccounted for in all previous methods, was evaluating the actual engagement by consumers with online content. This engagement metric, called Width within the DFI, is essential to understanding whether consumers are truly impacted by a brand's online presence.
 
Essentially, the DFI measures the effectiveness of a brand's earned conversation by answering three questions.
 

• How much content about your Brand exists across all social media channels? (i.e. Blogs, Forums, Twitter, Facebook, Photo & Video Sharing sites)
• How engaged are consumers with these messages? (i.e. evidenced by interactions as comments, replies, favorites, and social bookmarks)
• Is the content positive or negative in nature, and is the brand being talked about in a way consistent with their messaging objectives?

 
The result of these three questions fall into three simple measures - Height, Width, and Depth.
 
The Digital Footprint is not meant to be an industry standard. However, the methodology behind it is something we feel is important to share in order to catalyze an industry conversation toward greater accountability and consistency in how we measure the effectiveness of a brand's earned conversation.
 
Below are links to more in-depth descriptions of how the Height, Width, and Depth of a brand's Digital Footprint provide the comprehensive narrative --
 
 

 
As Nicholas Kinports, Digital Integration Manager at Maddock Douglas and author of ADMAVEN - The Interactive Advertising Blog, pointed out in his criticism of recently proposed measurement methodologies -
 

"Having a simple and standard metric for perception versus online behaviors will be important going into the future." [from AdAge]

 
There is a real demand for consistency and simplification in social media measurement. However, we believe the development of such a tool should be the product of an industry-wide collaboration.

Please feel free to comment with the types of behaviors and metrics you feel are important for consideration going forward. It is through a common language and understanding of what really drives earned conversation that we can come to agree upon what truly matters to meaningful measurement.
 


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Limos to elite VIP parties. Special outfits for each conference event.  Celebrities at every turn. The Weinermobile!  More than 1500 women bloggers descended upon Chicago last week - many from remote areas of the country - and soaked in this and so much more. Given all the primps, promos and perks the doyennes of the blogosphere received, one would think that these women died and went to heaven.  But rather, the comments I heard most often? "I am overwhelmed!" "This is serious work for me." "No, I won't see Chicago, because my schedule is packed."

Two things struck me as I marveled at these women.

1)    Most have turned their thoughts, preferences and life commentary into serious business. They take meetings with some of the most influential and successful marketers in business today - all of whom are eager to crack the code and understand how they can become "the X of choice" of America's most influential mom and female voices.

2)    Amidst the frenzy of "circle Rs," most of the women reiterated the value of the conference - as it was initially intended. To get blogging women together.  To share ideas, perspectives and challenges.  To network with brands and marketers they value. As such, the lounges and casual events got the best reviews. Bloggers appreciated the opportunity to chat with one another. To the chagrin, I am sure, of all the companies who sponsored sessions, many confessed to skipping the formal programs.

My husband likened my description of BlogHer 2009 to his days in the record industry. Record label giants would flock to radio programmer conferences, and spend many, many thousands of dollars to woo influential radio programmers with dinners, parties and lavish gifts, in their quest to "release" the next Sheryl Crow.  "It's sooo old school," he said - chuckling at the juxtaposition against so called "new media."
 
Sure, BlogHer attendees seemed tickled and excited about the attention and the goodies offered by the sponsors - who wouldn't? But it's blogging they care most about. That drive to succeed is what we as marketers should support - instead of focusing on the swag.  As marketers, let's help them do their jobs better. Differentiate their content with great ideas. Build their audiences. Integrate meaningfully with brands and products. Stage thoughtful events and contests. If we ask for feedback - like everyone is - let's make sure it's something they care about.
 
Remember Steve Martin's wife played by Bernadette Peters in The Jerk? "I just want the stuff," she purred in one scene.  Not true with these gals. They want success.



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10 Steps to Online Success

As I discussed in my last post, understanding how to enter and utilize social media, social networking, blogging, online communities and a number of other channels can be extremely challenging to newcomers and seasoned professionals alike. Once you master the tools, understanding the power they have to generate and drive successful word of mouth and recommendations for a brand then becomes more obvious. The 10 steps below will provide a beginning to your exploration of this online space and will help you become part of the change happening in communication all around you.
 
1. Think about all the platforms available for interacting online. Read about what they do. Choose the ones that appeal the most.

2. Start a blog. It doesn't have to be award-winning, but it will give you practice in creating effective and engaging content. Look up search engine optimization (SEO) and make sure you connect your blog to sites like Google, Technorati and IceRocket. If you're going to write something, you have to let these guys know you even exist before your post will come up in anybody's search.
 
3. Decide how you want to position your 'brand' to the pubic. You should have a consistent screename on all channels, whether you're using your real name, an avatar, a company name or a slogan. 

4. Start listening. Do a search for popular blogs in your industry. Look at their blogrolls. Sign up for an RSS feed reader like FeedDemon or Google Reader to keep them organized.

5. To help build your list of followers within each social media platform, search for topics that interest you within that application. See what comes up and where it directs you. Look at what people are talking about and join the conversation. The process can be slow, but this is how you will gain an audience.

6. Talk about what you know, what you love, and your thoughts about the future of whatever industry you're claiming to be a part of. People with the same interests will be listening and hopefully, responding. Now the conversation has started. With a little practice, you'll learn how to be strategic in your engagement.

7. Be transparent about why you're writing or recommending something. Check out the upcoming changes from the FTC and WOMMA's website for more information.

8. Be yourself. Just because you are now using social media doesn't mean you've stopped being human. People want unique personalities and respect honesty.

9. To be a serious participant in the online space, devote a certain amount of time each day to playing the game.

10. Once your social media palette has been set in place, it's time to get strategic. Begin engaging your followers on Twitter, your friends or fans on Facebook and Flickr and the readers of your blog. Leave comments. Re-tweet and direct message. Share sites with friends. Experiment with new applications.

Remember to talk to real people, in real-life. We aren't computers. Share what you're learning, ask questions--interact in person. Keep a curious mind and make all of this fun. Oh, and remember that you have a life too. It's okay to shut off your computer or phone. The world won't end. Promise.

Congratulations, you're now part of the conversation occurring online! Go tweet about it.

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Most large organizations realize the power of using social media to generate customer word of mouth. But this article in The New York Times shows how a street food vendor catapulted to an in-demand crème brulee man through Twitter.

Word of mouth recommendations have always been key for small businesses to get off the ground. Social media tools like blogs, Twitter, Facebook and forums revolve around engaging in conversation and connecting with other people.

While there are lots of social media tools to try, another example of a small business using Twitter to succeed is Foiled Cupcakes. Foiled Cupcakes, Chicagoland's only online gourmet cupcake order and delivery service, just launched its Website in June 2009. Owner Mari Luangrath got on Twitter as @foiledcupcakes, apparently by accident, and started conversing with Chicagoans. She then started attending Twitter networking events and began interacting with key influencers in the community. Now with 2,890 followers, she has already seen how social media can drive business, with the company more than doubling its first month's expectations.

Benefits of using social mediafor small businesses include:

• Cost-effective: free to set-up
• Simple: easy to learn and use from a computer or phone
• Local connections: Easier to find people within the community and connect with them
• Promotion: Easy to share discounts, deals or offers like "twitter-only" specials to encourage purchases and easily track them
• Personalize: Businesses can create a personable online presence so potential and current customers feel they "know" the store owner
• Advice: Offers opportunity to connect with other business owners of different industries to exchange advice when problems arise, from computer mishaps to delivery issues

There are multiple resources for getting involved, which we frequently write about on this blog, or which are available online, such as the new Twitter Guide For Businesses, detailing how to set up an effective account.

What are your resources for learning about new social media tools? Have you effectively used social media in your small business?



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The channels may change, but when it comes to engaging influencers to deliver a brand story, the principles remain fundamental. In my view, Claire Cain Miller's article in Sunday's (July 2, 2009) New York Times, "Spinning the Web: P.R. In the Silicon Valley," only got part of it right in her assessment of the evolution of public relations in the wake of social media. For companies - especially PR and other communications agencies - looking to drive earned content, the world of "make or break" influencers has expanded significantly beyond reporters. They now make up just one subset in the ecosystem of influencers. This is true. It's critical that companies know who is driving sustainable thought-leading conversations in their categories.

What I found troubling about McCain's assessment was the implication that the story doesn't matter. In her article, she commented extensively how publicist Brooke Hammerling has aggressively and strategically amassed her contacts, and the success that impressive Rolodex has yielded for her:

From the get-go, she focused on one-on-one communication and relationships with hundreds of writers and pundits. Over the years, her contact list swelled to the point that her stories now overflow with dropped names. There are the e-mail messages from Larry Ellison, the chief executive of Oracle, and the time she handled a client's crisis from her BlackBerry while traveling to St. Barts to join the former Hollywood überagent Michael Ovitz and his family on his yacht. Or the time she was in her bikini at a Mexican resort, checking her e-mail at the hotel's computer, when Ron Conway, a veteran tech investor, walked in.

Claire Cain Miller's take: As long as you have contacts, and in certain instances, a bikini, communicators can generate interest and visibility for companies and their ideas. Her story implied that today, only your contacts matter.
 
Not true. To appeal to a reporter, a blogger, an eminent industry influencer - and especially a consumer, you need substance: A strategy to make an idea truly stand out. It doesn't have to be a big event.  In fact, in my experience in PR and now word of mouth marketing, flash no longer guarantees eyeballs. A truly interesting message, offer or product does. What's exciting about this era in communications is that the court of public opinion now dictates what's interesting. Companies need to work harder and smarter to have great products, to manage their publics well, and, yes, then appeal to the right influencers to share their news.

Zócalo Group is not a traditional PR agency. We focus on building sustainable word of mouth. But in our quest to drive conversations and recommendations for brands, we devote considerable thought and effort to crafting a sharable story. This comes first. Only then do you embrace the right storytellers - bikini or no bikini.



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When using social media, everyone at every agency is looking for the killer application - that one piece of software that begins to bring it all together. A "one stop shop" that allows brands to track conversations in various social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc), to be better able to engage in stronger influencer relations, and in a way that is relatively user-friendly.

We are one step closer towards that killer app.

Although still in beta, one up-and-coming social media  (which is getting strong positive word-of-mouth) is Peoplebrowsr. (Yes, the mispelling is intentional) I was fortunate enough to witness a demonstration as part of a Chicago Net Tuesday Meetup, and in my opinion, although there's room for growth, this is one great first step towards the ultimate app.

Simply put, peoplebrowsr allows someone to not only track Twitter (much like Tweetdeck), but also integrates Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Seesmic, and other social media platforms. Using your Twitter ID and password as a sign-in, you can begin simply by tracking Twitter Feeds, and then slowly integrating other services. Peoplebrowsr allows for various kinds of searches across various platforms and comes with three modes: Lite, Advanced, and Business. (Fortunately, it is easy to switch between the three). In fact, as a personal tool to track conversations, Peoplebrowsr has some definite advantages. (Peoplebrowsr also has an Adobe AIR application, for those who require an offline client).

But the real strength is in "business mode." One strength of business mode is that not only can you use one platform to tweet from various IDs (a definite benefit for social marketing agencies), but you can also vote on the sentiment of conversation. With business mode there is also a "campaign manager" feature that allows you to target key tweeters, create priorities for tweets (essentially, creating a "to-do" list), organizing Twitter followers into groups (much like Tweetdeck), and determining a user's presence on other social media platforms. Useful for both social media and WOM campaigns, Peoplebrowsr becomes a critical tool in implementing a strong, thorough, social media strategy.

It's well worth checking out.



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What makes a great influencer?

With the recent passing of Walter Cronkite, I began thinking about his career as a CBS anchorman and the power he held over the TV-watching public in the 1960s and 1970s - one could even say that he actually held that power until his death.  "Uncle Walter," as he was known, was looking out for the viewing public, presenting important current events and opinions.  He was, as we all know, the most trusted man in America - perhaps one of the ultimate key influencers that there ever was.

With the advent of cable television, the internet and the menagerie of other forms of technology that we use today, the age of the Walter Cronkites of the world has been over for quite some time.  "The Big Three" (CBS, NBC and ABC) have given way to the hundreds of channels that we sift through each day, DVRing, Tivoing and skipping as we go.  Mr. Cronkite however, had a captive audience each night.

Can anyone else wield that sort of force and influence now?  The first person that comes to mind is Oprah Winfrey, but even she is subject to public criticism, most recently from Newsweek for the health/life advice she promotes on her show.  Celebrities?  Some can be too fickle - in the news one week, getting divorced the next, reuniting the week after that.  No one can deny the influence of these public figures, but building a sustainable relationship with them, or any brand for that matter, can be difficult.

From the daily work here at Zócalo Group, I've come to realize the importance of our influencer relations and how reaching out to key individuals can help build a brand. Hours of research go into making sure those we reach out to, whether they are a celebrity, news anchor, or well-known blogger, will be relevant to the brand's message and would legitimately use the particular product or idea we're representing.  The ultimate "win" is when this influencer, or eminent, understands and agrees with the brand's message and is willing to make a public, genuine recommendation for it. A reliable influencer who truly believes in the message of a brand then becomes an incredible form of word of mouth marketing.

Although the era of Walter Cronkite's nightly telecasts have passed, his ability to draw an audience that trusts and respects his thoughts and opinions helps to demonstrate what makes a great influencer.


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I was like an explorer in an unknown land when I first stepped into this world of social networking and word of mouth marketing. Tweeets, retweeting and direct messages were a new language, Facebook groups and fan pages were just more tabs that I avoided when checking on the status updates of my friends, and YouTube was just another distraction from whatever real work had to be done. I was overwhelmed by this land of virtual conversation and wondered why so many people were attracted to something that seemed like an escape from reality. 

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