Up to this point, social media strategy has focused on one brand and/or one location. Blog posts, tweets, and Facebook updates could be conveniently managed from one place.  Not anymore.

Social networking has jumped into the mainstream and your company is probably faced with a unique problem: your customers want a relationship with their neighborhood location not HQ.  Or, they are deeply engaged with a specific brand but could care less about the sponsoring brand.  Think Corvette vs. GM.

Your organization still needs a cohesive message; but how can you allow for the local flavor and personality that will attract engaged customers?

Unique Personality Plus Cohesive Message

Like every good marketing strategy, the solution begins with the interaction between the brand and the customer.  In this case your social media strategy should address the needs of your audience, market-by-market, brand-by-brand.  Next you must have a frank conversation about who can best serve that need.

These are tough decisions, so here are a few pointers to help guide the discussion:

1. What’s the Topic? Decide what type of conversation the local unit should sponsor and encourage.  Decide what topics are best suited for local responses and which should be handled by the corporate team.
2. Agree on the Numbers: Get a firm handle on which metrics you will use to evaluate performance.  Use these metrics as the foundation for incentive plans to encourage brand managers and local directors to focus on growing their socially-connected audience.
3. Conduct a Content Audit: Understand where content for your local platform is coming from and who will repurpose it for your community.  Remember that your corporate team can moderate content but you should push for local content creation whenever possible.
4. Follow an Editorial Calendar: Use an editorial calendar to keep everyone organized and on message.  An editorial calendar makes sure that every social media extension has content that reinforces the brand and attracts new followers and fans.
5. Create a Style and Procedures Guide: It pays to create clear processes for creating, editing, and moderating content.  Even if full editorial control is centrally maintained, your brands and local locations will appreciate knowing the guidelines.
6. Spread and Deploy Best Practices: Work on a plan to that will regularly pinpoint effective tactics and quickly spread them to other platforms.  Consistent innovators should be invited to train other brands/units on what works and how to improve.

With proper planning, your team can be instrumental in setting up highly effective and engaged communities across your organization’s locations and brands.

We’re curious, how are you managing your multi-location/brand social media strategy?  What challenges are you facing?

In May, our client, Pure Michigan, saw record-breaking numbers in its online marketing efforts.

• Facebook: Pure Michigan more than doubled its fan count from January 2010, soaring to 50,000
• Twitter: Pure Michigan broke the 5,000 follower mark, less than 12 months after beginning on the platform
• Visits: Visits to their main site, michigan.org, were up 26% compared to 2009
• Clickthroughs: Clickthroughs to Michigan business tourism websites went up 15% year over year.

While the numbers are impressive, we know that it’s about more than that. We’re immensely proud of the quality of the Pure Michigan social media platforms, and of the entire marketing program.

“We could not be more pleased with the increase of Facebook fans and Twitter followers for Pure Michigan,” said George Zimmermann, Vice President of Travel Michigan, a business unit of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. “As summer travel takes wing, our fans are sharing their favorite vacation spots and experiences, which we believe helps influence interest and travel decision making in Michigan’s favor.”

May also brought the results of a recent customer satisfaction survey conducted by ForeSee Results, which showed that nearly three quarters of the Pure Michigan Facebook fans learned about places and activities in Michigan they did not know about. In addition, a third of those fans were inspired to travel to or within Michigan after reading the posts.

We have been honored to partner with Pure Michigan in developing and executing their online marketing efforts. As the tools and landscape change, and the travel market becomes more competitive, we have remained focused on building a long-term, strategically integrated plan that maximizes the impact of each channel. We remain relentlessly focused on driving results that support Pure Michigan’s overall goals.

P.S. If you haven’t seen this year’s new Pure Michigan television and radio ads, you definitely want to check them out. You can watch all of their spots anytime you like on the Pure Michigan YouTube channel.

I have the greatest friends in the world.  We listen to each other, laugh together, cry together, and help each other out any way we can.  The foundation of this friendship is simple – we are always on each other’s side.  There is no competition among us – we genuinely want the best for each other.  No one is trying to “win”.  I hurt when they hurt, I smile when they smile, I feel enormous joy and pride when they succeed, and I’ll tell anyone who will listen how fantastic they are.

I think most brands want this same kind of relationship with their consumers.  They want their market to go out and tell people how great they are.  They want their consumers to defend them against attacks.  So why doesn’t this happen?

It’s the us vs. them mentality that so many brands have developed.  The “we know what they need better than they do” thought process that’s led to a widespread mistrust of brands and advertising by consumers.  And we all know, you can’t have friendship without trust.

It Doesn’t Have To Be This Way

It’s not a contest – you are on your consumer’s side (and if you’re not, you’ve got way bigger problems).  The reverse is also true – consumers want to be on your side.  They want products and services to make their lives better and easier.  So stop.  Stop thinking of them as targets, or markets, or even consumers.  Start thinking of them as people.  Even better, start thinking of them as your friends. 

Once you have that mindset, it gets simpler.  Now it’s about friendship.  That’s something you know how to do.  Now you can start looking at your product lineup and your marketing with an empathetic eye, and ask these questions:

• Are you doing the right thing for your friends? 
• Are you treating your friends the way you want to be treated? 
• Are you listening to your friends (really listening, not that fake head nodding kind)? 
• Are you giving your friends a safe place to share their fears, concerns and questions?
• Are you soothing those fears, addressing those concerns, and answering those questions in the way your friends need you to?
• Are you talking with your friends about more than just yourself?
• Are you willing to help out your friends, without needing or wanting anything in return?
• Are you working every day to maintain and strengthen your friendship?

When you adopt this mindset, the rest gets easier.  It becomes almost intuitive what kind of products and services you need to develop, and how to sell them.  The best part?  You already know how to do this.  You are already a giver and receiver of friendship.  You’ve had great friends, you’ve had crappy friends, and you know the difference. 

This does NOT mean that your friends are always right – no one ever is.  This doesn’t mean that you scrap good ideas because some of your friends don’t agree.  Like other friendships, sometimes the best thing you can do is stand your ground.  Just be sure that when you choose this path, you deliver the message in a way that your friends can understand.

I can’t think of a better example of a brand really embracing this idea than Zappos.  Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com, has this philosophy when it comes to doing business: “We want to build a personal emotional connection with our customers, to create happiness so our customers tell their friends and family. Each phone call is a branding opportunity.”  It’s this point of view that has kept Zappos.com at the forefront – both in marketing circles, and in their own market. 

It’s time to end the battle.  No one wins if you keep fighting.

This is not news, but you might be unaware: back in 2004, the states of Utah and Michigan enacted Child Protection Registry Acts. The goal was to prevent inappropriate content from getting through to minors — including references to alcohol, tobacco, gambling, or pornographic content. The vehicle for achieving this is a secured, Do-Not-Contact database of children’s contact points — email addresses, mobile numbers, fax numbers, and instant messaging IDs — submitted by parents and maintained by the states.

Legitimate marketers who are dealing with potentially objectionable content in their email or mobile campaigns need to scrub their lists against the Child Registry Database. The scrubbing process will cost 1.2 cents per email address (a fee assessed by the states), and you will be returned a cleaned up list with any registered addresses removed. In addition, the scrubbing process must be repeated every 30 days.

Failure to comply can result in parent complaints and stiff fines from the states — potentially for both the sender and the client company. In our legal counsel’s opinion, objectionable material on the landing page or destination site (even if absent in the campaign message itself) can also get you into trouble. This has been significant to our hotel-casino clients, who may be sending out emails about low room rates, but are also linking to their company site that presents casino and gambling promotions.

Two commonly perceived loop-holes:
1. Hey, I’ll just exclude UT and MI addresses from my email campaign: Wrong. If you are collecting zip code or state information during opt-in, don’t assume that your recipients are volunteering accurate data.
2. Hey, I asked for date-of-birth during opt-in — I’ll just exclude the minors: Again, wrong. Asking for a recipient’s date of birth during opt-in does not protect you from prosecution under this act. Inclusion in the registry trumps opt-in consent.

Fluency Media is one of a handful of approved ESPs providing the list scrubbing service. Contact us for more information, and of course check with your own legal counsel.

Pure Michigan has received a lot of credit for its marketing program lately.

It looks like michigan.org will seal another year as the nation’s #1 Visited State Tourism Website.

And, within just 90 days of launch, michigan.org was rated the #1 Social Media Program (Gammet Interactive) for its aggressive push into social networking – boasting 20,000+ fans on their Facebook Fan Page, along with vibrant Twitter, and blog presences.

But it really shouldn’t be this way…

What about Hawaii, New York, Florida, and California; big states with “Nation-Sized” budgets and economies?  Tourism meccas blessed with the best climates on earth and larger than life attractions (Statue of Liberty, Disney World, Golden Gate Bridge)?

The answer is simpler than you think.

Michigan found a way to use the online channel to make its brand assets work smarter and harder. Let’s take a look at some of the key foundations for Pure Michigan’s dominance:

• Full Participation for Every Marcom Stakeholder

Online marketing has as full seat at the table. Often, the lure of traditional media overshadows the blocking-and-tackling judo employed by digital specialists.  In Michigan’s case, digital was given the resources and attention it needed to deliver results.

• Integration

Early on, the Travel Michigan team tied its objectives to the seamless integration of its web initiatives.  Our team at Fluency Media delivered digital programs that collapsed silos and combined the strengths of multiple platforms.

Quickly, we saw email marketing (still a killer app) spark rapid growth in all social media channels.  Integrating pay-per-click and SEO led to Michigan achieving top rankings on terms long dominated by private travel aggregators.

Across the board, integration proved its mettle by knitting together a formidable blend of tactics.

• Rigorous Tracking and Testing

From the beginning, Michigan used analytics to guide decision-making and strategy.  Every meeting was led by reporting of quantitative results.

Over time, Michigan was able to parlay small improvements into dramatic increases in visitors, subscriber sign-ups, and social media participation.

Like all successful marketing strategies, getting started is the most difficult step.  However, Pure Michigan’s case study offers some fascinating insights into outwitting and outplaying larger rivals.

But if you don’t have the time or resources to build a “Giant Killing” marketing program from scratch, your best move is to work with an experienced partner that has already built the best practices to succeed.

Facebook is making waves again in our industry by rolling out yet another set of privacy changes.  The most interesting part of this isn’t the changes themselves, but founder Mark Zuckerberg’s explanation of them.  Zuckerberg claims clairvoyance and a sense of generosity fueled the decision to change Facebook users’ privacy settings, making all of their data public by default, and forcing users to opt out.

In an interview with Michael Arrington, Zuckerberg claims that the world is moving away from the expectation and desire for privacy and Facebook is simply giving users what they will soon want.  What is this claim based on?  Zuckerberg cites the rise in popularity of blogging as evidence that more people are comfortable sharing information online.

Ok, Zuckerberg has a point.  People ARE more comfortable sharing information online than they were just a few years ago.  However, I think this comfort is based on the expectation that THEY get to choose when, how, and with whom they share this information. 

But when it comes to the notion that ALL (or even a majority) of Facebook’s users no longer expect that they can control who sees their profile information and pictures, I’m just not buying it.  Zuckerberg claims innocence – that it is the world that is changing, and Facebook is just responding.  He fails to acknowledge the influence that Facebook has in shaping the public’s impressions and expectations of their online experience.  With 350+ million users who spend an average of 55 minutes per day on the site, denying their influence doesn’t come off as humble and charming – it comes off as purposely misleading.

Facebook has very little to lose, and a whole lot to gain by opening up their “walled garden” of information.  The information users share on Facebook is a virtual goldmine for marketers – positioning Facebook perfectly for their inevitable IPO. 

As digital marketers, we know not to post anything online that we don’t want the world to see.  However, the vast majority of people are not digital marketers, and do not understand the intricacies of privacy settings.  They assume that on a site where you have to approve friend requests, they can control who they are sharing their information with.  It’s a fair assumption – one that Facebook perpetuates by sticking to the same basic site functionality it has always had. 

So what do you think?  Are Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook the charitable psychics they claim to be?  Are they just giving the world what they know we’ll want soon?  Or are they using their influence to force us to change our expectations about control and privacy online to benefit themselves?

We’re tooting our own horn here.  It’s not often that you can catch Marketing Sherpa’s attention, that’s why we’re proud to brag a bit with our client, Travel Michigan.

Here’s the story –

Last year, we were asked to dramatically boost the effectiveness of the Travel Michigan email program.  A multi-million dollar media buy was in the works and the Travel Michigan team wanted to make sure that website visitors turned into a vibrant database for follow-up email marketing.

We took them up on the challenge and implemented four programs to achieve their goal:

1. An attractive email opt-in offer using a surprisingly effective “off-the-shelf” product
2. Systematic testing to prove effectiveness before a national roll-out
3. A controversial online tactic that still works when implemented correctly
4. A Welcome Email Series that turned subscribers into active community participants

Here’s a peek at the result that counts –

“The impact of the email tests and new tactics exceeded our expectations in every way” – George Zimmermann, VP of Travel Michigan, Michigan Economic Development Corporation

Intrigued?  Check out the MarketingSherpa Case Study, then come back and tell us what you think.

How influential can Social Media really be?  Is Social Media just a fad, or can Social Media networks reach beyond their online communities to influence the real world?  The answer is a resounding yes.

Recently in the UK a husband and wife team started a grassroots campaign for fun, utilizing a Facebook Group and Twitter to influence the UK Music Charts.  The campaign had a very basic call to action, asking people to purchase Killing in the Name by Rage Against the Machine in the hopes that it would top the charts the week of Christmas 2009.  Their reason for this campaign was to stop the number one spot being claimed by the winner of X-Factor, Simon Cowell’s British version of American Idol, which had been the case for the past 4 years.  Surprisingly enough it worked.  The Facebook Group grew to over a million members and also raised money for the UK charity Shelter.

The sheer nature of the beast known as Social Media means that a great deal of the work is done for you through newsfeeds in Facebook and re-tweets on Twitter.  In theory, once you decide on your message and get it out there, you can sit back and let your fans and followers spread the word for you.  The absolute reach and viral effect that Facebook and Twitter can have is phenomenal.

If a husband and wife team can influence so many just for fun, then imagine the effects and benefits that could be gleamed when this tactic is used by a professional marketing firm – the possibilities are endless.   So the next time you are reviewing your online marketing strategies, take time to consider how many prospective clients or consumers you could potentially reach by implementing a simple Social Media plan.

Today, Pure Michigan celebrates its 20,000 fan to register on its Facebook Fan page. We’re proud to have partnered with the Travel Michigan team to accomplish this milestone in under 3 months.

“We are delighted with the number of people who want to be involved with Pure Michigan on Facebook” said George Zimmermann, Vice President of Travel Michigan, a business unit of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.  However, it’s not just the volume of fans but the level of fan participation. Our posts serve as conversation starters about things to do and places to see in Michigan.”

We agree.

As social media becomes a standard addition to marketing toolkits, we’ve focused on integrating all marketing channels to support social media activities.  In the case of Pure Michigan, the Pure Michigan Blog, email, and website promotion all played a part in fueling participation on social media platforms.

“This is the type of integrated execution that makes social media deliver brand awareness and ROI” said, Tim Schaden, CEO of Fluency Media, “We are excited to see what the future holds for this premier brand and the State of Michigan.”

Melissa Mackey, Online Marketing Manager at Fluency Media, provides ClickZ with insight in the October 9th article, “Yahoo! Now Filters Ads in Search Results Too.”  The article describes how Yahoo! has now added the ability for a publisher’s ads to be filtered in the search results.

According to Melissa, “I think it limits competition and gives a huge preference to big-name brands like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Buy.com, and the like.  This effectively cuts off the lesser-known advertisers who may have a great product and offer, but lack the household name.”

Melissa Mackey is a veteran PPC marketer that helps clients get maximum ROI from paid search.