How do you stand out amidst the millions of emails in our inbox, Tweets, Facebook posts, LinkedIn status, blog mentions, direct mail offers et al? It’s a challenge. It’s always been a challenge but now more so than ever. And more than ever, creativity is the solution — and multi-channel/cross-channel activities or old media-new media combos will win. Below are several ideas for creating multi-channel efforts that will shine:

1. Direct Mail is back – have I said this enough yet? Yes, I know postage is going up, yes I know this seems old school. But mail boxes are pretty light these days, so there is not much competition for your prospects’ attention. Mail a piece that has your company’s Twitter handle on it. Invite viewers to follow you, and set up an autoresponder to their follow that includes a special offer with a quick timeline to drive that call to action (example: 20% off on your next order if you place the order by Friday).

2. Send a postcard (snail mail) and include a QR (Quick Response) code that can be scanned by your smart phone to send the reader to mobile enabled page of your website with a special offer, or to a training video that tells a better story or demo of a product, or even a free donut if they come into your store or place of business. (Keep donuts on hand, then!)

QR Code generators are simple apps and easy to use. Do a Google search on QR Code generators and find the top rated suppliers, and jump in.

3. Or on that same postcard, send them to a squeeze page on your website with a specific white paper or eBook in return for registering for your newsletter. Now you have proved your value with some educational material for your prospect, and you have gleaned their email address as well for ongoing marketing. Not a bad quid pro quo. I’m a big believer in the give-to-get mentality.

4. With that same email registration (see #3), set up an autoresponder email to thank visitors for their registration to your newsletter, and link to your Facebook page, inviting them to “like” your page (FB, please change that concept — such an awkward verb), and set up a special tab with a timed offer. Now you have a postal address and their email address and have gained more traffic on your FB page — all for future marketing.

Sound gimmicky? Not at all, certainly not these days and very easy to do.

This is a bit last-minute, but I want to invite you to join me on a live call with Ann Convery, creator of “Speak Your Business in 30 Seconds or Less”. If you thought you had an elevator speech down – think again! Ann is a master of neuromarketing and understanding what engages the brain and what turns it off. Ever introduced yourself and seen glazed eyeballs in a matter or seconds? She will discuss why using key verbs, avoiding others, and leading with “dessert” and other tips will turn ON your audience instead of turning them off. Really I was stunned when I first heard her speak; it was completely new information to me, so don’t miss this!

When: Monday May 3rd (I know, very short notice!)
Time: 1 pm Pacific, 4 Eastern
Conference Dial-in Number: (760) 569-9000
Participant Access Code: 1007333#

Cheers,

I started using Social Media to promote my business 3 years ago, without much real knowledge about the whys and wherefores.  I wasted a tremendous amount of time – Tweeting now and then, connecting on Facebook with whoever seemed like a likely prospect and getting distracted by numerous small and unimportant social media sites.  

Does this sound familiar?

I was tired and frustrated with the trial and error of “trying” social media. I had no real strategy, or understanding of the power of the medium and knew I was missing out on a lot of potential business and can’t even imagine the
amount of billable time I wasted on this fruitless exploration. 

Over the next 3 years, I made it my job to take classes and webinars, read blogs, and follow the thought leaders of social media.  Now, I am armed with the critical knowledge needed in order to take advantage of all of the social media tools that help businesses grow, and I want to share it with you. 

Did you know that social media is the number one source for lead generation for our company? And these are WARM prospects – people who are coming to us ready to sign a check…or pretty close.

Let me save you all of that wasted time and money.

Why make the same mistakes I made?  

I’ve put together all of that hard earned expertise into a content rich and action directed teleseries.

I’ll take you step-by-step through the process of setting up a social media strategy without the headaches, miss-steps and wasted time.

Grab your spot NOW…the class starts on Tuesday April 27th and I don’t want you to miss a thing!

Hope to see you on the call.

Customer Service problems can be daunting for any company. But the last thing you want to do is pretend that they don’t exist or will never exist. The best thing to do is meet them head on, resolve issues, make the customer as happy as possible, and move on. The last thing you want to even consider is ignoring an unhappy customer or client.

Customer Service and Twitter.com were made for each other. The immediacy of Twitter, coupled with the accessibility of the customer-service “fixer” creates a terrific tool for staying in close and concerned contact with customers. And they feel the love. Below are a few tips to make this successful:

• Let your customers know about your presence on Twitter, at least to resolve issues. Post your Twitter “handle” throughout your own website. Send an a informative email to your customers letting them know that you will be available on Twitter if they need help, blog about it in company blogs. Make the Twitter handle that will be used for customer service visible and easily found throughout your online presence.
• Be proactive. Go looking for problems or mentions. This is not the time to be shy or keep your head in the sand! Search out your company name frequently. Create a search for your company name, brand name, product names in Tweetdeck, Hootsuite or Seesmec and save these searches. That way you will always be aware when anyone in the Twittersphere is talking about you (positively or negatively) or has problems. Tweetbeep and Monniter are two applications that will alert you when your company is mentioned.
• Take the right tone. Gather information on the problem, never point fingers, don’t be defensive. Be authentic in your attempts to solve the customer’s problem. Be sure the end result is positive — at least in feel — for the customer.
• If it can’t be resolved in 140 characters of Tweet text, or if the problem is sensitive, or if the customer is very upset, then give directions for a next step — an 800 toll-free phone number, a specific email address (spelled out) so that a final solution can be achieved in a more private setting.
• Be very timely. Twitter happens at the speed of light. Negative info travels even faster. Check Tweets frequently for any hint of problems, and jump right on them.

Twitter aside, one of the best things you can do to build and reinforce your brand is to take customer service very seriously. A problem will only get worse, and a customer will only get increasingly unhappy if the issue is not acknowledged. Companies will get far more “points” for being proactive in their efforts to resolve even horrendous problems to the best of their ability. The resolution may not be perfect in the customer’s or the public’s eye, but a true and strong effort to resolve will go far towards saving the loyalty of that person. Hopefully, they will spread the word and Tweet about the positive outcome, not the bad experience.

I’m thrilled to be the guest speaker at renown business coach Kellie D’Andrea’s weekly “Marketing Mondays” tele-class on April 12th. Here is Kellie’s write-up:

Business Coach Kellie D'Andrea

Q: Are you curious about social media?
Q: Interesting in adding social media to your marketing mix?

A: Well, you don’t want to miss this call!

“Generate Leads and Increase Sales with Social Media” during Marketing Mondays with Kellie D’Andrea.

WHEN: MONDAY, April 12, 2010, 6 pm Eastern (NY) time (That’s 5 pm Central, 4 pm Mountain, 3 pm Pacific.)

WHERE: Virtual Sign up to get call in information TIME: 6 pm Eastern (NY) time (That’s 5 pm Central, 4 pm Mountain, 3 pm Pacific.)

Today the owner of a small business is struggling with a bad economy, declining sales and not enough resources to get the job done. Marketing for small business usually takes a back seat – just when it’s needed most! Social media adoption by small businesses doubled during the last year, from 12% to 24%. And among those, nearly half anticipate it will be profitable within the next 12 months, according to the Small Business Success Index.
Join my special guest Elyse Tager, Social Media Strategist as she teaches you about social media, why it is important to add to your marketing mix and how to get started! By the time you leave this call, you WILL possess the knowledge to start on social media right away!! You don’t want to miss this one.

During this call, you will learn:

• “Tweet what” – “Friend Me” & “Fan Pages” Oh my! You will learn exactly what social media is and how it can be best used for small business owners or the entrepreneur. (and yes, we are going to teach you what sites you need to be part of!)
• Exactly how to get started in Social Media. We are going to teach you how to identify your goals and objectives for using social media and how to build a plan so you are successful in social media.
• Where to focus your energy and where the best place to start. We are going to teach you best practices, tips and tools that if you apply, will lead to optimal results (keyword focused profiles, building your network for targeted reach, where to focus your attention)
• Plus, and I saved the best for last, a SPECIAL invitation to a workshop that will teach you everything you need to know about Social Media!

About our Guest Speaker:
Elyse Tager, Social Media Strategist and founder of Elymedia will give you a brief overview of Social Media and a how you can get started with a plan that is right for your business, no matter what business you are in. See how this very cost-effective marketing tool can increase your visibility, provide a stream of leads and increase sales in very little time.

- – - – - -

Thanks Kellie! Hope to see lots of you on the call!

Social Media is about 3 things — connecting, creating, and engaging. Sounds easy enough, but the value of everything you do using social media will all go back to who you are engaging with.  This is a real case of “garbage-in, garbage-out.” If you “friend” or connect with anyone and everyone without any concern about who or why, you won’t get much out of all the time you may invest in your social media strategy. To make your social media strategy productive, efficient and successful, here are tips on creating a strong network.

There are two preliminary steps that are critical: First, have your target audience in mind. Your services/offer/store/business won’t appeal to the entire world. Are you focusing on small business, a particular industry, a certain demographic, or a geographic region? Keep this on top of mind whenever you decide to seek out or accept connections. Second, have your objectives in mind. Are you creating visibility for your brand, driving traffic to your website, selling product? These questions may be harder to fold into your decision-making process, but keep them in the back of your mind as you proceed.

• Start out with a group of people/clients/prospects that you KNOW are the right audience for you, and connect with these folks first. Upload from your Outlook, ACT, GMail, AOL databases and invite all that make sense.
• Search your connection’s connections. Who are they connected to?  If it’s a good business contact, chances are their connections/friends will work for you as well.
• Are there industry thought-leaders who talk about your topic? Connect with them. Who are THEY connected to?
• LinkedIn and Facebook make suggestions — examine these daily for more possible additions.
• Search for your old contacts, school-mates, work-mates, soccer-team buddies, church friends. These may be great direct sources for business (or they might not?) or may be great for referrals. Peruse membership of relevant groups — connect with members
• If you have been ReTweeted on Twitter, connect with that person.
• Ask a carefully- and strategically-chosen question on LinkedIn. Connect with the responders.
• Has anyone commentrd on your status post in Facebook or LinkedIn?  Would they be a good connection?
• Use strategic hashtags in your Tweets to have people interested in your topic find and connect with you, then connect back
• Use the search function for Twitter http://www.search.twitter.com and use the advanced mode. Target well and you will find many great potential connections. Save it as a feed and you can revisit daily to find more good connections.

My own Point of View: beware of the applications that promise to connect you to hundreds and thousands of people. They will. But so what? Quality and relevance trumps quantity.

It’s important to keep expanding your connections in social media. But always be sure there is a well-thought-out strategy every time you go through the exercise. The quality of your network, and the payback it will give you, will be worth the extra time.

If you are a small business with a retail or at least street-facing presence you are probably already taking good advantage of Yelp, YahooLocal, Citysearch and others.    But even businesses like professional services (lawyers, architects, CPA firms, ad agencies, doctors) should be sure to include these sites in their marketing mix.  And now is the time to revisit them.  As Social Media continues to explode, they are all introducing more SM features that will allow you to create current and fresh content and be even more “findable”. 

Yelp, is the grandaddy of social media meets local business.  If you set up your page awhile back, revisit it and do so frequently, to be sure that it is as robust and current as you can manage.  Are there recent picture or videos you can upload?  Have you updated services that have come about due to a flagging economy?  Take another look and be sure you are maximizing your presence.

Google Local Business Place Pages has just added a status block so you can update your page with immediate messages, links to specials, and other interest generating content in a short-form. Unfortunately, there is no way yet to link that update to Twitter or Facebook or anything else – more work for the poster, but still a great new feature.   Another addition: businesses that have been “claimed” by their owners will now feature a badge indicated the credibility of the posting. 

Citysearch has just added a social media component to their listings as well. New features from Citysearch:  Twitter handles can be added to your account and Citysearch consumers can receive your Tweets  Also included will be a link to your Facebook Fan Page so Citysearch consumers can “become a fan” of your business.

Up and comer business directory MerchantCircle has been steadily growing as an online network and business directory for merchants in smaller towns to advertise to consumers. To help Local Businesses get more customers online, they’ve developed a free local business social network where business owners can promote their business by uploading pictures, writing blogs, publicizing events, creating coupons and newsletters, and connecting with other merchants. MerchantCircle has long targeted its site’s features towards merchants versus catering towards the consumer, as sites like Yelp and CitySearch do. Last month, the network has hit a milestone by signing up its one millionth merchant. Not too shabby for the business directory, considering there are an estimated 15 million local merchants in the U.S. today.

We are doing more and more marketing and media plans for local businesses using a heavy emphasis on social media where appropriate.  If we can help  your business, give us a holler.

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by the very smart Zoya Fallah at Cisco for their service provider blog called SP360, on the topic of the use of Social Media. Cisco continues to lead the charge in using Social Media to reach out to their customers and has multiple blogs, YouTube channels, promotional campaigns and on and on for connecting to their very diverse audiences. Hats off to Cisco — one of the earliest adopters of Social Media.

Today Twitter announced their ability to help new users get started by suggesting accounts to follow.  According to their blog post:

“Two of the biggest challenges for new users have been finding accounts to follow that appeal to their interests, and finding their friends and colleagues who tweet. Over time, we’ve learned that by making suggestions of who to follow, we can help users get going more easily on Twitter. In our new design, we’re taking some steps to continue to improve this process. Once a user signs up and selects what they’re interested in, we show them some accounts that relate to that interest. Next, we help them find their friends and colleagues by checking their address books, and third we give them a chance to search for anyone we or they missed in this process.”

I’m all for that.  Anything that helps a newbie use Twitter in a strategic and useful way is all good.  But why only the new user?  I’d love the benefit of their algorythmic magic to make good suggestions for me.  But I’m not the only one with that thought. (love John Battelle)

Twitter promised more changes to come.  As a true evangelist, I can’t wait.

We have been working on a large lead-generation campaign for a new consumer-biz client, and we were delighted that they allowed us to incorporate social media into the plan. I know, it seems counter-intuitive to use social media for a mainly commercial objective, but if it is handled delicately and with respect for both the brand and the SM audience, it can be done very well.

Below are a few pointers that should be taken into consideration:

– Social Media is all about creating and joining community and adding value. Keep this ahead of everything else.

– First join the community – join many groups and participate, linking back to your offer every now and again. Build your network with keyword or category searches to find good prospects and interested followers.

– Be strategic – your messages should vary by target audience, the landing page should echo the content of the original message or post, and the ultimate call-to-action wording should support both.

– Content – Decide what issues and topics are interesting for your target audience. Invest some time to become a member of the community. First listen in, then ask questions, and only then define whatever your target group is excited about and what topics you should be addressing. Your content is about establishing a relationship with your community, not about re-purposing your sales presentation.

– Be sure your posts are a combination of conversation and links to your offer. We aim for at least 50% posts providing info on relevant topics, asking questions, responding to followers, and 50% talking about our offer and providing a link to our landing page.

– Standard lead-gen practices hold for Social Media – convert with the landing page.  As is true with any lead-gen strategy, the landing page does the heavy lifting.  It should be clear and simple, with a crystal-clear call to action.  Don’t offer options or links taking the reader off the page. The registration form should appear above the fold. Assume your reader will not be scrolling down, so keep all the salient points up top.

– SM offers wonderful opportunites for viral content to happen.  You can’t control it, but here’s some clues on what gets shared and what doesn’t…. Rarely shared: product info, free trials, hard offers, selling posts. Often shared: New Data, trends, funny videos, reference to top-notch blog posts.

We will continue this topic in future posts with more specifics on how to use Twitter, Facebook. and LinkedIn for lead-generation with specific tactics for each.

The key is to be a participant in a community, and provide value to create enough interest so that your followers and readers will want to find out more about your offer.  It CAN be done.

Another wonderful example of Social Media blending with hard copy is the evolution of Food52, a crowd-sourced social-media recipe/food site started by Amanda Hesser (of NY Times fame) and Merrill Stubbs freelance food-writer and recipe-tester. This site invites viewers to submit recipes — themed each week, for a contest. Amanda and Merrill test each recipe, come up with 2 finalists,  and the readers will decide the winner. At the end of 52 weeks, the winning entries will be entered into a cookbook (hard copy — ink and paper!) that will be published by The HarperStudio.  In the meantime, the cooks, readers, and contributors get to share recipes, chat with each other, add additional content on related issues (ingredients, cooking tools, cookbooks etc) in an ongoing collaboration.

I was lucky enough to get an interview with Amanda and Merrill in between their frantic bouts of cooking. Click below and find out why Merrill’s mother is NOT, NOT, NOT allowed to submit recipes….

PLAY AUDIO:

AmandaAndMerrill_081209.mp3

So at the end, there is a hard-copy cookbook that will have had a full year’s worth of preliminary buzz. The Food52 team is busily tweeting, uploading videos to Vimeo, linking to other food blogs. It’s a win-win for the publisher, the reader/contributor, and the Food52 team of Merrill and Amanda.

Food 52 Intro from Food52 on Vimeo.

Elymedia is starting to work on social-media strategies to create buzz for more local companies, brands, and venues. It’s quite gratifying to plug into the local community and make a difference — not just for the client, but to share great info within the community. Brand recognition is high, and loyalty strong. It’s a good thing.

Below are 7 quick tips that might help small businesses, local retailers, and restaurants and those crafty and creative food-carts:

• Use hashmarks (#Oakland) in Twitter Search by city or region name and connect with who comes up
• Twitter zip-code search — same idea
• Twitter advanced search for even more targeting for geography and radius from that zip code — an uber targeting of sorts
• Use Meetup by geography, if you have an event and the concept fits
• Flickr groups by region will uncover local contacts
• Facebook advertising can be selected by region
• StumbleUpon. Join a group by region and instantly connect with local sorts. If you enter your town when setting up your profile, your hometown shows up as a clickable link that displays all StumbleUpon users from your hometown. More connection opportunities!
• Use Placeblogger to identify bloggers by region to start that always-important dialogue with local passionistas.

Want more detail or help on how to build a plan, using some or all of the above?  We would love to help.

This past week, two ethics issues caught my attention in the media.

The Washington Post apologized to the paper’s readers for their plans to organize sponsored “salons” that would be attended by Washington-DC lobbyists, governent officials, and the paper’s own journalists.  In short — anyone who might be influential in our nation’s capitol. The sponsorships, with fees ranging from $25,000 for one session to $250,000 for an entire series, seemed to imply that attendees would get paid access to these elite movers and shakers.

The controversy erupted last Thursday after the website Politico.com disclosed the contents of a promotional brochure from the Post that solicited corporate sponsorships for the dinners, with fees ranging from $25,000 for one session to $250,000 for an entire series.

Writing on his blog last week, the paper’s ombudsman Andrew Alexander called the disclosure “pretty close to a public relations disaster.” The first salon dinner, focusing on health care, was scheduled for July 21. The Post publisher Katharine Weymouth stated that it was all a misunderstanding but has called for an external review. The Post has said a marketing employee, Charles Pelton, sent out the brochure without vetting from either Ms. Weymouth or Marcus Brauchli, the paper’s executive editor. The brochure suggested that a single corporation could sponsor the dinners.

Ms. Weymouth, in her letter to readers, said the brochure “was not approved by me or newsroom editors, and it did not reflect what we had in mind.”

If a paper as revered as the Washington Post can behave with dubious ethics, what’s a reader to think?  And where do readers go these days for credible, unbiased news and reporting?

Who do you read/listen/watch for accurate reporting? Where does Social Media fit in? Do you still read “treeware” (print newspapers and magazines)? Have you given up on CBS, ABC, NBC, even PBS TV news? Do you sip a blend of Internet news-blogs and user-generated videos and completely ignore TV? Do we trust any major news organizations any longer?

We are developing a free Web-browser plug-in called “BOZO BLOCKER,” with the ability to filter ANY Web page, preventing user-specified unwanted content from being displayed. Unlike mere “porn” filters and the like, BOZO BLOCKER will allow you to create and save “blocklists” of any names (for example, any instant celebrities you never heard of or heard too much about already, and don’t want to hear about ever again) and banish them to permanent obscurity.

Also under development is a service which will allow users of the plug-in to connect to our BOZO BLOCKER server in Rachel, Nevada, and query our free “Stupid” or “Clueless” name-lists, or the paid/premium “Clue-Repellent” master name-list which puts the kybosh on the usual objectionable celebrities, plus Web instant-wealth gurus, famous political wingnuts, SEO Magic Oil vendors, and many more. This is similar to the anti-spam email “blocklists” offered free and commercially by wonderful companies such as SPAMHAUS.ORG.

BOZO BLOCKER will follow in the tradition of many other Web-content blockers that filter out annoying pop-up windows, porn, blinking banners, and so on.

The programmer who conceived this project has asked to remain anonymous, claiming that his trailer was repeatedly vandalized “by men with black sunglasses” when he released a free advertising-blocker a few years ago. See also “Browser makers warned against ad-blocking.“

I’m thrilled to be presenting a webinar on LinkedIn and FaceBook for Business respresenting the SVAMA at the Inbound Marketing University. Inbound Marketing University (IMU) is a free marketing retraining program for marketing professionals — as well as marketers between jobs — looking to gain new skills to get ahead in the competitive workforce.  I love being able to share tools and help anyone looking to increase their skill set. The program includes 10 webinars from June 15-19 and includes a stellar line up of speakers. Please join us for any or all of the classes. Share this with anyone you think might get something out of it. I love big crowds!  [DETAILS HERE]
  – Elyse Tager

I do a lot of public speaking on Social Media Marketing, which I love. After we get over the “So what’s so great about Twitter” questions, most of the conversation turns to “How can I use it?” So glad you asked!

Whether you are participating for personal reasons or for business, an objective (or objectives) will make the whole experience more enjoyable, and certainly less chaotic — which Social Media can be. Below are a few ideas in each category — and I’m sure there are many more.

Personal Objectives:

Personal Branding
Establishing thought-leadership
Gaining knowledge
Keeping in contact with friends
Finding new friends, building/expanding personal community

Corporate/Business

Customer relations/customer service
Crisis management
Corporate reputation management
Event management
Lead generation/promotion/sales
Internal communication
Issues/advocacy/fundraising
PR/Twitpitching

The item that demands the most attention among audiences is how to provide customer service. The immediacy of Twitter, coupled with the accessibility of the customer-service “fixer” creates a terrific  tool for staying in close and concerned contact with customers. And they feel the love. A few tips to make this successful:

1.  Let your customers know about your presence on Twitter, at least to resolve issues. Post your Twitter “handle” throughout your own website.

2.  Be proactive. Search out your company names frequently. Use the Tweetdeck search tool for your company name, create a column, and keep it live. Tweetbeep is one of several applications that will alert you when your company is mentioned.

3.  Take the right tone. Be authentic in your attempts to solve the customer’s problem. Be sure the end result is positive — at least in feel — for the customer.

4.  If it can’t be resolved in 140 characters of Tweet text, then give directions for a next step — an 800 toll-free phone number, a specific email address (spelled out) so that a final solution can be achieved.

5.  Be very timely. Twitter happens at the speed of light. Negative info travels even faster. Check Tweets frequently for any hint of problems, and jump right on them.

1.  Branding and Direct Response are blending — this was a theme heard frequently

2.  Social Media is an unknown entity to nearly everyone.  

• Is it just PR or or something else — a hybrid? 
• Old models don’t make sense any more. 
• It’s not campaign-based, but ongoing communication. 
• Can Social Media be a part of a media plan, or is it instead “communications planning” or “influence planning”? 
• You can’t do Social Media by campaign or quarter.  Must be ongoing, authentic, talk about what’s great, fresh and trusted. 
• It’s not a media strategy — it’s service strategy, customer service strategy, product strategy
• Fewer campaigns, more ecosytems.
• What used to be called “research” is now called “learning” — listening to the customer rather than surveying for specific questions

3.  Local search and ad placement becoming very important as the capabilites expand and the need grows

4.  Performance-based marketing is on everyone’s agenda, given the economy

5. Video  is the name of the game.

And on that note, my favorite video queen/reporter and social media analyst:

I’m at Ad-Tech SF, blogging live — interesting to see how I do, not being the best multi-tasker. The IAB is hosting a keynote speech on the state of the industry.  Below are just some of the key take-aways from this session….

Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO of IAB  was the moderator, speakers are  Tobaccowala, Kruse, Ashe,  Berman (see this link for bios on all).

Question: Where are your companies investing in advertising? Asia and digital, all online media but especially search (testing brand vs dr),  all digital properties, but especially mobile.

Berman talks about trying to understand the whole person — behavioral predictive analytics as their focus.

Most conversation was about the value and contribution of social media.  Is it  just PR or other — a hybrid?  Old models don’t make sense any more.  It’s not campaign based, but ongoing communication.  Media objective in the past decisions about where to put advertising.  Can Social Media  be a part of a media plan – or is it rather “communications planning” or “influence planning”?  You can’t do Social Media by campaign or quarter.  Must be ongoing.  authentic, talk about what’s great, fresh and trusted.  I’ts not a media strategy – it’s service strategy, customer service, product strategy:  branding, not media.  How does an agency incorporate SM then?   One concept was “Non-working media” vs “working media” .  Agencies have to start by being agnostic.   Fewer campaigns, more ecosytems.

Take a “great creative idea” and take it across all media.  IAB said no way to coordinate accross multiple agencies.  Consumer is driving changes so fast we are all running to keep up.  Chief Knowledge Officer will be sitting in the power position.

Rothenberg questioned whether we have we boxed ourselves into direct response?  Or is there room for creativity/branding?  Are we so saddled with this burden of DR metrics.  One recurring theme I’ve heard often over the past day is that it’s all going to become one — both branding and DR.  The focus on metrics was to get budgets approved. Creativity will matter even more. Creativity is not just pictures. Google search is getting more and more creative.  Has the definition of “the great idea” changed?  Or is the palette just larger now?  All agreed that the end-user/consumer is the great decider and will dictate more and more. People choose with their hearts and use numbers to justify what they just did.

Tobaccowala talked about the fact that ”The hysteria of insecurity is now driving the industry.” Which channels is not the point. Content is.

I will be speaking to the Morning Forum of the SVAMA in April:

“A Deep Dive into Twitter”

Twitter has become the media darling in the past few months, and with good reason. Come to learn more than just the basics about creating an intelligent Twitter strategy, whether for branding, new business development or lead generation, as well as thought leadership.

We will discuss:
• Defining objectives for using Twitter and outlining a strategy
• Building a list of quality followers, not just quantity
• 3rd party Twitter apps to help support your strategies
• Best practices for using Twitter for SEO
• Twittiquette – the do’s and don’ts of Twitter

Speaker: Elyse Tager, President – Elymedia LLC

Bio: Elyse Tager is founder and Principal of Elymedia, an online- and traditional-media planning and buying agency that has worked with many of the world’s most recognizable brands from Microsoft to PowerBar. With twenty years of executive marketing experience in direct response, coupled with ten years in Internet marketing, Elyse has gained a thorough understanding of all types of media and how they interact. This depth of experience and knowledge has benefited her clients as they strategize marketing objectives in Social Media.

When: April 28, 2009 8:30 am – 10 am
Where: Scott’s Seafood Restaurant and Grill
855 El Camino Real
Town and Country Shopping Center
(Embarcadero and El Camino)
Palo Alto, CA 94301
(650) 323-1555
Cost: Currently $5to SVAMA members, $15 for non-members
Note: Venue requires breakfast be purchased

RSVP: please email info@elymedia.com or on Twitter: elysetager

If you haven’t dipped your toe in the water with Twitter, you are missing the boat.  Start now!  It’s the perfect tool for branding, displaying thought leadership, promotion, fund raising, and even lead generation.  An odd combination, I know, but if handled correctly, and with proper tweet etiquette (hereafter referred to as TE), all can be accomplished.

If you are new, Jeremiah Owyang’s very thorough version of FAQs are a great place to start.

 Below is my short version and key points:

Its not about “what are you doing”  as their tag line says, as much as “what’s important to you”.  140 characters of pithy info on what you are reading, what trade events you are attending, what speakers you are learning from etc, to get at some pithy thinking and trends

Share, comment, talk.  It won’t work unless you participate in both directions.  Tweet and respond to other tweets.  Also proper TE.  If you just take, but don’t give value, you will lose credibility and followers.

The beauty of the retweet. AKA share the love.  Knowledge is best when shared.  If you find posts that are of value to you, retweet them.  Retweeting info here.  The retweeter will be greatful, you will be providing further value to your followers, indicating your intelligence, and thought leadership as well as your generosity.  It’s all good.

The importance of your profile.  I’m astounded by how many people either don’t have a profile description or don’t fill it out in a meaningful manner. The profile is key to letting people know why they should be following you, reading you, listening to you, and just caring about your tweets.  It’s also branding, you can and should link to your website or blog for more credibility. 

Twitter backgrounds add to the branding.  I’m in the process of getting my background custom designed.  It’s yet another piece of real estate for branding, establishing credibility and setting a tone for who you are.  Some resources for custom backgrounds are here.

Have an objective.  Very important. Perhaps most important.  Twitter will be a silly waste of time unless you decide how you are going to use it.  And we will all have to read about what you did over the weekend unless you do.  If your objective is to create thought leadership, then follow people who are meaningful in your field.  If you are interested in branding, be sure your profile and background speak to your brand, and tweet on topics related to your field of expertise and your products and services.  (but be very careful of the hard sell – not good TE)

Some very helpful Twitter tools:

Tweetdeck, a way of organizing your tweets. Here also is a tutorial on how to use it – lots of info here. 

Tweetlater  How to have presence on Twitter w/out sitting by the computer or your iPhone all day.

TinyURL  since you only have 140 characters to work with, making a link smaller is very useful.

And the last self proclaimed Ultimate List of Twitter Tools  – more applications than you could ever want, but will be glad to at least consider.

Now, go play.