We are no longer talking about simply building websites, writing blogs, or optimizing Pay-Per-Click Advertising campaigns; the media world in which we live has become location-based, review dominated, App heavy, text happy, plug-in this and plug-in that – and do it all within 140 characters!

Planning a Social Media Strategy is about as straight forward as asking a toddler to “sit still for a minute”. So what is a Marketing Director (or Community Manager, or Digital Marketing Manager or anyone else for that matter, we don’t even know what to call ourselves anymore!) to do?

Social Media has morphed many skill-sets together and may be managed by a variety of different people or positions within an organization.  Generally, an outside agency should be brought in to set up a social strategy, as well as train and execute a brand social community – but long term, the heart and soul of your brand should be managed by trusted and skilled team members within your organization.

Having said that – stick with the three S’s and your digital media efforts will be integrated with your overall marketing efforts and will ensure success and ROI.

Strategic, Streamlined and Sexy:

1. Be Strategic

Build your Social Media and marketing campaigns with a strategy in mind, and with the right resources and a plan in place to make it happen.  Start with what channels you need to build a presence on.  Don’t jump in on every channel until you are doing one really well.  Maybe you have a killer Facebook business page but it’s time to grow the community.  Perhaps you have not had the time or knowledge to dedicate to LinkedIn for your Sales team, but you know the networking tool could really make the sales process easier.

Write a pain point about each social channel you are already using or think your brand needs to have a presence on.  What are you (or your competitors) doing well, how could you improve, how you measure your ROI, what resources are in place to manage it, and goals for each community for next year.

As one wise Chick on our team always says “plan the work, and work the plan”.

2. Be Streamlined

No one marketing campaign has ever worked in isolation.  At the same time, each of your communities will be different in the way you deliver content, respond and engage with your followers and brand champions.

Be smart and streamlined with your messages.  If you are looking to run a contest on Facebook – ensure you plan it out properly, and ensure all roads lead to a point of conversion.  Conversion may be more “likers” or traffic to your website, but ensure that your target audience follows a path to enter the contest and do what you intend them to do.

Also, be streamlined in your efforts overall – avoid trying too many tactics on too many channels.  Stick with what’s working and make sure you streamline your resources to be able to manage your social brand over the long term.

3. Be Sexy

Yes I said sexy.  Digital media allows us to think outside the box.  Try some unique marketing tactics and have fun with it!  If you are going to dedicate time and resources to develop a presence on social communities – you better use them to their fullest potential.  You have to stand out, shout out, and be proud of your brand on the social web.  Learn to listen and respond instead of pushing out messages to your target audiences.  The social web is the place to show the personality of your brand and really engage your consumers – not to announce a 20% off special.

There are many other must do’s as you are building out your digital media campaigns for 2012, but if you keep these points in mind, focus on good design and content, and at the very least commit to allocating resources to get in the game in 2012 – you will be ready for any “likes” “Diggs” “pokes” “plus’s” “sparks” “circles” or “huddles” we may be talking about next year.

The online buying process is shifting rapidly with consumers in general spending more of their online time on Facebook then on Google, still stopping at review sites, social networking sites, blogs and forums, and now YouTube to round out the buying funnel – and in many cases starting the buying process.

YouTube is the second largest search engine behind Google itself, which means that a properly defined YouTube marketing strategy with the goals of engaging consumers, drive them to continue the research process towards other brand content on social media sites, review sites etc. – and finally leading them to conversion or purchase is a must.

With expanded marketing opportunities such as customized YouTube channels, promoted videos and display Ads, and in-stream advertising – there is a huge opportunity to position ad content around rich media – which is more emotive and “real” than descriptive content on a website or photos and reviews on Tripadvisor. This is especially relevant to marketers of travel and tourism as travel research and buying is an emotive process.

YouTube Strategy Basics:

1. Tag content with proper keywords – According to Google, approximately 1/3 of all videos watched on YouTube use search to be found, this means tagging the content and understanding your target keyword market just, like we do with the SEO for websites, is crucial for any marketer utilizing video content.

2. Consider placing ads alongside content from well known brand channels targeted to specific niche end users (like Home and Garden Television for example) or run Ads against competitor content and user generated video’s that have been tagged to be found for the keywords your audience would likely use to research travel.

Example: A search in You Tube for “Bay of Fundy” serves up video content such as this Local Tourism associations or hotels and Resorts could position Ads appearing on the content and guide the interested consumer towards making travel plans.

These are examples illustrate how effective YouTube advertising can be in leading your customer to transact. These types of ads are available as overlays or in-stream, and can click to a website or a YouTube Brand Channel.

Tip: When setting up a YouTube campaign such as this, ensure that there is a strong call-to-action and a relevant landing page to send your traffic to as opposed to simply sending the click to a home page.

YouTube Beyond the Basics:

1. Promoted Videos: The Ad message and target keywords are tagged to the video. The video then appears on results pages for contextually relevant searches, and alongside other relevant videos. This is a pay-per-click model much like Google Adwords, where the advertiser pays only when a user watches the video.

2. TrueView’ Video Ads: These ads appear in-stream pre or mid-roll, as an option to choose one ad, or as regular commercial breaks.

3. Mobile Youtube Roadblock: For an entire day, all visitors to m.youtube.com will receive the advertisers marketing message, in a variety formats. This tactic would require a large marketing spend and would be effective for targeting a specific niche audience or for overall brand marketing efforts.

4. YouTube Brand Channel: A brand channel or destination page is a customizable interface between your business and users on the YouTube platform. Users click on video’s that have been uploaded and live on a brand channel and the content will play in the brand channel, and the surrounding videos and links belong to that brand only (not other advertisers can place ads against this content).

This is a great way of keeping users involved with your content longer, and to ensure that they are not jumping off your content to a competitor who is buying your brand terms.

YouTube brand channels also allow for in depth tracking and for content from the channel to be embedded into a site or ad. Advertising products available to brand channel advertisers include; Homepage 24 hour Roadblocks and Masthead placements, which allow brands to deliver a creative message to enormous audiences. A brand channel is not for every business and requires substantial budgets to maintain – but it is also incredibly targeted and measurable and a must for large well-known consumer brands at this stage of the game.

With 100 million unique monthly users, YouTube has become an important consideration for marketers. For more on developing a YouTube strategy or to receive the full version of this article, contact The Chicks – and of course you can check us out on YouTube too!

Guest Post by Patti Ellis

They say opposites attract, and in this case, it couldn’t be more true.  I’m geekaliciously nerdy with a fond appreciation for any type of electronic gadget that is connected to the Internet.  I love to travel, and have a penchant for room service and fine wine.  My husband, on the other hand, would actually prefer to be wearing camo and living outside several hundred miles from civilization; living off the land as it were, cooking on an open fire whilst sharing tales of yesteryear with his hunting and fishing buddies and enjoying a brewski or two…

It’s deer hunting season here in Nova Scotia, and I received a rare invitation to spend this past weekend in a dilapidated camp in, well, I’m not sure where really, as I was blindfolded and permitted entry only after consuming several shots of Zambuca and successfully passing a hazing exercise that I am to never speak of again.

Let me set the scene for you, and relay to you why I feel this story is even remotely related to being worthy of a Chick blog post…

The hunters in this area have been hunting there for 20-30 years.  For many, it’s generational.  Their grandfathers, fathers and now their sons – and a few wives and daughters – now participate in the experience.  It’s competitive and very strategic, they tell me.   And, now it’s all about the technology.

In a very Sopranos-esque type of sit-down, they meet at the end of the day and compare their notes and discuss at great length any sightings, tracks or scrapings.  Then, they whip out their daily-collected SD cards and view them on laptops or digital cameras to see who visited what, where and at what time, and to check lineage (something to do with antlers and points).  They use high tech walkie talkies to communicate while they are out and about, and they use their GPS to keep track of landmarks, and their Blackberries to check the wind, weather conditions and temperature.  And, they drive big, expensive four wheelers that have names like “The Grizz” which ironically sounds very much like my first car, which was a muffler-less Chevette and very similar in size, I might add.

And, yet, with all of these tools, the elusive buck manages to sneak in unseen and unheard.  He has a six-course meal of apple after apple all the while seemingly knowing and not caring that every movement is being flashed at and recorded by high-definition game cameras.  He’s smart, selective and he’s been around the block a few times.

I *had* to interject myself into the conversation at this point, much to the group’s delight.  I suggested to this pack of Survivormen that they consider changing their strategies as they all hunt, nap and eat at the same time every day. Any self-respecting deer could easily figure their schedule out; perhaps offer something else up for dinner? Maybe some carrots or a Hosta side-salad would do the trick; afterall, isn’t using apples for bait the same as using direct mail?

Ok, perhaps I lost them with that last point, but what struck me is the similarity with which they were doing the tried and true albeit with the latest in technology.  We as Internet marketers, do the same thing only our tools are websites, mobile phones, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

Consumers are getting smarter, and not only do we need to use technology in innovative new ways, we also need to ensure we’re actually reaching the consumer (i.e. that they’re actually eating a mixture of apples, carrots or the Hosta side-salad).

So, where do we invest our 2011 marketing dollars?  Download our 11 Tips for Budgeting in 2011 to learn how to get the most, ummmmm, bang for your buck.

This question has had us thinking.

Why the story? Over the past five years since Patricia and I founded A Couple of Chicks’, we have had the pleasure of not only traveling across Canada and the US, but also of really knowing the places and people we are working with – and more importantly – what makes them unique.

So why are these stories so important to the success of what we do? I guess we could just go back to the marketing 101 textbook, which among other things, teaches us to understand the customer. Yes, we have research for that (and lots of it), and while many businesses don’t have the time or resources to individually know every customer, Patricia and I have been lucky enough to be invited into communities, and to really know the people we work with and are speaking to in the workshops and presentations that we do.

In fact, the “stories” have become so ingrained into our methodology that I am not quite sure that our strategies would be as effective without them.

Yes the latest digital marketing trend is important and relevant, and yes we need to understand the latest shift in Google’s algorithms, the new rules on 301 redirects, and how to add a source code to paid search ads for proper measurement – but we also need the narrative behind each unique web strategy, and the people that are building them. How can we truly roll out a successful and engaging web marketing program without first understanding the nuances of the business and who the customers are?

I will quote a Blogger who recently attended one of our presentations (said Blogger happens to be the “techy” son of the owner/operator of a successful Inn in Eastern Canada, who tagged along with his dad to listen to what the Chicks’ were saying about this whole online marketing thing). (Note the “story” in this paragraph)

He writes, “If every prospective guest to the Carriage House could flip through the pages of the guest book sitting in the lobby, they wouldn’t even consider staying elsewhere. With Facebook and Twitter, this is now entirely possible to do online, and relatively easy to promote.”

I could not have said it better myself! So although the research, the training, efficient process and project management skills are all key to assisting businesses to be successful online – sometimes telling a story does it best.

Hey L.S – we think you are on to something btw. The technology driven “writer’s utopia” may just be in sight, but alas we must make sure it is profitable too. And yes I did just use “btw” in that sentence!

Niki Leondakis, COO of Kimpton also points out in the HNN article that integration of social tools such as Blogs into the main websites is planned for the coming year as well as a continued focus on encouraging “tweetups” and other ways for social communities to connect around Kimpton brands. This approach to integration instead of a web presence over here on facebook, one on Twitter – another on a Blog will be confusing to consumers as we grow more comfortable with true interaction and communication directly with brands.

My guess is that the successful hotel brand website as it is today will look very different in the very near future and will need to be the central gathering place for all brand points online – as well as the place for transaction.

Jim Zito, VP of interactive marketing for New York-based Morgans Hotel Group speaks more about going back to what works offline to assist in strategy for the new online media world. Zito is consulting with groups offline and online to really listen to how consumer behavior has changed in the new social online world. Smart. Not jumping in without understanding why first and making sure you are truly ‘hearing’ what your customers are responding to.

Then there is Fairmont Hotels and Resorts – a brand who has not been shy in adapting to this new marketing medium. David Doucette executive director of Internet marketing for Fairmont speaks about the brand’s use of exsisting social networks where consumers are already living and interacting (Tripadvisor), as well as the launch of a new social networking platform built around Fairmont brand stories for Fairmont brand loyalists.

Brilliant if I may say. Fairmont has a storied brand history, an consumer segment that is passionate about the brand, beautiful historic properties – and ‘stories’ to tell which may just be why building a specific brand social media community will work for them. Fairmont’s www.everyonesanoriginal.com social media community has just recently launched.

fairmont's www.everyonesandoriginal.com social media community recently launches

What I like specifically about this article is that it focussed not on the “What” the big hotel brands are doing but “Why.” It is clear that Kimpton Hotels and Resorts, Morgan’s Hotel Group and Fairmont have clearly laid out strategy, deployed testing, feedback from their customers and have determined their key measurables for both Brand loyalty and ROI. This is clearly not a result of which chains have the largest budgets – and a good lesson to the industry as a whole.

Chris Breikss Super Fan Vancouver Olympics 2010

The newest chick in the coop has inspired me to get back to my Blogging roots as I have moved towards micro-blogging sound-bites on twitter instead of taking time to muse about all things online. Thanks Patti for a fantastic guest Blog entry this week and thanks for the kick in the butt to get blogging again!

I can’t help as a proud Canadian to reflect on Vancouver’s achievement in producing an amazing Winter Olympic Games. We were truly watching the first ever Digital Olympics with this one – and I am happy to say that I think that Canada was well prepared for all of the media channels that were watching this country for the 14 days of the games. It will be interesting to hear now how the traditional media outlets faired.

Although millions were glued to televisions as Sidney Crosby scored the winning goal for Canada in overtime against the US hockey team (could not help but mention that one – that would have been so un-Canadian) – I wonder how many millions also watched events via live streaming video, or through a twitter stream of Olympic athletes tweeting updates live from events, ceremonies and from the general festivities that surrounded the games.

It will be interesting to see also how many downloads there were of the Olympics iPhone Apps, and how many Flickr streams there will be posted by athletes and athletes families from inside the Olympics Village and other “behind the scenes” places.

I must say that viewing photos live from a hockey game such as this one of “a young russian hockey fan” posted by my friend and colleague Chris Breikss after Russia lost to team Canada. Chris enjoyed many an Olympic moment on behalf of 900 of his Facebook friends- and I enjoyed seeing updates live on my mobile facebook app from friends as they experienced some of the winning Olympics moments live.   It allowed me to feel like a participant in the stories like no television broadcast has ever been able to do.

Kudos to the organizers, to the city of Vancouver British Columbia, to the Canadian Tourism Commission, to the media and bloggers, the athletes – and to all of the fans who tweeted, posted, blogged and text messaged your experiences of the games…the first digital Olympics was a great success!

There has been much ado about Twitter as of late so I thought I would try to stop “micro-blogging” my posts through my http://www.Twitter/acoupleofchicks home for Chicks on Twitter and actually write a post of suggestions for Tweeting for business.

Here is my list of Twitter Tips:

1. Your Website: Before you start tweeting, make sure your company’s website is up to date, optimized for search engines and has a call to action to close the sale. You will also need to install a web monitoring program like Google Analytics; a free program that monitors traffic on your website. This way you will be able to benchmark your success once you have started tweeting. (You can look for Twitter as one of your traffic referrals once it is up and running and you want to determine if Tweeting is worth your time).

2. Put a name on it: When creating a twitter page for your company or brand, make sure you are using a real name in the bio for transparency. Your twitter page should feel like a conversation and followers need to feel as if they are talking to a real person. Using first person in your tweets or the collective ‘we’ also makes your company seem more credible and engaging to potential customers. Ex: “We’re dropping prices tomorrow!”

3. Follow, follow: Following is one of the most important aspects of twitter. A fast and easy way to find potential customers is to visit a competitor’s twitter page and follow their followers. You should also search your company’s name in a “twitter search” to see who’s talking about you and then add them. Other people you should follow include: other employees, people in related companies and industries, related brands, journalists and competitors. Following people related to your company helps get the best followers for your twitter page – and gives you some relevant content to read!

4. Tweet Content: Make sure your tweets are not entirely sales or company related. If you are constantly talking about a sale or a new product that just arrived, people will not see the value in following your company. Talk about things happening in the media, post links to interesting stories related to your industry and upload twitpics. This way, when you talk about the odd sale or new product and post links to your site, your followers will actually be interested.

The points above are the very basic elements to consider when looking at Twitter as a marketing vehicle. I would suggest that more than a marketing vehicle, Twitter is an excellent PR/Communications tool and many successful brand Tweeters are using it as a means to have a “conversation” with their customers.

With this post a renewed commitment to continue Blogging more than 140 characters at a time – this was therapeutic!

[tags]twitter for business, marketing, tweeting, social media, Twitter tips[/tags]

I have spent the morning thus far updating LinkedIn, Twitter and various Facebook communities welcoming delegates to Niagara Falls (home to the 4^th annual Canadian internet marketing event), posting links to the Conference mobile agenda.

www.QuickMobile.com/online, updating the Online Revealed Twitter page, and reminding those who could not attend to follow (and join!) the Twitter conversation remotely using a twitter tag #orc09.

Chick Note: adding this tag to a Tweet will allow you to post comments to Twitter which will be added to the ORC chat room like discussion that will ensue when conference attendees post updates to Twitter.com, and those that are following comment. You can also do a Twitter search for Online Revealed to find the updates and follow live throughout the 2 day event.

It is amazing that in just four years this Conference, which will bring together tourism professionals from all across Canada and beyond, has evolved to be a true community both online and offline.  Over 300 attendees this year will meet over the next few days in Niagara Falls to share, debate, learn and educate about marketing online while hundreds more may be learning virtually through online channels such as Twitter and Facebook.

Although I will not be posting live updates to ideahatching.com, I invite you to join us in Niagara Falls over the next few days virtually!

Check out the mobile conference agenda here www.QuickMobile.com/online

For those who are not able to be in Niagara – follow us on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/orcconference - or follow my Twitter posts at www.twitter.com/acoupleofchicks

Follow the Twitter conversation here: http://www.tinker.com/event/online_revealed_canada_3
(the conference Hash Tag is #orc09 – join us!)

And if I have totally confused you and this post looks like it was written in Greek – stay tuned for Online Revealed TV (orctv.com) – we will be releasing workshop segments and discussions on our new online TV platform next month!

[tags] linkedin, social media marketing, marketing online, web marketing conference, tourism, online revealed canada conference, internet marketing community, mobile marketing [/tags]

Right now I am preparing a presentation on how executives can use social  media and I came across this article that puts it all into perspective. There is a new generation to manage, understand and communicate with – and as this article points out, you could call it Generation Facebook.  The rules of work related life have changed due to the accessibility of information, and the number of people online.

As Gary Hamel points out in his blog post the Facebook Generation vs. The Fortune 500, online expectations have changed the way that executives and managers communicate both within their organization, and through their networks.  No longer can executives ignore this powerful PR tool we call social networking.  Before diving in to Twitter, Facebook or even LinkedIn, I must reference Hamels’ list of 12 work-relevant characteristics of online life which reviews the new rules of online interaction including “Contribution counts more than credentials“,  and “all idea’s compete on an equal footing“,and my favourite…”groups are self defining and self organizing” (no one can force you to connect with anyone online).

So…don’t ban Facebook and Twitter at work. It is a powerful networking and sales tool and it would be a good career mover to understand how social media websites like LinkedIn have changed business and how you can get involved.

[tags]social media networking, managment, social media websites, Gary Hamel blog, generation f, generation facebook

Travel Weekly recently published an article warning that “as the social-networking phenomenon grows, travel agencies, home-based agents, suppliers and destination marketers who sit on the sidelines may risk missing significant opportunities to engage existing customers, recruit new ones, bolster their brands, undertake market research and drive bookings“.

The article also highlighted that JetBlue has 132,000 “followers” on Twitter, while Southwest has 64,300 “fans” on Facebook.  Wow!  So now you are thinking “I don’t have the marketing budgets that Jetblue or Southwest Airlines do so what am I supposed to do now that I have an entire new media channel to manage”?

I have been seeing many articles as of late in media both online and offline that seem to be warning marketers to jump in now or miss the boat. (remember the initial .com bust?) Although many are talking about the social media phenomenon, there is not a great deal of actual step by step guidance about how to build and effectively manage an online community (or a group of communities that may exist on sites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, You Yube and Linked In), but simply pointing out that it is time to jump in or else.

I did like this article I read online by the Lake Tahoe Daily Tribune (a local print newspaper) that outlined some real world social media marketing examples such as the Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course which has a Web site, but also manages accounts with Flickr, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.  Good for the Tribune for highlighting some local real world success stories and good for the Edgewood Golf course for stepping into social media marketing but also pointing out that this new marketing channel is time consuming (and therefore not free or easy).
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In saying all of this, I have been tardy with my Blog updates as of late as  I have been actively tweeting and managing communities for both A Couple of Chicks e-Marketing and Online Revealed on Facebook, Twitter. (Patricia took LinkedIn – this is no job for one chick!)  We are also just finishing up Part Two of our article Series Moving your Social Media Strategy to the Suburbs which will break down our approach to creating a true social media community.

Our 4th annual Online Revealed internet marketing conference is also less than one month away! We are holding this year’s event in Niagara Falls, Canada and will have real people speaking about real case studies and how-to tactics to using social media (and other online marketing strategies) to market your business. We are really excited to have speakers from Google, Tripadvisor, and from real world companies (no offense to our friends at google and tripadvisor!!) like Sequel Hotels and Resorts (a small management company specializing in boutique hotels in Canada), and other operators who will share tips about successful tactics they have used to market themselves online.

[tags]social media marketing, tourism marketing, travel weekly, social networking, twitter, new media, social media community [/tags]