• Have we decided or proven that our target audience is on Facebook?
• Have we clearly outlined what we want them to do?
• Do we have a clear offer or messaging strategy to cause them to act?
• Do we have mechanisms in place to measure those outcomes?
• Have we defined what success looks like?

If each of those answers is Yes, then you should be confident in your decision to advertise on Facebook. If any of those answers is No, then there is room for improvement in your campaign overall; however, it doesn’t mean that Facebook should be eliminated from your marketing mix all together. With the nascent nature of Facebook and its advertising platform, it’s easy for naysayers to disparage Facebook as an advertising medium, especially on the eve of its IPO. At Zocalo, we have a deliberate channel planning approach for social media programming. Considering the specific roles and frameworks of platforms, we set strategies based upon the power they have to deliver ROI against very specific marketing objectives; awareness, engagement, action and recommendation.

In our experience, the most successful engagement programs on Facebook happen only as a result of both very engaging content strategies coupled with interesting and relevant Facebook advertising campaigns. Both to reinforce the message to existing fans, as well as acquire new fans.

In General Motors’ case, they may not have outlined what success looks like or how necessarily to measure it, and as a result they are making this decision based on the data on hand. Our assumption is that General Motors will eventually come back to Facebook, once they see their audience engagement levels drop off, but for now it appears they are taking a brief hiatus. As Facebook approaches nearly 1 billion registered users, its sheer audience size and their levels of engagement make it one of the top 5 largest properties on the web and nearly impossible for any marketer to ignore for very long.

SOBCon is hosted and attended by industry rock stars like Liz Strauss, Chris Brogan, Brian Solis (who made a “surprise” appearance on Friday), and Tim Sanders. Throughout the event, there are several opportunities to meet, learn from and brainstorm with these leaders and innovators. Due to the intentionally small attendance – capped at 150, I believe – these Influencers share their insights in a candid, uncensored way. Perhaps my favorite example of this was Tim Sanders’ brilliant remark: “If you don’t know who the a-hole is in your industry, you’re the a-hole.” SMB expert, Barry Moltz, captured the Most Memorable Things Said at SOBCon 2012 here.

The format is nothing I’d experienced at other conferences. There are blocks that include a featured speaker, followed by the presentation of a specific model. Attendees then work in groups of 5-6 people to discuss and strategize how each model applies to themselves, their business, or others in their group. Through the course of the day on Friday, the mastermind sessions I participated in were both inspiring and educational. We collaborated to help one attendee validate the model for a new business she’s planning to launch; another member of my team asked for advice on prioritizing two very different businesses he currently runs. The level of intelligence, support and interest in working together during these sessions was truly amazing.

In her opening remarks, SMB expert and Influencer Carol Roth advised first-timers they may not fully understand the conference until three days later. I can confirm that, over the past several days, I have been digesting the experience: what I learned, who I met, and the ideas we shared and discussed. It was truly a unique learning experience and I hope to return to SOBCon 2013!

Photo courtesy of facebook.com/sobcon

 
Fourscore and Nine Million Facebook Fans Ago…
Bringing HBO Girls to Life on Twitter This week, The History Channel is approaching 10 million fans on Facebook (9,949,077 as of 2pm today).  According to Evan Silverman, the SVP of Digital at A&E, History is the second TV network ever to reach that point.   To bring attention to this achievement, they are highlighting their 10 favorite features on History.com, starting with one of their favorite infographics, Halloween By The Numbers.How’d they do it?  They combined interesting and relevant wall content – “This Day in History,” “History in the Headlines,” etc. – with fun social games that made it easy for their fans to get involved. For instance, the channel’s Pawn Stars game has “tallied more than a quarter-billion game plays” while the Top Shotgame averages “100,000 daily views.”  In the end, they’ve proven that history is more than what you studied in high school.

#BrandHit Learnings:

• “It’s about scale and engagement”: Silverman said it best – “It’s very easy in the digital space to be blinded by the flavor of the week, but it’s important to measure a network’s success by how many people are actually engaging with their offerings.”  While strictly measuring fan numbers is valuable, it’s also important to see what your fans are engaging with on your page.  Once they’re a fan, what are you doing to keep their attention?
• Go beyond the Wall: With Facebook’s upgrade to Timeline, a lot of focus (and rightly so) has been on Wall content and how to engage fans within that space.  But what about the apps?  The History Channel has had great success with fun social games because they know that their fans enjoy social gaming. Remember to askyour fans what they’d like to see.  Try some things out.  See what sticks and what doesn’t – the great thing about social media is that it’s ever evolving.  Don’t be afraid to think out of the box and beyond the Wall.

#BrandMiss Learnings:

• Characters are people, too: Fans of a particular show often relate to characters in a deeply personal way, thinking of them not only as faces on a TV screen, but almost as real life friends or family.  Embrace that connection (on a healthy level) and don’t forget to be creative – yes, we can launch Facebook pages and Twitter accounts for the show, but what about the characters?  They’re what fans are tuning in for – make sure to think about opportunities to bring their story to life as well.
• Find opportunities for new content: Consumers are now expecting television to go beyond the TV screen with online webisodes, exclusive behind-the-scenes footage or additional character background info.  Social TV is no longer a “trend” – fans are flipping between their smartphones, tablets and their TV – brands must continue to find innovative ways to keep viewers involved on each of those channels.

Zócalo Group, Ketchum and maslansky luntz + partners proudly took home a Gold SABRE Award Tuesday night for their collaborative work on U.S Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA).

The SABRE Awards are presented annually by The Holmes Group, a leading resource for the public relations industry, recognizing Superior Achievement in Branding and Reputation. Tuesday’s award ceremony highlighted the best campaigns across North America and Latin America, featuring excellence in three categories: Gold SABREs for PR programming; Silver SABREs for content creation; and new this year, Diamond SABREs which recognize three key areas in which PR plays a strategic role.

Accompanying our Gold SABRE Award win was a recent nomination by The Holmes Report for Global Digital/Social Agency of the Year. We were also a Gold SABRE Award finalist for best Social Media/Social Networking Campaign.

For a complete list of winners, visit The Holmes Report.

To this end, we actively recommend marketers close the gap between search and social channels and start using both in an integrated fashion both from a research as well as an execution standpoint. This article will focus on the research aspect, but in future posts, we’ll focus more on the lift and efficiencies to be gained by integrating search and social together.

So how should I think about search and social from a research standpoint? Below are 3 quick ways for you to get started:

1. Keyword research: When beginning or optimizing any search campaign, marketers must understand what the keyword landscape looks like. In the past, tools such as the Google keyword tool, Wordtracker, SearchMetrics or Wordstream have been used and were enough. But now, there are so many more realtime tools you can use to update your campaigns such as Twitter Search, Radian6, TrendsMap (for specific geo-targeted campaigns) or even Pinterest search to see what visuals are resonating with your customers, which may give you additional keyword ideas. These tools, along with your traditional research tools will supercharge your campaigns and give you the realtime insights todays search marketer needs.
2. Optimization: As you start rolling out your search campaign, keep an eye on those same social research tools to watch for key brand messages and if or how they are resonating with your audience. If you are including #hastags or social icons, keep an eye on your social analytics and see if you start seeing referrals from your search landing pages ending up in your social campaigns. Make sure to note when you make search campaign changes and how they influence your social engagement overall.
3. Measurement and Reporting: And last, but certainly not least, keep an eye on peaks and valleys in both your search as well as social reporting. If you see specific spikes in the social space, see if it correlates in search and vice versa. These channels grow more intertwined on a daily basis, so the only way to maximize the two is through an integrated effort.

I hope this has been informative, however I know there are certainly other ways to integrate both of these channels from a research perspective. What ways do you integrate the two? Let us know in the comments below.

Header graphic tag cloud generated using Wordle.net.

1. The purchase funnel doesn’t end at purchase. It ends at advocacy. As big believers in word of mouth, we know that it is a key driver of awareness and consideration.
2. That being said, the value of an incremental advocate is much greater than another consumer. That also means marketers have to work harder and do more to gain an advocate.
3. Relationship x disruptive experience = advocacy. I loved the simplicity of this equation. And Knox stressed the importance of both sides of the equation – a relationship without a disruptive experience only goes so far but a disruptive experience without any relationship doesn’t truly make a meaningful impression.
4. Disrupt schemas. If you want to create a disruptive experience, think about what the core schemas are for your brand or category and flip them around.
5. The critical 2%. Knowing your target is important, but even more important is to know who influences your target. These are the 2% of your fan base who are your advocates and influencers, and they can include experts, customers, communities.

Steve Knox is a Senior Advisor at the Boston Consulting Group, and a 33-year veteran of Procter & Gamble. Knox believes bringing cognitive science and discipline to the world advocacy marketing is necessary to best align both consumer and brand interests, and this perspective brought an interesting angle to his keynote.

We are looking forward to another day of best practices, learnings and new ideas!

• There are 3.9 million Mommy bloggers in North America, which translates into 14% of all American moms. However 500 of them have considerable power and reach!
• 4,500 mommy bloggers take blogging seriously enough to fly to blogger conferences!
• Average age is 37
• Top mommy blogger markets include Utah (Salt Lake City); Washington (Seattle, Tacoma); California (San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose); Texas (Austin); Tennessee (Nashville) and Washington, DC
• Average Annual Household Income? $84,000! That’s $14,000 higher than non-blogging moms

To read more and see the infographic for yourself check out Mashable’s post: The Rise of the Mommy Blogger [INFOGRAPHIC]

  Pepsi’s New Digital Platform Shines Kenneth Cole & A Play on Words Beverage giant Pepsi refreshed its look and added a new flavor into the digital space this week with a revamped online platform to support the launch of its first global campaign. Entitled “Live for Now,” Pepsi’s new digital ‘facelift’ will support their multi-year marketing program, which focuses on the pop culture and entertainment. Additional elements will include a website, featured artists and entertainers, partnerships with various sites as well as activities and events across the country.

#BrandHit Learnings:

• Take chances: With the launch of a first ever global campaign, Pepsi seized the opportunity to make a splash, getting bolder with a fresh, evolved look and feel to its campaign. The effort, in turn, has allowed the brand to gain a renewed interest from loyal consumers and new ones, alike.
• Keep current: To spotlight just how relevant the campaign is, Pepsi has also partnered with current acts in pop culture. For example, rap artist Nicki Minaj will appear in the initial spot, a decision Pepsi made after hearing hit song, “Moment For Life,” which jives with the experience the brand is creating.
• Integration is key: Pepsi integrated the campaign into web and social, updating its site and launching designated hash tags which also feed into its new webpage. The site also allows for most posts to be tweeted, reposted to Facebook or pinned on Pinterest.

#BrandMiss Learnings:

• Be careful of a play on words: While Kenneth Cole aimed to portray a sophisticated approach for its current events campaign, it may have taken the situation too lightly with its slogan and failed to consider the way it would impact people actually in the field.
• Play in familiar spaces: The brand’s attempt to be ‘current-event-savvy’ didn’t land so well – in part because it stepped out of its zone into an unrelated space without the proper background. While it’s great to explore fresh new spins to a campaign, it’s important to consider all angles, audiences and research to help avoid misrepresentation of sensitive issues.
• Use the right vehicles to promote: This isn’t the first time the brand has been under fire. In 2011, it took a hit when it attempted to spin a country’s political strife to promote its spring line. In both instances, the brand used a serious issue to talk about something totally unrelated – making the brand look insensitive as opposed to hip.

There’s an overwhelming likelihood that your new business came from someone recommending you. In fact, 92 percent of all consumers report that a “recommendation from people I know” is the biggest influence on their purchase behavior, according to a recently released study from Nielsen research. This percentage is well ahead of TV ads (47%), newspaper ads (46%) and even radio ads (42%).

While recommendations have always been important, social media has fundamentally shifted the marketing dynamic. Today, consumers can share their positive — and negative — word of mouth recommendations with hundreds, thousands and even millions of other people.

Overwhelming Choices

Every day, there is a new social media tool, process or platform being announced. And Google, Facebook, Groupon and a host of social media marketing platforms and providers are promising a never-ending stream of new business by marketing through their platform.

No question. Each of these tools has their advantages. But the real power lies in knowing where, how and why your customers are recommending your brand — and helping them do more of it.

Five Steps To Driving Recommendations

Becoming recommended is not complicated, but it can be hard. It means that you have to take time to understand what your customers really want. And then making sure you are giving it to them — along with easy ways to talk about and recommend you to their friends and family.

Learn about these five steps and read the remainder of this article at Yahoo! Small Business Advisor.

It’s easy to enter:

• Take a photo with your smartphone that captures the uniqueness of Chicago, or any other of the 14 host cities, and submit it after adding a filter with an app like Instagram, Lightbox, StreamZoo or Hipstamatic
• Tag the photo using #InstagramYourCity along with the name of your city
• Share your photo on Twitter. For example: Just submitted my entry to @SocialMediaWeek’s #InstagramYourCity for #Chicago

For complete details and contest rules, check out the Social Media Week blog.

Is there a more beautiful downtown than #Chicago? #InstagramYourCity