But what really differentiates Millennial women from their generational counterparts?

Stereotypes run the gamut, but here are a few truths you can rely upon when trying to understand this generation:

• They are digital natives and don't consider new technology something to adopt. It just is.
• They are ethnically and religiously diverse -- more so than any generation to come before them.
• They believe in transparency and candor.

Here are five lessons marketers can learn from today's young women.

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It's nearly impossible to overstate Google's place in our industry. The company touches just about every aspect of marketing. Name the channel, and Google is there. But while Google gets a lot of attention for the big things -- search, YouTube, etc. -- it flies somewhat under the radar when it comes to providing tools for marketers.

"It's almost like you have to know a guy to know [some of these tools] exist," says Joe Germscheid, director of consumer engagement at Carmichael Lynch. "They don't get talked about often, but they're good resources."

Fair enough.

Some of the tools on this list may be entirely new to you. Others you've probably heard of, although you may not have used them in the way described. But as with anything Google, it's almost impossible to be totally comprehensive. There are just too many products. So if we've missed a Google tool you find essential, share it in the comments.

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For better or for worse, those days are over. Any one agency that presumes to have all the answers to all the questions across all media is simply full of -- well, let's just say those days are over.

The media landscape is way too complicated today, and the need for specialists has become essential to a brand's success. Today, brands need a roster of agencies across various disciplines at their marketing table.

The big problem? Those agencies often don't play well together in the sandbox.

I run a pure-play social media agency called Big Fuel. We work with large brands, and our focus is entirely on social media. When we get hired, we are typically the new kid on the agency roster -- and usually as the new kid, it's hard to make friends. All the other folks are sizing you up, and some are upset that they didn't get your scope of work. Needless to say, a welcome mat is nowhere to be found.

A big part of our success over the last few years has been our ability to turn that situation around. We've been successful because we understand the sandbox. Perhaps it's because I've personally never worked at an agency other than the one I founded. My entire professional career has been in the entertainment industry. Television production, where I spent most of my career, is inherently collaborative. Don't get me wrong; Hollywood is not without egos. (Far from it.) But everyone knows what role they play in the ecosystem.

Truth be told, we don't have a choice. Social media touches everything: CRM, PR, crisis management, digital and online advertising, retail, customer service, etc. That means we need to be collaborative in order to do our jobs. Half of what we do every day is support and amplify existing programs and initiatives. We work with almost every department internally and every agency externally. We have to be comfortable in the sandbox to succeed.

So, here are just a few things to think about when navigating the sandbox.

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ISEM starts with research into regionally relevant keywords. This activity should be spearheaded by translation and localization experts who understand the nuances of regional dialects and colloquial speech, as well as the parameters of preferred search engines. In most of the world, the latter means Google. However, in China, for example, prospective customers are more likely to use a local search engine like Baidu, which uses a vastly different algorithm than Google. Thus, keyword development for China, or your prospective global venture, should reflect this fact.

Once the most effective keywords have been selected, businesses can begin building multi-pronged efforts in those new markets. This might include targeted pay-per-click ads, multilingual rich media, adapted banner ads, out-of-home advertising, philanthropic community involvement, as well as social media outreach, if appropriate.

For those companies that decide that social media should be one of the elements in branching out internationally, there are a couple of things to consider. First, social media requires human management. Complete reliance on machine translation is rarely a good idea, and it can be even more disastrous in social media, which requires ongoing, authentic engagement. If social media must be part of the marketing mix, so should a local translation expert. This hire should of course be knowledgeable of the company's international messaging, but more importantly, they need to be aware of the cultural norms, local news, and search engine algorithms.

Hiring a local professional is also essential since social media is not a one-time activity. Direct connections between brands and prospects work best when they are tended to over time rather than forced through quick-hit broadcasts. Blogs, for example, need fresh, relevant content several times per week. Twitter streams must be updated multiple times per day, customer tweets should be responded to immediately, and Facebook walls need to be monitored and updated. This is easier said then done, but when done correctly, social media can deliver significant returns on investment for businesses expanding internationally. However, not all industries reap these rewards. It pays to analyze the behavior of domestic customers and weigh that into the decision regarding international social media investments.

No matter what type of marketing approach an enterprise may take regarding international social media, search engine marketing matters the most in terms of return on investment. Yes, businesses big and small are getting closer to their customers through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs, and other social media vehicles, but international success in those arenas is complex. When multiple languages and disparate regional norms are part of the mix, businesses must follow best practices in ISEM first. When they do so, they are far more likely to succeed in their efforts to engage prospects, promote deals, encourage brand loyalty, supply traffic to their international websites, and increase profits.

Liz Elting is co-founder and co-CEO, TransPerfect.

On Twitter? Follow iMedia Connection at @iMediaTweet.

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Consider these Facebook update don'ts:

• Don't spam your audience. Posting updates back to back, multiple times per day, is the best way to get hidden in the news feed.
• Don't neglect issues or problems on your page. Social media is a two-way conversation you can have with your customers. When you ignore concerns or questions, it appears as if you don't care.
• Don't use formulaic responses. In the same vein as ignoring comments, it's just as bad to post a canned response to all issues or concerns.
• Don't automate your updates. Users notice when they see the same exact content posted on all your networks or marketing channels. This includes linking your Facebook and Twitter accounts.
• Don't turn off the wall. While neglecting issues or problems is a bad practice, turning off the wall completely sends the message that you just want to broadcast, not engage.

With Facebook implementing new features every day, it's becoming increasingly easy for users to hide status updates from appearing in their news feed. While this might be a plus in the personal sphere, it's a little scary for brands that also appear in the same news feed. In fact, it's now possible to "unlike" a brand page directly in the news feed without needing to visit the page at all. By adhering to the following best practices (as evidenced by brands that did the exact opposite), your brand's chance of getting hidden or "unliked" is reduced significantly.

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We've all been there: We worked on an assignment where we had to create and deliver a digital plan that ran counter to our own best judgments. Sometimes decision makers are obsessed with certain tactics and make us "pound them to fit." Other times, people insist on vendors you don't think are the best choices.

Perhaps an even more common situation in which the metrics used to measure effectiveness for a plan have very little connection to what the program is supposed to do. Anyone who has had to report clicks for an awareness campaign knows what I am talking about here.

Such situations can be rather disheartening. Worse yet, they have our names on them. Accepting criticism for decisions you believed in that turned out to be wrong is one thing. Having to nail your trousers to a mast that you know has no sail is quite another.

But there is a way to drastically reduce the number of times this happens in our careers. By asking certain questions at the outset of an assignment, we can align the entire team to a set of smarter actions.

In other words, using questions to identify and "pre-sell" the sensible. Here are five simple questions you can use to get everyone pointed in the right direction.

What is the objective of the campaign?
Yes, bloody friggin' obvious. But when I ask teams what their biggest frustrations are, many say that all too often they must develop plans based upon confusing, contradictory, or unfocused objectives.

Real world example: How many times have you asked, "Is this about awareness, brand perceptions, or direct sales?" To be told it is all three? Obviously, all efforts have some benefit on every standard marketing dimension, but prioritizing goals is essential to drive real effectiveness.

Three objectives weighted equally is not direction, it's a punt. And it leads to crap plans that don't do anything well because they are forced to meet three different needs simultaneously.

If we force a decision on priorities, we can actually deliver results.

What digital measures align with the objective?
Note that I didn't say, "What measures and metrics are we using?" That is an entirely different question that may have nothing to do with the objective.

I think it can be really useful to go to your team meeting with a spreadsheet that lists all of the things you can measure on the left hand column and the different types of objectives across the top. Put a check in every cell where a measure offers a good indicator of changes against that objective.

For example, with direct online sales, the best measure is -- wait for it -- direct online sales tracked via site tags. Not clicks. Not time spent. Not video plays. Having the team fill in the chart as part of the discussion can be really valuable, because it makes people understand the essential connection between how we measure and what we are trying to achieve.

Now, if it turns out that regardless of the business objective the decision maker is set on a specific measure -- like clicks or sales -- we can at least discuss how the measure and the objective are at variance, and do a reality check on whether the stated objective is the true objective.

For example, one of the most common adages in digital is that "branding is important until the first reporting comes in. Then it's all about sales." I once worked on a client that had dreams about reaching and persuading a highly affluent audience. But the reality was that rich users were a nice to have, while lots of users were a need to have. If we had been real about the goal, we would have focused on performance tactics instead of purchasing a bunch of high CPM media in venues that attract a $100,000 audience. And quite frankly, we wouldn't have wasted $500,000 in the first month on ego instead of building the business.

What efforts outside of digital can we align with?
If future marketing efforts are to be digitally led, we need to lead in identifying and leveraging ways to drive more benefit from across the marketing plan. That means better understanding the scope, components, and timing of non-digital activity so that it can be reflected in what we are doing.

Silo-ization is something we yammer and wring our hands over. Let's start taking a proactive stance on the issue to demonstrate to clients and other decision makers that we are the solution, not another component of the problem. By understanding what the brand is doing, with which assets, at what times, we can align our efforts to maximum benefit.

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Image created by Rosaura Ochoa

I like to describe Twitter as an adequate but imperfect side kick. Twitter is Robin to Facebook's Batman -- Derek Fisher to Kobe Bryant (go Kings!). The former would have far less significance without the latter and may get more credit than it deserves from time to time. But at its most basic level, tweets are upgraded Facebook statuses -- a quick approach to social engagement. Thanks to its fleeting nature, Twitter users are also more fickle, since the makeup of a tweet favors its distribution as opposed to its content. Simply put, a Twitter user is less likely to have actually read a full post or watched a trailer before referring (re-tweeting). Mashable decided to test this theory out for itself.

After gathering a few months of social media data and calculating the click-per-share rate, Mashable revealed that Twitter users were "more likely to share an article rather than read it, whereas users on Facebook click on more articles than they share."

More precisely, "Twitter received roughly 0.38 clicks per tweet, whereas Facebook received 3.31 clicks per engagement (the number of times people posted a Mashable link to Facebook through an action on a social plugin or through a wall post)." In total, Facebook received about 8.7 times more clicks than a tweet -- a point that many marketers seem to overlook. Just because a post receives hundreds of tweets doesn't mean that the action translates into true engagement.

While Twitter does a number of great things, like promoting discounts, creating location-based challenges and check-ins, and spreading articles and social causes like wildfire, it doesn't really perform as a standalone platform. Social platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+ provide marketers with ample insight on each individual's profile. They entice users to display and reveal as much information about themselves as possible, and in doing so each page has a dual purpose: it becomes a precise audience targeting tool as well as the ultimate venue for the dedicated brand advocates to advocate. On the other hand, Twitter is a great place to remain mysterious and rebel against engagement; it's a place where simply following a celebrity or comedian is an equally pleasing way to spend one's time. But when we start talking about money, that's where the data really shows up.

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Stick to a specific area of expertise
Imagine if Hitchcock made a comedy. There's a reason he's still the name in thrillers decades after his last movie. When curating, it's critical to focus on a precise topic -- within your industry -- that you know well.

Be timely
When George Clooney's "Up in the Air" premiered, it captured the public's attention in a time when people were still feeling the impact of the recession, which is one of the movie's main themes. To a similar point, movie execs regularly try to make sequels in short order to build off the original's buzz. The same holds true for curators -- provide your audiences with regular, timely content in order to keep them engaged.

Add some originality
If you've seen one romantic comedy, you may think you've seen them all -- unless there's a unique twist or originality making it worth the price of admission. Movies that have these qualities often receive the biggest box-office returns. Curated content sites featuring an original blog post or an annotation of an article often get better results in terms of traffic, engagement, and brand awareness. 

Highlight compelling characters
There's a reason "Winnie the Pooh," "Iron Man," and "Captain America," are all getting top-billing this summer. They're familiar, interesting, and play a key role in their films. For curators, this translates into the inclusion of key characters in the industry on which you curate. With the help of content curation technologies, tagging concepts, people, companies, etc., audiences can easily find all the relevant content related to that topic.

Tease content to build interest
One of my favorite parts of going to the movies is watching all the previews. Trailers tease viewers -- often with the best scenes -- to pique their interest, but don't completely give away the story. Good curators do the same by providing a short summary or introduction to a curated piece of content, but then requiring readers to click-through to the original publisher to read the entire post.

With that in mind, here are my picks for the Oscars in best curated content:

Best Costume Design: Adobe's CMO.com
Just like the studio execs behind "Deathly Hallows Part 2" know that  "Potterheads" are the key to their success, Adobe understands that chief marketing officers (CMOs) are key to growing its business. To engage them, Adobe launched CMO.com, a "one-stop shop for digital marketing insight," which has become a well-designed go-to source for senior marketing executives. The site contains original thought leadership content and frequently updated curated content from various marketing trade outlets. It also does a tremendous job of sharing all of this information via a daily email newsletter. It's the movie equivalent of those same Harry Potter execs expanding their brand with merchandise.

Best Documentary: The Drudge Report
Drudge is a great example of political news curation. It stands out because its links to third-party news content is augmented editorially through its internal team. And Matt Drudge, who runs the site, is the curator's version of an A-list actor -- his site is now ranks no. 15 on the list of  the most popular online news sites.

Best Directing: Cisco's The Network
One of the most highly anticipated releases this summer for those who closely follow content marketing was Cisco's The Network. The news portal, which launched in mid June, contains curated content from other sites frequented by its target audience, as well as original content from a team of experienced technology journalists. The Network made itself a blockbuster by sticking to the content areas it knows best and to what its customers care about most: data center, core networks, video, collaboration, Cisco's culture, and social media.

Best Writing (Original): Cambridge Healthtech Institute's Bio-IT World Weekly
A movie's success lies heavily on the celebrity of an actor -- the talk show circuit and E! Network are cases in point. For a publisher, curating content is a great way to boost the value of content over a longer period of time. Bio-IT World Weekly, an email newsletter produced by the Cambridge Healthtech Institute (CHI), combines five to seven original articles with a stream of curated content to engage readers with more material than its own editorial team can produce alone. In three short months, CHI has already seen its star-power grow dramatically by the increased length of visits on their properties.

Best Visual Effects: The Big Apple Circus
This movie-inspired list wouldn't be complete without reference to an example of curated video. The Big Apple Circus has done an excellent job of taking its larger-than-life image to the web. Rather than solely relying on its own original content, which can be difficult and costly to update regularly (and can teeter on overly promotional), it publishes curated videos from third-party and user-generated content sites such as YouTube. It is smart marketing and fun for audiences -- a one-two punch in delivering results.

Even though, I may not be part of The Academy voting on this year's awards, I do reckon myself an informed critic of the qualities that make for good movies -- and by extension, curated content microsites. Just call me the Roger Ebert of content marketing.

Pawan Deshpande is CEO for HiveFire Inc.

On Twitter? Follow iMedia Connection at @iMediaTweet.

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These days we all use some form of social networking. How delightful to go onto LinkedIn and find colleagues from Europe who might have interest in a program with me for when I travel across the pond � colleagues that know me well enough through my various online profiles to be eager to dialogue with me, discover ways to partner, or just chat about places to stay. And the use and quality of Skype has made it all as simple and cheap as calling a friend in a different city.

With automatic trust built in -- we're sort of family once we are connected -- our conversations seem to flow smoothly: We've used Facebook, the net, and Twitter to discover who the other is, have determined whether and how we want to connect, what we can offer each other, and how to prepare. An off-handed comment about the person's upcoming wedding, or a congratulatory mention of the person's new business venture compounds the trust.

Gone are the days of cold calling, running around the country to network, and speaking at events for free just to collect business cards. I bet some folks out there don't even remember when those were the only ways to get leads, other than the phone book.

So why aren't we closing more?

Not only are we not closing more, but we're closing less.

What is going on?

What's going on is that our relationships, communication, trust, and friendliness are not helping others reach the sorts of decisions necessary to close a deal.

Change, systems, and buy-in
Before we look at what's happening, let's change the discussion for a moment to look at what needs to happen for any purchase to occur.

In order for someone to buy something other than a small personal item, there are several steps that must take place to get the necessary buy-in to move forward. The appropriate buy-in must be acquired from the right people and groups; the rules must be changed to allow for a new set of givens -- vendors and business partners must agree, and job descriptions must match up with the new jobs.

We tend to forget that all purchases are change management problems. And, because a problem is not an isolated event and has been maintained by the people, policies, rules, and politics of the existent environment, there are systemic things that touch the solution that would be affected if a new solution were to enter.

So a new piece of software would seriously affect users, techies, internal consultants, and trainers; training for one group would affect all of the people who touch that group.

And systems prefer to maintain the status quo, even if it means maintaining failure. After all, it has been good enough until now, and everything has bought-in to maintaining it as it is. In fact, our buyers would rather maintain their status quo regardless of what it is costing them, and regardless of the efficacy of our solution; no matter how much they will save with a new solution, it costs more overall to bring in something new.

Remember: If the buyers felt pain, or were ready to change, they would have done so already.

So until -- or unless -- the status quo will accept the addition of something new, and has the capability to manage in such a way that an addition will not create too much unregulated disruption, it will do nothing.

What it takes to close a deal
Currently, our relationships through social networking haven't included the agenda to help the other recognize and manage the different sorts of buy-in necessary to change. But that doesn't mean we can't include that.

I was at a client site recently listening in on a sales call with a prospect who my client had been chatting with for months. It was a lovely call. Laughter, in-jokes, obvious rapport. They were introduced on LinkedIn and tweeted each other daily. Yet, nothing was going anywhere. I wrote a note in front of him, which he repeated:

"We've been chatting for a while now. And the more I get to know you, the more I see the possibility of our working together somehow. What would you need to know about my solution to know if it would fit, and if your colleagues would be willing to consider adding something new to what they are already doing so well?"

The conversation shifted. The man was happy to answer:

"We're starting to go through the process of an M&A, and won't be able to take on anything new for about a year. Can we revisit this in 6 months? At that time there will be new people on board (I might even be gone!), and I don't know what the hierarchy will be, but we can discuss it."

There could be no buy in, no decision team, and most likely no purchase. Does that make you want to continue being "friends" or end the "friendship"? Do you want to ask for a referral? How much time do you want to spend being friendly vs. closing a sale? And how will you know when/if it's time to pull the plug, or ask the hard questions?

We're in a new era. There are no rules -- we're making them up as we go along. So ask yourself:

• What do you want to get out of social media?
• How will you know that one person over another is a prospect?
• At what point is connecting enough, or do you want to connect only with potential prospects or partners?

The capability is in front of us. The choice is ours as to what we want to do with it. We just have to remember that being friendly, evoking trusting relationships, and having hundreds or thousands of friends doesn't make you a better seller.

What would you need to learn differently to add a new skill set to what you're doing online, to help you help your "friends" make their best decisions?

Sharon Drew Morgen is a sales consultant and the thought leader behind Buying Facilitation.

On Twitter? Follow iMedia Connection at @iMediaTweet.

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It's important to remember that not all best practices are as black and white as many experts present them to be. In fact, after working with some of our customers, we found through testing that not all best practices help them achieve their business needs and goals. On the contrary, some have actually seen better results by not following a conventional best practice.

I'm not saying that you should ignore what many of us in the digital marketing industry refer to as best practices. Instead, I am suggesting that you use these best practices as a guideline, or a starting place, for creating and optimizing your email programs. Once you have your programs up and running, it is important that you test all aspects in order to find out what works best for you and your business.

After making this point with customers, the next obvious question I get is, "OK, so you want me to test, but where do I start?" Most people think that they should start by testing something such as the subject line or frequency. While these are both possibilities, I often suggest starting with something that many ISPs are beginning to look at to help establish your sender reputation: engagement.

Engagement is becoming more and more important to ISPs, which in turn means that it should become more and more important to marketers. Consequently, it is essential that you, the marketer, have the ability within your system to be able to recognize which of your customers have opened, clicked, or purchased from one of your previous campaigns (as compared to those who have not taken any actions at all). Once you have this information, there are many different types of tests that you can perform and many ways to split up your list.

One of the first tests I suggest is simply removing those customers who have not engaged with your brand for more than 12 months. By removing these customers from your send, or sending them off of a different system for potential reengagement, you can see if removing these email addresses has any positive or negative effect on the overall success of your campaigns.

Conventional wisdom for most marketers would allow that removing unengaged users would have a positive effect, but I have worked with some clients where it actually lowered the effectiveness of the program -- which caused them to continue to test and try new things.

This is just one example of a test that many marketers don't think about because "we the experts" tell them to. Another good example that questions the absoluteness of best practices has to do with email length. I have seen a number of stats that talk about how the average user will look at an email for an average of 4-10 seconds. Most users will simply scan your email to see if there is anything of value to them, and then continue to read and become engaged if they find something.

But I know of one customer in particular that extensively tested the length and content volume of its emails, and then realized that it got the most engagement from customers with an email that would equal 25 pages if printed out. Most marketers (including myself) would think this is crazy at first glance, but this marketer continued to test and found that it worked for his brand and his customers.

So remember, as you hear "experts" extol the virtues of best practices, make sure that you test them first to make sure they align with your particular business goals and needs.

Good luck and good sending.

Spencer Kollas is the director of delivery services at StrongMail.

On Twitter? Follow iMedia at @iMediaTweet.

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As I dropped for another set of off-balance push-ups, it got me thinking. In marketing, we tend to focus only on the primary muscle groups. We drop for another 300 Facebook fans, yet we don't strive to give them quality content. We do countless new Twitter follower reps, yet we never take the time to listen to what those followers are saying. In essence, we're ignoring the secondary muscles at the expense of our primary goals.

Following are some primary marketing muscles, and the secondary muscles that power them that you can't forget to train:

Primary muscle: Facebook fans and Twitter followers
Secondary muscle: Engaging and thrilling content

Without good quality content, you're going to lose your fans and followers faster than I lose any abs I have after a beer run. The fact is, fans and followers are a privilege -- not a right. Without engaging and compelling content, your fans and followers will have no reason to hang out with you, and will simply go away. Once that happens, the muscles will deflate, leaving you with nothing but a shell.

Primary muscle: Good PR from current customers
Secondary muscle: Customer service

PR is no longer about shouting from the rooftops about how great you are. The new PR is about getting other people to do your shouting for you. And how do you do that? Here's a hint: It's not about social or web or mobile -- it's all about excellent customer service. You need to start customer service with everything you do. If your customer service isn't up to par, nothing else matters -- not social media, not marketing, nothing. Customer service has to rule the day. Create amazing customer service experiences as the secondary muscle group, and your core marketing muscle, good PR from your current customers, will bring tons of new customers in, every time.

Primary muscle: Interaction with fans
Secondary muscle: Listening

Everyone talks about how social media and marketing is all about interaction, but the one thing they tend to neglect to mention is how true marketing starts with listening before anything else. Without listening, how will you know how to interact? If you don't listen, it simply becomes "selling." And selling isn't marketing. Selling is annoying.

Being a great marketer, whether online or off, is all about listening first, then reacting based on what you hear. Just like there are countless machines you can use to "blast your pecs," there are countless ways to listen, depending on what kind of audience you have. First, figure out where they are -- then listen there. But don't make it all about you -- what else are they saying? What are your competitor's customers saying about them? Are they unhappy? Can you swoop in and save the day? Listening first and reacting second allows you to do that.

Primary muscle: Crisis management
Secondary muscle: Fixing the problem before it requires crisis management

How many times have you heard of a person not getting the service they wanted, or having some kind of problem with a company, then they create a video or a blog, the media picks it up, and the company has a crisis on its hands? Quite often.

Just like the government monitors the airwaves for "chatter" from terrorists to stop plots before they happen, I teach all my clients to monitor their own airwaves for the same type of chatter -- people angry with a company, or talking amongst themselves about how to switch from company A to company B. The amount of pickup you can get from this is amazing. Try creating a Google alert with the words "switch" and "your company name." You'll be astounded at what you find, and more importantly, you'll be astounded as to how you can fix problems before they become super-large.

Imagine the joy in a customer's voice when you proactively reach out with a solution because you caught that person complaining about you on Twitter, when it wasn't even directed at you. That's flexing those muscles!

In the end, the giant big muscle groups of marketing and customer service are supported by much smaller, more specific muscle groups. Don't forget about them.

Peter Shankman is the founder of HARO.

On Twitter? Follow iMedia Connection at @iMediaTweet.

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The second social instinct that social buying sites tap into is the human tribal instinct -- our drive to want to help and inform other members from our tribes, our friends, our families, or other social networks. Combine the scarcity principle with our innate sense for reciprocity, and you get Groupon and other social buying site bargains that travel around networks like wildfire. In fact, they probably form forces of increasing returns and virtuous circles that reinforce one another -- the faster a bargain spreads, the scarcer it will become. And they don't stop by leveraging scarcity; they add time pressure to it, which triggers a more ancient emotional and automatic reaction in humans rather than the more deliberate, thoughtful, and rational decision that time would allow. Lastly, they combine scarcity with competition, creating an even more powerful mix. In his book "Influence," Robert Cialdini points out "not only do we want the same item more when it is scarce, we want it most when we are in competition for it."

So yes, social buying sites are social, but they manipulate social instincts and relations for commercial purposes. In effect, they are commercializing the social, which probably cannot be good in the long run.

But perhaps the most important thing to realize about Groupon, the fastest growing company in the world, and other sites like it is that they are bad for your business, bad for the businesses around you, and perhaps most important, bad for consumers in the long term as well.

There are three main reasons for that. I'll explore each one on the following pages.

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Companies are discovering that applying gaming mechanics (e.g. rewards, virtual expression, challenges) to marketing campaigns can drive participation and brand loyalty. The fundamental concept of gamification works because it satisfies human needs for reward, status, achievement, competition, self-expression, and even altruism by using techniques like points, levels, badges, and virtual goods.

The primary goal behind marketing is to maximize the lifetime value of the customer base by increasing the average selling price and frequency of purchase. Marketers are constantly searching for new and innovative ways to increase website traffic and encourage user engagement. But now, many are learning that integrating gamification into their core content, community, and commerce experiences will help drive engagement, participation, loyalty, and revenue. It's no surprise that a recent report by Gartner found that more than 70 percent of Global 2000 organizations will have at least one gamified application by 2014, making gamified services for consumer goods and customer retention as significant as Facebook, eBay, or Amazon.

Here are a few gamification tips that will help bolster your customer engagement:

Reward users with points
For users, points don't necessarily have to hold any monetary value, but they should hold some importance to the consumer. For example, after collecting a certain amount of points, one could redeem them for virtual goods like wallpapers or downloads.

For brands, points are a good way to get consumers to complete certain tasks. Brands can capitalize on this notion and use points to drive different behaviors within a site or application by using them as status indicators, allowing points to unlock access to content, or making them valid for virtual goods and gifting.

"Level" the playing field
Gamification works because it satisfies the human need for status and recognition, which is why levels can be an impactful game mechanic. Levels are an indication that a person has reached a milestone or a stage of accomplishment and should receive a certain amount of respect and status. Think of it this way -- travelers are much more likely to be loyal to one airline if traveling a certain amount of miles unlocks new privileges reserved for frequent flyers. Businesses can use levels within their websites to regulate access to certain parts of a site or as a way to recognize reaching a milestone to honor frequent users and engagement.

Challenge them
Challenges give users missions to accomplish and then reward them for doing so. By creating a challenge and reward system, users constantly feel like they are working toward a goal. The general approach is to configure challenges based on actions that you're tracking, and reward your users for reaching milestones with trophies, badges, and achievements. For example, a business could challenge users to beat a high score in an online game. If a user achieves the high score, they would be commended and receive a badge, which will attach to their profile.

Provide virtual goods
Virtual goods are non-physical objects that can be purchased for use in online communities and/or games. They help a game economy become more effective over time. Users can purchase virtual goods like clothing or decorations to create an identity for their virtual self (avatar) while comparing and showing off with their friends. "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" gamified its site and now allows users to create their own avatars. Users have the ability to style their avatar with virtual goods -- the more they buy, the better their avatar looks.

Competition is good
Competitions enable users to challenge one another to attain the high score at an activity. Once everyone has done the activity, the user with the highest score wins a reward, while the losers receive a consolation prize. Team competitions are also a possibility. For example, when Bravo gamified "Top Chef All-Stars" with the "Virtual Top Chef Game," users chose their favorite "chef'testant" and were broken up into teams accordingly. Team members were then able to simultaneously earn points for themselves and their team through challenges for a chance to win shared and individual prizes.

This is great for multiplayer-enabling games and other single user experiences, as it allows participants to display how they did in a game and challenge others to compete against them for the title. This helps increase engagement across the board.

Leaderboards
Leaderboards are high-score tables used to bring aspiration to users by adding fame to their name. They also indicate how a person is doing against friends and competitors. In the context of gamification, leaderboards are used to track and display desired actions, using competition to drive valuable behavior. If users know that scoring points could land them a spot at the top of the chart, they will engage more and work harder to earn points. After all, who doesn't want to see their name in lights?

The complexity of implementing game mechanics depends on multiple factors, including a business's content, audience, goal, and the type of tactics it wants to use. Regardless of the level of complication, if a gaming program is well-executed, an organization can expect to see an increase in key metrics such as time spent on the site, page views, and return visits.

The key to success is to develop a tailored strategy where a company can create motivational user behavior experiences around existing website functionality or content. By strategically incorporating some or all of the above concepts into a company's website, a business can increase engagement and encourage users to visit the site more often.

Matt Siden is marketing manager at Bunchball.

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3Cinteractive announced the addition of Tom Holmes as executive vice president and chief information officer.

Augme Technologies announced that it has acquired mobile marketing company JAGTAG.

B-Reel, a digital production studio, has been recognized by online magazine FWA as the most-awarded digital company ever on its site.

Dick O'Hare launched Local Yokel Media, a hyper-local online ad marketplace.

Easy2 Technologies released a mobile product selector available to manufacturers and retailers.

Erwin-Penland appointed Joe Saracino as the first-ever chief marketing officer.

HookLogic has hired George Stella as director of media sales.

Jason Heller launched AGILITI, a consultancy focused solely on digital marketing operations management.

Javelin Marketing Group has brought on David Anders as vice president, account management.

Jun Group and CrowdStar have formed a strategic partnership.

M5 Networks has appointed Keith Nealon to the newly created position of chief revenue officer.

Media Ventures Group has added Rod Arnold as senior vice president, business development and strategy.

Mojiva Inc. announced the closing of a $25 million Series C round of funding.

Rey welcomes AJ Vernet, an early investor and co-founder, as CEO and chairman of the board.

SupersonicAds announced its first institutional funding round of $4.2 million led by Greylock Partners.

TagMan announced the availability of TagMan 3 with new Smart Tag Loading capabilities to improve website performance.

TBA Global added several key executives to its digital team. Gi-Gi Downs will lead the social and community marketing strategy as VP of digital creative; Shawn Busteed comes on as VP of programming and technology; and Ty Braswell will serve as lead digital strategist of mobile/apps.

Travel Ad Network announced that its affiliate Let's Go brand will launch iPhone apps for New York, Paris, London, Amsterdam, and Rome.

The Weather Channel Companies has named Patrick McCormack vice president, mobile sales and strategy.

WorkflowOne announced that Tim Tatman, formerly SVP of strategic accounts, has been promoted to CEO.

[x+1] named Bill Seely vice president of analytics.

Editor's note: We list the companies and people alphabetically. Our bimonthly column is always looking for announcements, so please email them to osas@imediaconnection.com.

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Understand the size and scope of the issue for which you are apologizing
Companies make mistakes all the time. It happens, and there is no way around it. Mistakes can range from small typos that create some confusion to large manufacturing issues that can cause consumer deaths. Before running off in a panic, brands need to take a step back and truly analyze the situation and whom it affects. Using the wrong subject line in a promotional email very often just needs a follow-up email that corrects the typo, explains the situation, and apologizes for the confusion. When your customers die because of a brand's mistake, it must pull out all of the stops to tackle the apology -- including national TV, social media, print, and radio -- while being tried in the court of public opinion as consumers and the press wallow in the aftermath. One only has to look at the Toyota manufacturing issues, the TEPCO nuclear debacle, or the Chinese dairy industry disaster to see the lengths to which brands will go to issue an apology.

It's a given to call in the big guns such as your legal and PR teams for large-scale issues, but it's also important to understand the difference between a big issue and a small issue that could become a big issue. What might be small to a brand could mean a lot to consumers. One brand recently sent out a coupon in error. Instead of owning the response, it posted on Facebook (and nowhere else) that the coupon couldn't be used in conjunction with any other sales. Two things occurred as a result of this: The company lost customers, and it got sued. The companies' customers were outraged and posted thousands of disgruntled posts to the point where one fan helped to start a class action lawsuit for coupon fraud. If the brand had just owned up to the mistake and taken the financial hit from the coupon redemptions, it would not be fighting a class action lawsuit now. It's a bad economy -- something as small as a $2 coupon could mean the world to a person who is out of a job.

If it truly is a small issue, then still take the opportunity to handle it with care. Millions of calls are made daily to customer service lines about lost packages, website functionality, or rude sales clerks. I recently had an issue with Neiman Marcus' email program. Quite simply, I couldn't get it to unsubscribe my email address, and I was receiving multiple emails a day from the company. It happened for about six months until I finally got so annoyed I used the Neiman Marcus website and LinkedIn to track down the email addresses of the CEO and SVP of digital marketing at the company to shoot off an email explaining exactly how it was in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act. In less than an hour, I received a personal email from both the CEO and SVP of digital marketing. In fact, the CEO offered me a $100 gift certificate for the inconvenience. When I politely told her "thank you, but no thank you, "she insisted on following up the next week to make sure that there were no further problems. I received two phone calls the following week from the director of marketing at Neiman Marcus double-checking that my email address had been removed. It had been, and I was a happy camper. Something like an email unsubscribe is miniscule to a brand like Neiman Marcus, yet it treated me like a rockstar -- and as a result, I am now I'm telling all of you about it. Brands like Neiman Marcus realize the power of the pen, especially when put in the hands of a big mouth like me.

Choose the right medium and use it the right way
Once you understand the scope of the issue, choose the right medium to address the issue. If the mistake was made in a recent email to your consumer database, email the database. However, if it was a segment of your database, then only email that segment. There's no need to alert all 10 million consumers in your database if only 100,000 were affected. If the error was large, like the pet food recall in 2007, it is absolutely necessary use all media vehicles necessary to get the word out. When lives are in danger, human or otherwise, spare no expense. Social media is a great way to get the word out immediately. For example, if your website goes down over the weekend, it is incredibly easy to post a "please be patient with us" notice on Facebook. It is not appropriate to only use social outlets when it is a larger scale issue. A brand cannot expect all of its consumers to check its brand's fan page that day to get the message, even if a brand has 10 million fans. Social media is powerful, but it is not the be-all end-all. A brand may have to use TV, radio, press conferences, digital, and the good old-fashioned customer service line if an issue is big enough. Brands spend millions of dollars on proprietary and syndicated research to plan their media buys and to understand the motivations of their consumers. Leverage that knowledge of your consumer. Be just as thoughtful when planning the apology delivery medium as you are in your planning your brand media.

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Lose the landing page
You're about to run a multi-channel campaign, and every traditional online marketing bone in your body is screaming, "Landing page!" After all, isn't that the best way to nab your customers -- creating a destination site with useful information and calls-to-action? Answer: Not at all.

With mobile, there is absolutely no reason to send anyone anywhere. In fact, doing so can be detrimental to your campaign -- in the two second delay it takes to load a landing page on a mobile device you've already lost your user. The old rules just don't apply to mobile because it is a brand new mass medium.

Drop the whole concept of a landing page. Instead, place the engagement opportunity right in the expanded panel that comes out of an ad. Yes, that's right, I just said the word "engagement." Now, are you interested? A full-page panel can immediately offer users a rich number of options: "Watch video," "Share on Facebook," "Map me to the nearest retail location," or my favorite, "Text me a coupon code." Don't send people away; drive them toward your call-to-action directly from the ad unit.

Demand transparency -- you deserve it
With all of the mobile ad networks running "blind" campaigns and promising one percent CTRs with their black-box technology, it's easy to forget that you have the right to know where your ads are running. The mobile web industry has grown enough that we can move beyond the tactic of simply "getting to scale" and start to focus more on brand-quality properties matching audiences. Insist your ad network give you full transparency with an ability to physically view the sites and app lists your campaign appears on. This way you can weed out any properties you deem inappropriate.

Also, you should take advantage of visibility into device-use to narrow your campaign's ideal demographics. Interested in reaching teens? They're big iPod Touch users, so put higher delivery quantities for this device. Want business people? Target one flight of your campaign to BlackBerry devices; for early adopters, target iPad2 devices. Device-targeting is a great proxy for audience segmentation, and one that is often overlooked by marketers.

Track and tweak
Not sure about the best way to track your mobile campaign? Turn to some experts and I don't mean the usual suspects because Atlas and DoubleClick are way behind the curve when it comes to tracking analytics in mobile. So, turn to your partners to see which reporting systems they prefer.

One great "best practice" that you can employ is the use of several different independently trackable calls-to-action in an expanded ad panel. For example, an ad for Applebee's might include a button for each of the following:

• Map to the nearest Applebee's
• Email me a coupon for 10 percent off
• Add Friday happy hour to my calendar

Track each call-to-action independently and also try rearranging the button order to see which ones result in consistent engagement and which ones lead to actual dining. Use the data. Don't be afraid to change things up to see what sticks.

Running a mobile campaign doesn't have to be a shot in the dark. The industry has matured enough to show proven best practices and roads to success paved by early marketers. Remember, lose the landing page; demand to know where the campaign runs; get analytics to track results; and to make informed adjustments. Before you know it, you'll forget mobile was ever the next new thing -- it will be a standard, proven component of your marketing mix.

Scott Swanson is CEO for Mobile Theory.

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User data and rankings
Most SEOs don't put much thought toward improving usability or user engagement metrics. Factors like the amount of time someone spends on a page and number of pages a user sees per visit are traditionally the concerns of data analysis and usability experts. But recent algorithm changes and expert opinions have convinced the industry that this kind of user data has an effect on rankings. Here are three reasons why you should consider looking at user data in your SEO strategy:

1. Google's search team has made it clear that it's now focusing more on site quality with the recent Panda update. The factors that make a site "quality" are difficult to define, but user experience almost certainly plays a large part.

2. User data is available to the search engines and it's not hard to see how that data could be used to provide better search results. Data regarding click-through rates (CTRs) is already available to SEOs in the Google Webmaster Central account, which suggests that Google is taking it into consideration.

3. The smart guys are doing it. A recent survey shows that a majority of industry experts believe user data is becoming increasingly important.

Metrics to pay attention to
There's a lot of noise around this topic, which makes it difficult to keep up. As a starting point, take note of the following metrics:

• CTR: measured as total clicks divided by total impressions
• Bounce rate from search results page: the percentage of users that immediately returns to the search results page after clicking through to your site
• Time spent away from the search results page: the amount of time the user was on your site before returning to the results page

Turning data into action
Knowing the above information alone won't help your rankings. The research should provide insight into how you can improve the metrics. Here are a few ways to make the data actionable:

1. Identify keyword opportunities by looking at terms that have positive usage metrics but aren't ranking well in the search results. Optimize page titles, header tags, and copy for the relevant keywords.

2. Look for pages that are ranking well for important keywords, but have a low CTR. Rewrite meta descriptions to include a strong call-to-action along with the targeted keywords and revise page titles as necessary.

3. Consider redesigning pages where there is a significant amount of traffic that tends to spend a short amount of time on the page before returning to the search results. This behavior is indicative of poor user experience.

For now, it's unclear how much search engines are relying on user data, but keep in mind that the goal of a search engine is to provide the most useful pages for a given search query. If user data can provide information about a page's relevance for a query, it's almost certain that it will be part of the equation for determining rankings.

Trung Ngo is an SEO specialist at Red Door Interactive.

On Twitter? Follow iMedia at @iMediaTweet.

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We've heard the horror stories: A restaurant runs a deal and is swamped by a crowd of customers, translating into a poor experience for all involved (most notably, the restaurant who ran the deal). This is one example that highlights the importance of being prepared prior to running a deal, as well as structuring a good deal for your business. In fact, it is very possible to make a daily deal a success, by following a few simple guidelines.

Select an appropriate deal
Creating a compelling deal for customers is the first step to success. Try to make your offer unique and something that can't be offered by competitors. Also, especially make sure a similar deal cannot be found on your website or Facebook page. Provide something above and beyond your standard service, so customers find the deal appealing -- but don't offer a discount that is going to break the bank.

And, if you are worried about risk, cap your maximum number of deals to be sold on an annual basis. Many deal commerce companies don't want you to do this -- but the reality is, it's your business, you're providing the discount, and you're the one left honoring each of the certificates post-sale.

Encourage a long-term connection with customers
Making a sale is important, but it is more crucial to turn deal-using customers into repeat buyers. Treat customers redeeming deals the same way you would treat a regular customer. It might be their first experience, and, yes, while they have paid a discount to visit your establishment, the opportunity is that they will a) spend additional money while there, b) come back as a repeat customer, and c) share this positively with others -- online and offline.

Also, offer a call-to-action to improve the chances of repeat business. For instance, provide customers a loyalty card, ask them to sign up for your e-newsletter, or request that they "like" your Facebook page or rate your business online.

Prepare your staff
Ensure that all employees are aware of your deal and its requirements or restrictions. (Note: Try to limit restrictions whenever possible.) Your deal should be straightforward so it is enticing to the consumer. Also, a simplified deal structure makes it easier for employees to interpret the offer.

Next, be ready to handle a larger amount of customers than usual. This is important from a service and inventory standpoint. If you are a service-based business, you might need extra staff on hand to answer phone calls. Better yet, consider running a deal with a provider that phases in customers over time. This will make the influx easier for you to handle, rather than having to deal with an overnight onslaught that frustrates you, your staff, and your customers.

Track vouchers to determine ROI
Don't forget to set up a process for voucher redemption and make sure your staff is aware of it, so you can easily calculate your deal's success. Redeeming vouchers should be a smooth process for the sake of your customers and efficiency of your business. Try to keep track of how many people come into your establishment, how much they spend, and track follow-up visits and purchases.
 
Even simple data points can help assess the progress of the deal and its success. Also, don't get frustrated too quickly or draw an early interpretation based on the first few customers. If hundreds of, or more, certificates are sold, you are going to have a few anomalies -- even difficulties -- in the process.

Check your online presence
With an expected increase in website traffic and customers researching your business, this is a good time to ensure your online presence is fresh. In addition to your website, take a look at online reviews about your business and your social media presence, especially Facebook and Twitter. Building, maintaining, and actively participating in your social presence online are paramount to the success of deal commerce and the success of your establishment short and long term.

Above all, select a deal provider that is willing to walk through the necessary steps to guarantee you are set for success -- from deal structure to editorial quality and how they represent your brand, to the types of customers they target and bring into your door. Don't base the decision on one or two variables, like the revenue share percentage. Yes, that's important, but it's more important to find a company that has a record of success, is committed to being your advocate, and wants to build a long-term value-based partnership with you.

Deal commerce is a fantastic advertising and marketing vehicle, and when done properly it's exceptionally powerful. But, there are some pitfalls to avoid as well. Who you select as your partner can have tremendous bearing on your success and satisfaction for you, your staff, and your customers.

Rich Razgaitis is the general manager at ReachDeals.

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In this article, industry experts weigh in on online marketing campaigns that relied on controversy or offensive strategies to drive their marketing message. They also comment on how effective the tactic seemed to be and whether it paid off in the long run for the company. Read on to find out which brands were effective in stirring the pot.

FCUK
By Denise E. Zimmerman, NetPlus

What's in a name? With a brand such as French Connection (FCUK), you expect a certain level of in-your-face, bold, irreverent, and even offensive missives. So it's no surprise that FCUK is on the front lines in terms of risk-taking and stirring up a bit of controversy in its messaging and marketing. It is also then no surprise that French Connection lined up as one of the first brands to test out the marketing prowess of Chatroulette -- the highly controversial chat platform -- with a promotion back in March 2010.

The promotion featured a shopping spree worth $375 to the winner who "hooked up" using Chatroulette to set up a date. For those of you who might not be familiar with Chatroulette, it is a webcam social network, widely known for its pornographic content where random strangers "meet" each other. It is a risky and uncontrollable environment. The tease posted on the brand's website for the promotion reads, "Can you prove yourself by venturing into the most terrifying terrain on the internet to seduce a woman?" Now that's bold -- and controversial.

But FCUK embraces this line of marketing with full disclosure and awareness -- the risk to the brand is minimal given its brand and message platform.

Was it successful?

To a brand like FCUK, the controversy and media exposure are benefits. There aren't many brands that could or would say the same. It is probably fair to say that the campaign did not have a measurable impact on the brand's level of engagement, conversions, or sales -- based on what has been reported and is publicly available. But at the time, it was reported that French Connection had "thousands" of entries, and the contest attracted international media attention with articles in Ad Age and posts from bloggers such as Perez Hilton.

It was also reported that the FCUK blog's traffic increased by 300 percent. But even now if you look at the archives, there are only a few comments here and there about the contest. So, that 300 percent traffic increase came from where and went to where? Regardless, it is all relative considering the media exposure benefit to the brand's persona. And the level of investment was most likely minimal to start.

The bottom line? If controversy isn't part of your brand platform and your customers are not going to respond positively or embrace it, then why the FCUK would you do it?

French Connection Manifesto blog

Denise E. Zimmerman is president and CSO of NetPlus.

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The 2011 IAB report "U.S. Latino Online: A Driving Force" found that more than half of U.S. Latinos prefer marketers to make a strong connection with their culture by relaying the message in this order of languages: Spanish, Spanglish, and then English.

The IAB also found that U.S. Latinos spend more time online than non-Hispanic whites, and that 61 percent of Hispanics made online purchases and spent an average of $746, which isn't far behind the total internet population at 72 percent, spending an average of $851.

With that said, it's surprising that marketers aren't more interested in targeting ads to the U.S. Latino demographic. In most cases, ads are targeted instead to the non-Hispanic white population before any other group.

"Behavioral targeting is an under-addressed area with Latinos," Andy Hasselwander, VP products and research for Latinum Network, said. "This area is lagging behind [the]general market by at least a couple years, and it's another big opportunity for marketers moving forward."

But to the credit of three legacy brands, some noticeable efforts to connect with U.S. Latinos have finally been achieved, although not without their fair share of PR fiascos, lack of engagement, low sales, and boycotts before finding redemption.

Here's how they did it:

Ford got its "Fiesta" back
Blunder: Forgetting -- and even worse, not knowing -- who its customer base was cost Ford (America's pioneer and once go-to automaker) a sales plunge of 30 percent, not to mention losing customers to competing foreign carmakers such as Honda, Toyota, and Nissan.

It was this sales slump that forced Ford into a marketing restructure -- most importantly, it had to get to know its true consumer, the largest purchaser of small cars: 18-24 year-old Latinos and African-Americans.

Making things right: Ford took a look at its car line and revived the Fiesta model (which hadn't been seen on the streets for 32 years) and developed a multicultural ad campaign: "Ready Pa' Tu Mundo" -- this time using social media, viral video, mobile advertising, and a banging website to connect with its young bilingual Latino audience. Even more specifically, Ford created a campaign that embodied true urban flair, tech-savvy, and bilingualism.

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