Social Networking is contagious, many check their profiles throughout the day to catch up on messages, get updates from acquaintances and just stay in touch. Not only is the usage growing but so is membership. This increase also includes a number of companies attempting to market within the social spaces… while the ads are one method, the better approach would be to incorporate your social media efforts with your existing email program. Interactive dialogue across all channels is the ideal approach.

Say for instance you send an email each week, if you managed to get a response (open/ click/ conversion) from every recipient each month, you would be a happy marketer... but unfortunately, not every recipient is going to give you a response. Here are some ideas on the “power of social media” and instruct attendees how to use it to create raving fans out of followers – young & old. Yes, a simpler step by step approach where a little time each week with a purpose will help you build your brand, grow your reach, and help you create a bond with those you serve.

To try to get to that level, take a few lessons from social networking sites:

1) Target Segments – After all a social network is a collection of friends, there is something common among them, find the commonality and offer accordingly.

2) Be Engaging – Discussion is key, ask people to participate, engage them with relevant questions… What is your opinion? Which one do you like?
 
3) Showcase – Social sites showcase their network, John is attending… Lisa is going to… Megan is taking her kids… Apply these same ideas to your communiqués; include user generated content when you can. People like to read real stories and see real pictures.
 
4) Cover your Bases – Set up all your social networks; to cover the full gamut, you’ll need Twitter, Blog(s), Community Profiles (Facebook for sure, Myspace perhaps, LinkedIn in some cases), some Video and lots of Pictures.
 
5) Build Excitement – You have to generate interest, run contests, reward recipients for paying attention and help them stay engaged. It’s the best way to build community and a loyal stream of customers.

Grow a bond with your customers and prospects through shared inspiration, the web can keep them engaged and help you Create Interactive Conversations! Our best practices call next month is on 'Creating engagement through social media.' Mark your calendar for March 26, 2010 for the call - www.serviceinaction.com.

Financial Institutions (FI's) are looking for ways to connect with the consumers they serve. Consumers are becoming more aware and they are expecting a lot more from the FI's that serve them. FI's are facing the challenge of growing their customer / member base in a time when it is so easy for the consumer to walk away. Here are five key challenges faced by FI's that need to be addressed in 2010.

Internet Banking - More consumers need to get onto Internet Banking platforms. FI's need to reduce the amount of 'help' they provide to conusmers. Too much time is spent answering questions and training both employees and consumers on the internet banking platform. FI's are looking for ways to increase awareness of this service, provide easy training, & also encourage their consumer to find the FAQ's themselves.

Social Media Channels - FI's need to have a policy, build a strategy, and come up with a way to measure their social media programs. This is the year to get into social media, and it also the year to keep consumers engaged. Your challenge otherwise is loosing your consumer to others that provide similar services.

Mobile Banking & Messaging - FI's are spending money on getting enabled for mobile. They need to hasten the spread of mobile and look for ways to coax consumers on to this channel. FI's are excited about the impact that mobile can have on one to one messaging yet there are no real plans in place on how to drive revenue through the mobile channel.

Email Marketing - No longer a closet business for FI's - email is now emerging as a crown jewel for many FI's direct marketing programs. This is despite the fact that most FI's used to chastize email marketing as a gateway to phishing. The key difference this year will be on how to engage consumers across channel leveraging the email channel.

ATM Network - An ATM machine used to be a cash dispenser. FI's really need to move beyond basic cash dispensing, generic personalization, and customer service to a state where the ATM is an agent that facilitates real one to one marketing across channel.

The ad above from HDFC Bank is just one small example how this bank is making its ATM's efficient and using the time to serve customers with relevant messages. While their ATM's are incredible, you won't believe what they have been able to do across other channels!

If you want to know more about what an FI should be doing, please send me a note.

Shoppers want enhanced personalization, more choices in how they ineract with retailers through social media. After a significant number were polled about what they wanted - here is a summary of what these consumers really want -

1. Consumers are looking for personalized experiences with social media - real one to one marketing & don't forget customer service.

2. Consumers want to find the retailer easily on social media channels - take the guessing out of where the consumer can find you. Google is great but listing your social sites on your channels is much better.

3. Consumers want to know what is being offered on each social media channel - why Facebook, what's on YouTube, why should they follow on Twitter.

4. Retailers need to unify offers across social media channels - don't play games with consumers.

5. Nurturing & not taking over the content on online communities adds credibility to user messaging. They want retailers to encourage conversations and not take those over.

6. Consumers expect to be heard - put experts online, listen, & respond quickly to concerns. It's not like they are waiting for your message to come to them. They ring your social 'doorbell' and expect you to serve them pronto.

7. Consumers are looking for real commercials - no fake models but real user generated content on social media sites.

Consumers also felt that more than 50% of their favorite retailers were missing on social media channels. They also felt that 70% of those who were there were completely missing the mark.

While many businesses realize the importance of social media channels - they feel that it takes too much time to do things right. Join us on Friday March 26th as we talk about how some have used their time judiciously to create effective engagement through social media.

Hundreds of backyard birding enthusiasts got involved submitting pictures of birds to Duncraft. It was tough to go through the hundreds of pictures to narrow it down to just 14 finalists. Every picture was turned in by a raving fan. Duncraft fans are indeed passionate about backyard birding.

They have done an incredible job engaging their fans through social media. Mike Dunn, their CEO says that Social Media is about creating a dialogue and sharing a passion. He grew up enjoying this hobby and is thrilled that social media helps him carry the passion forward with people all around the world.

If you have a question - you can go to their site, call them, or even mail them - they do an awesome job responding to you. They share their expertise because they know birds, and more importantly want to learn about birds from their fans as well. They listen to questions from customers calling in and try to make the answers available on different social media channels.

They even point their customers to come visit and participate in a social media dialogue. If you post a question on their social media sites - other birding enthusiasts will probably chime in with their opinions, sometimes before they do. This is how involved their fans are!

Duncraft shares their passion through Tweets, have a relaxed setting on Facebook, & provide really insightful information on their Blog. Interestingly, their Blog brings their social media sites together including some interesting videos on YouTube.

Their social media channels are integrated - Blog, Facebook, & Twitter - these are connected to carry on conversations with their fans.

Isn't it incredible that a bird company Tweets!

Do you know how to attract Bluebirds? Look at this tweet - - the tweet leads you to their blog which is packed with great information.

Or check out this really pretty duckling - - directly taking you to a video of a duck feeding fish.

Who ever knew pigeons were so smart? Never underestimate the power of teamwork! - an amazing picture of three pigeons turning on a waterfountain.

Every one of these tweets are intriguing and effective in driving cross channel dialogue.

Facbeook is a place to hang out and learn. They have customers and fans post questions or their success with products. They run a caption contest each week.


What would you say about this Redhead? - look at the engagement and comments from other fans on Facebook. (link)

Getting back to the contest - take a look at the incredible pictures on their blog - 14 gorgeous beauties.

Why don't you add your vote on who you think will win?

Last year Slumdog Millionaire walked away with most of the awards at the Oscars. The movie was about 'anticipation marketing' & did a very good job engaging people - all the right ingredients for Social Media.

Since last year, Social Media has taken on a buzz of its own. There are a number of nominees, a lot of buzz and The Academy has done a very good job trying to canvass engagement.

If you go to their web sites at http://www.oscars.org you will see references to a very nice engagement forum on Facebook & Twitter. Their YouTube site is also full of good engagement. To connect with fans they have even created www.oscar.go.com - with the intention of involving, engaging, & promoting everything about movies. Games, challenges, trivia, mobile alerts - they have it all.

Some people have even created their own avatars to talk to fans about who is going to win. Alix Diva is an expert on Twitter and she is giving away $100 to those that can predict the best movie, best actor, & best actress.

Just like the movie Slumdog Millionaire a good social media program keeps fans engaged, a carefully scripted plan that way even if they figure out your formula and know what to expect, they’ll still have something to look forward to. The Academy's web sites are the basis for user generated content, and consequent engagement. A scripted path that allows for efficient engagement, anticipate needs, determine recipient’s favorites and their best-fit offers.

The movie Slumdog Millionaire followed a path – simple questions leading to more complicated ones; even when you knew what to expect, you waited to watch because there was enough of a teaser. Use the same approach with your campaigns, lay them all out and see if they flow.

Offer a theme to keep people engaged across campaigns, make reference to current events and keep sharing feedback from the users and incorporating feedback from your team. Your goal is not just to get a click-through to landing pages, but to get people to share what you show and keep coming back for your campaigns.

I was blown away by the effort involved in Avatar. I was also impressed with Inglorius Besterd's. Other than that, I have no idea who will win.

Maybe Alix at TopFlix will let me in on the buzz?

Three channels are going to drive digital engagement in 2010. Email, Mobile, & Social Media.

Email because it is personal, can be personalized, and can be tracked. The bigger opportunity with email is that it can be used as the lead in to all other channels. Email is also emerging as a strong replacement as the primary point of contact replacing direct mail in many instances. The key to EFFECTIVE email is to use it to build up preferences on the consumer.

Mobile is important for two key reasons - first, your business is available to the consumer at any time; second, it is available anywhere. Also with the growing use of smart phones - mobile is going to become stronger and stronger. A key issue as far as mobile is concerned is to remember only to message if it is important. Unlike many international countries the user pays for the message in the US.

Social Media is good for many reasons - it is free (not counting the effort involved), it is also where your consumer hangs out. Your opportunity is to join your consumer on these channels. Many create big signs and offer great incentives to lure people in - while this is good in the short run it is not effective. To be successful in social media you have to join conversations. Many companies are still struggling to get this right.

To keep consumers engaged you have to focus on what the consumer desires. Organizations need to be able to set up cross channel preferences pages that can capture and serve consumers across channel. The second thing to keep in mind is that you want to provide 'timely relevance.' Whatever channel you choose to communicate - make sure you have relevant information delivered quickly. Else, your program looses value.

Your goal is to drive targeted conversations.

You don't have to offer everyone the same deal. People are willing to pay more for convenience, choice, or perceived value. Why not offer a little intrigue? Why not leverage mobile? Why not come up with custom offers? Oh, and don't forget about social media. The point is to make them feel special, treat them like a Maharaja.

A neighborhood golf course puts up a sign on the road each week. They list the weather forecast for each day and have published pricing for all. They take the time to update their web site, update the rates in their pro-shop & even their ad in the local newspaper. Same deal for all - they call it consistency, but I spoke to them about different options for different people. Start by thanking those that have played with a simple email & an opportunity to sign up for the next round with a special discount. People will pay a premium to play in better weather. They also won't complain if they don't know what others have paid.

A local pizza shop has started asking people driving by to follow them on Twitter. Nine times a day, they tweet an offer out to those that follow them. The offers vary - some of them just offer a scrumptious meal, some offer a deal, some even are timed offers - 'if you order in 20 minutes' you get 2 free toppings!

A sports team engages fans by asking them to text in the answer for a chance to win during the game. The fan is engaged even more when they are asked to choose between offers. What follows is a timed text message, encouraging the recipient to visit a concession stand or a merchant. Oh, and even if you are not at the game - they think of ways to keep you engaged.

The web to many is one offer fits most. Given technology, interactivity, & personal media - why not look for ways to create offers within the 'envelope?' More power to you as the consumer feels special and an opportunity for you to test offers, earn more, and stay engaged with your consumers.