Today, all marketers “get it.”

And as more become really savvy about harnessing the power of social, it’s clear to us that sophistication in social marketing software is required.

That’s why we’re so excited to announce today’s launch of Shoutlet 5.0.

The Shoutlet enterprise social marketing platform is designed for today’s social media team. We’ve created a product that gives brands and agencies the tools they need to stay ahead. Companies that use Shoutlet have unmatched options, control, and flexibility. So as a result, they have more time, create better content, and engage more effectively.

In short, they have more power. And we aspire to put all the power of social media – all in your hands.

To do so, we’ve taken a gargantuan leap in functionality – all designed to help you create stunning content easier and manage social media more effectively.

In addition to literally hundreds of tweaks, I’d like to introduce you to three pieces of innovation we know will excite you.

Social Switchboard™: Social Switchboard is a first-of-its-kind feature in the social media management space. It’s trigger-based campaign publishing, which allows companies to build full social media campaigns in advance. Brands can schedule smarter campaigns and launch content when certain triggers based on community actions are met. This makes timing of content publishing completely relevant to an audience because it’s determined by the community collectively. Plus, it frees up much-needed resources to interact with their customers during campaigns.

Here’s what Remington US Online Marketing Specialist Megan Brundridge had to say: ”This is the first tool we’ve seen that allows us to interact with our fans in such a personalized way. Being able to manage our social content based on user preferences and behaviors changes the whole landscape.” Read more about Social Switchboard.

Social Switchboard

Social Canvas™: Social Canvas brings professional-level design tools to social media. We’ve heard from brands that they’re limited by tools and resources available and cannot publish social content quickly that is as interactive or engaging as it could be. Great ideas should never be shelved for reasons like these. With Social Canvas, anyone can build beautiful, interactive Facebook tabs or HTML pages, web apps, contests, etc. without writing any code. With functionality inspired by programs used by graphic designers, Canvas brings together tools like seamless overlays, multi-tab functionality, and dozens of tools to use in designs.

Social Canvas

Social Profiles: Social Profiles take our Social CRM feature to the next level. Understanding your social customers is one of the keys to knowing what content engages them and prompts them to talk about your brand and products to their friends in social media. Every social customer connected to your social accounts has a Social Profile that is constantly updated with data from multiple touch points. User data from contest entries, Shoutlet web apps, interaction history through Social CRM, publicly accessible information from social networks, interest data from Social Canvas-powered Facebook apps, and any data you upload into the platform. The result is a 360-degree look at each person. Here’s the best part, though: You can build segmented lists based on those profiles and target content to them based on their data. Static lists help you segment by interests (e.g. “Running Enthusiasts), but also create lists that are automatically updated as profiles are updated. This gives you a real-time look at an unlimited sub-segments of your community and takes your social media to a level of personalization and insight.

Social Profiles

I invite you to spend a few minutes browsing our new website to learn more about Shoutlet 5.0. We’re excited about this announcement, and ever more excited to see what our customers will use these tools to accomplish for their own brands.

Here’s how:

Attend our panel Friday, February 17, “Left Brain Meets Right Brain – The Blueprints for a Sophisticated Social Marketing Campaign.” We have a panel that is sure to ignite a great discussion. On the panel: Jason Weaver, Shoutlet CEO; David Armano, Executive Vice President, Global Innovation & Integration at Edelman Digital; Doug O’Reilly, Vice President, Insights at MWW Group; and Reader’s Digest’s Diane Dragan, Executive Editor, Digital Content and Strategy. Register here to attend.

Recharge between events at the Shoutlet Power Lounge at Big Fuel. Big Fuel is hosting SMW’s Global Society Hub, and we’ll be there all week. Stop in for a boost for you – and your devices. More about the Hub at Big Fuel.

We’re excited to be a part of Social Media Week. Check out Social Media Week’s Q & A with Shoutlet CEO Jason Weaver, and be sure to say hello to the team in New York.

Community managers devote every day (and many nights and weekends, too) to facilitating real conversations that create lasting connections.

A big thank you to all of you!

The implications of this announcement affect stakeholders in different ways:

For the web:

Announced on the day that web users are protesting SOPA, Open Graph would no doubt test the boundaries of openness on the Web and further incentivize sharing. What started as a few apps that allowed users to seamlessly share music and news will soon become a graph of inter- and intra-connections of 800 million Facebook users’ interests and actions. Shoutlet has written about Google’s expansion in the social space and how Google and Facebook aren’t trying to emulate each other, but instead vying to control the next web – one driven by social connections.

Google has integrated Google+ connections into search, taking it one step closer to being a leader in the social layer of the online world. Facebook, with its priceless data of the actions, products, companies, and friends people are connected to, is rivaling Google on adjoining, but different tracks. Google is using its search platform as a springboard, while Facebook is using its vast graph of users.  Personal recommendations from social connections come through when you seek out specific information on Google, while Facebook’s Open Graph pushes information to you that your social connections choose to share.

For brands:

For brands, the power of this new release lies in word of mouth and data. Users will be sharing branded actions automatically. Easy, no-effort word of mouth will expose customer’s friends to branded content, and the benefits are clear. How effectively brands harness the potential of the Open Graph will determine how the seamless sharing works in each case. Creative applications of Facebook Actions and marketing those apps will play big roles. The data gleaned from the Open Graph stands to inform campaigns in the social space, especially Facebook ads. Venture Beat’s Jolie O’Dell writes, “Actions are kind of the Holy Grail of semantic data, defining relation types between people, objects, content, places, businesses, and so much more. If users warm to the idea of Actions, it might also be one of the most valuable and lucrative move Facebook will ever make.”

For users:

The opportunities (or ramifications, depending on who you ask) for users are around seamless discovery—finding new ways to connect with brands that meet their inquisitions and wants while connecting with communities that have similar tastes and interests, further expanding their networks. Alternatively, Open Graph could be another new Facebook feature that only increases the quantity of activities shared but not improve the quality of content. Or, it could simply be an immediate opt-out for users who believe that it infringes personal privacy. It all depends on which users you talk to. Facebook, having heard the feedback from apps like Spotify and Washington Post Reader, has counseled developers to make sure actions are “simple, genuine and non-abusive,” reports AllThingsD. With a huge user base, the opinions will vary.

It’s users, though, that really matter in the end. They will determine if Open Graph apps take off. They’ll steer brands toward what’s next, and ultimately will determine who “wins” the web (if there are winners).

What do you think about how apps will shape Facebook? Have you installed any yet? Check out Facebook’s summary of the updates here.

Even with high adoption of social media by enterprise brands, response rates by brands to questions and issues are lower than some would expect. A study published last fall found that 71% of the 1,300 tweeters surveyed did not get an answer after posting a complaint to Twitter. Another study by eConsultancy UK found that only an average of 5% of questions posted to corporate Facebook brand pages are answered. (Some industries, like airline and telecom, had 65%-75% response rates.)

Not only that, the silence can unravel any positive impact your social media program has built – even for customers who never reach out to your brand themselves.

Consider these stats from Conversocial:

• 49.5% of customers said they’d be far less likely to buy from a company after noticing unanswered questions on a social media page.
• Another 38.8% of customers said if this happened they’d be somewhat less likely to buy.
• 68% of respondents said prompt answers to questions were “very important” or “important” to them when it comes to a company’s communications in social media.
• When a customer’s own question was left unanswered, the numbers are mixed: over 25% say they wouldn’t buy from the company, while 28% said they’d understand that a brand couldn’t respond to everyone.

Responding to every comment in many cases isn’t realistic, but a consistent display of silence can damage customers’ attitudes toward the brand.

What happens when a brand does make an effort to respond? The impact is the reverse. Customers love it.

• 6 in 10 customers want brands to respond on Twitter. The same ratio said they’d be more likely to follow a brand that answered them. (InboxQ)
• 64% are more likely to make a purchase from a brand that responded to them.
• More than 80% of those who made complaints on Twitter and received a response from a company said they “loved” or “liked” it, with 74% of them saying they were satisfied with the response.

If these studies are any indication, it could be argued that responding consistently means more sales and being unresponsive means lost sales. But on a deeper level, not responding can lead to erosion of loyalty and disappointment by brand advocates and long-time customers. Those customers who might have become actively vocal cheerleaders for you in social media pivot, causing your company to miss out on untold positive effects.

Companies that make responding a priority are developing strong relationships and growing their communities. Shoutlet clients Norwegian Cruise Line, Mabel’s Labels, and Kelley Blue Book are among them. Take a look at these positive exchanges on their Facebook Pages:

The reasons for not responding vary from small to large companies, industry, etc. Jay Baer points out that fear and resources are two primary factors (The lower cost of social media customer service is also a factor. See Baer’s take here.) The data continues to build into a compelling case for companies to get serious about responding to the customers, fans, and followers who raise their hands.

Now’s the time to begin developing (or polishing) your social media response plans for customer questions, customer service issues, and complaints. Map “if this, then that” flows based on your own business, much like David Armano’s decision tree of community management scenarios. If it means collaborating with departments that you’ve never worked with, initiate those conversations. The larger your organization, the more logistics will be involved. Altimeter Group’s Jeremiah Owyang found that large companies are managing an average of 178 social media accounts. In these instances, organization and training are key, as is scalable Social CRM software with built-in response approval processes and workflow features that can help rein in the chaos.

The impact will be felt in your relationships with fans, the enthusiasm of your advocates, and your bottom line – and it will very likely be a good one.

This post originally appeared on Forbes.com on January 6, 2012.

Google+ doesn’t want to become Facebook.

Instead, Google is betting it can become the platform that powers the entire web itself.

The future Internet will not just be driven by social; all things “social” will be what users experience as the web. The release of Google+ is a tactical move in a larger war for this future web – one that Facebook is arguably currently winning. Google, however, is readying its battalions.

Google’s behemoth of a footprint includes the world’s most widely used search engine, a ubiquitous paid search and display platform, the largest video-sharing site in the U.S. and a store of robust, free tools that millions access daily. Google+ is the social glue that will pull the Google forces together to race to become the next Internet – one with social permeating from every action taken by users online. Those forces individually are impressive, but when fully integrated, give Google visibility, integration, and convenience that will be unrivaled. The potential integration of Google+ into Gmail, Google Docs, YouTube, Google Reader, and other user tools is ridiculously impressive. It’s a gathering storm that could take control of the future web.

Read the article in full at Forbes.com

Altimeter Group, known for having its thumb on the pulse of the social media space, also outlines the challenges that prompt practitioners to adopt SMMS tools. The review of social media management systems is broken into five “case uses” that Altimeter recommends SMMS buyers use to classify their needs and evaluate vendors. The vendors analyzed are rated in each of these five uses and for their capability of serving small to large corporations. Shoutlet is among those platforms that rank high for large corporations and is rated “Above Average” or “Strong” in all areas (Intense Customer Response, Social Broadcasting, Platform Campaign Marketing, Distributed Brand Presence, and Tailored Service & Support). See page 14 of the report.

While most of these categories are important for teams, which ones are critical depends on their needs, size, and priorities. Altimeter writes that “there is no one perfect SMMS vendor,” and it’s true – every program is different. Finding an SMMS that provides the right features for a company’s unique social media program is key. Also important is ensuring that software is comprehensive enough to provide an effective centralized social media management tool across your social program. A robust software platform will fulfill the role you’ve enlisted it to – as a true management tool across social networks and social accounts. (Companies are managing an average of 178 social media accounts, often across many countries and brands.) Adopting platforms with a rich feature set also makes sure they remain useful as your social media program grows.

Download this report, or view below.

Still unsure if an SMMS is right for you? Read about the challenges social media management systems alleviate in this Shoutlet guide.

Last year we distilled some of of the common themes from social media leaders. Top themes for 2011 included topics the industry has been talking about lately, such as what it means to be a social business and how influence can be tracked and identified.

This year’s predictions so far illustrate that social media is growing up, in a sense. Customers are expanding their uses of social media to more devices and into more daily tasks, and marketers are following. Brands’ social media programs will mature, and with that comes a focus on data, analytics, and integration. Among the ways this is predicted to manifest in 2012:

Social business becomes a more accepted concept in the enterprise. As Augie Ray put it, “2012 will be the year when it becomes evident how much social media will transform business.” Social business, the term used to refer to an adoption of social at every level of an organization, will be embraced by more companies. Some companies such as Zappos and Starbucks have reached this high level of maturity, as Olivier Blanchard writes in his presentation on social business.  Altimeter’s Jeremiah Owyang points out that most companies have yet to progress through a set of 5 stages he dubs the Social Business Hierarchy of Needs. While a majority will not achieve the highest level, more will move up the hierarchy in 2012.

What fuels social media decision-making matures – Data will play a more influential role. “Big data” will be given a bigger mouthpiece in 2012. Stephanie Schwab on Social Media Explorer writes that the number-crunching “marketing scientist” will become more prevalent. Social data will be used in a number of ways, including integrating across social media channels and extending the insights from that data into offline marketing as well, writes Eric Wheeler on VentureBeat. Applying this data will boost marketers understanding of their audience, strengthen relationships, and de-emphasize the mission of accumulating fans and followers, which Ray predicts will be common in 2o12.

This dovetails into another theme for 2012 – understanding mobile and how to reach customers there. The “always on” social-mobile customer will expect personalization based on that data, as Forrester predicts, and targeted content across screens will be what marketers work toward in 2012.

Influence measurement continues to be a dilemma for the enterprise, but 2012 will get us closer to a solution. David Armano points out that while broad tools like Klout have helped attach business value to the study of influence, companies will get a better grasp of influence scoring and how to leverage it strategically. Schwab writes that a perfect tool won’t emerge. But disparate data points are expected to come together to form a more compete picture of which customers influence others and how.

What do you think? Do you agree with these predictions, or do you see 2012 moving in another direction? Tell us in the comments.

How can companies maximize the chance that more customers elevate to advocates? Shoutlet tackled this subject in a recent webinar, “How to Convert Your Fans, Followers, and Customers into Social Media Advocates.” To view it in its entirety, visit this page. Among the top takeaways:

1. Don’t confuse a fan/follower with an influencer or an advocate.

Fans and followers can fall into a variety of segments, from true brand advocates to those who aren’t very engaged with your social media communities. They aren’t necessarily influencers and/or advocates. The distinction between influencers and advocates is less clear. Influencers are those who have clout (possibly high Klout as well). Michael Brito, Vice President for Social Media at Edelman Digital, points out that while they are great at driving traffic, they don’t love your brand like an advocate. Advocates are passionate customers who “love you even if you don’t give them the time of day,” he writes. It’s these diehard, vocal advocates that every brand marketer dreams of, and only a fraction of your fans and followers might fall into this category.

2. What you do in social media helps cultivate brand advocates.

The reason why customers ultimately grow into advocates vary from person to person, but the actions your company takes in social media can have a huge impact on the relationships current and up-and-coming advocates have with the brand. Sharing engaging content that adds value and displaying a sincerity in each interaction strengthens the relationship with your best advocates and fuels the fire of their support.

3. You don’t have to be a sexy brand to have brand advocates.

Every company can have an army of brand advocates, no matter what industry or target audience. In one case study by Zuberance, an auto windshield repair service identified 76% of their customer base as advocates, and a motel chain pinpointed 62% as advocates. While it might seem easier for a hot apparel brand to have brand advocates touting them, great companies and products of any kind are as likely to have dedicated customers that praise your services unprompted.

The value of brand advocates to a company is tough to estimate. After all, how can you put a value on an authentic belief in a company or product? Nurturing relationships with your customers in social media can only help your company create more bona fide advocates.

The SOC 2 audit performed by BDO USA, LLP means Shoutlet has earned a stamp of approval for best practices regarding policies, procedures, and processes related to security, availability, confidentiality, and privacy for demonstrating a strong system of internal controls.

But what does it mean for Shoutlet users? Some benefits include:

•       Restriction of confidential information solely to the user
•       Encryption of all sensitive social data
•       Rigorous review process prior to new feature and product releases
•       Independent verification of all control objectives and activities

Ultimately, it provides our customers with peace of mind that their information is in the safest hands.

We’re thrilled to be the first social management tool to undergo such rigorous security and penetration testing of our systems. A huge thank you to everyone at Shoutlet who helped make this possible.

First, it was speculation over when Google+ brand pages would launch after the platform debuted in June. Then, in late September, Facebook announced Timeline, and speculation on how it might be adapted for brands heated up.

Now, Twitter’s solution for brands, Twitter Brand Pages, is on the scene. Unlike Google+ and Facebook, which did not disclose their brand page options simultaneously with those for its user bases, Twitter has. Twitter unveiled a shiny new interface for users Thursday, one that is meant to be more accessible to people still mystified by the Twitter phenomenon and hold the attention of seasoned tweeters.

Brand pages for Twitter will roll out over the next several weeks, but pilot brands have live Twitter Brand Pages currently, including American Express, McDonald’s, Dell, and JetBlue.

While all brands don’t have access yet, there are parts of the announcement that brands can utilize now, as well as steps to take now to prepare for the brand page launch. Consider these:

1. Drive conversations with new Twitter buttons: Twitter released redesigned follow and tweet buttons, but they’ve also introduced versions of these buttons that prompt users to jump in on a hashtag thread or launch a conversation with your account on Twitter. For Twitter promotions and ongoing branded discussions, the hashtag button is a great way to make tweeting seamless for users. The mention button is a great call to action that sends tweeters directly into a conversation with your brand.

For example, what do you think of the new buttons? Tell us on Twitter.
Tweet to @shoutlet

2. Find uses for embeddable tweets: The move toward integrating social media into company websites continues. Twitter’s easier embeddable tweets allows anyone to embed any user’s tweet onto third-party websites. The embed includes the original tweet, as well as a follow button and actions options, such as Reply, Retweet and Favorite. For brands, embeddable tweets allow visitors to your site interact with you right then and there. Before, there were the options of following and tweeting through Twitter buttons, but now, there’s content and context. Highlighting individual tweets is an excellent way to leverage the tweets of brand ambassadors, of expert consultants, and high-profile executives. For instance, apparel brands could embed a fashion expert’s tweet on a product page. A shopper can retweet, favorite, or reply to the expert’s tip about that item & how it’s part of a hot new fashion trend.

Twitter Resigns Around Four Concepts: Home Timeline, Connect, Discover, Me #LetsFly tcrn.ch/saeqsu by @eldon

— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) December8, 2011

3. Begin thinking about how your Twitter mission and goals translate to the new features of the Brand Pages. Twitter Brand Pages will allow companies to have a custom banner image, larger profile picture, and a “pin tweet” that is always featured at the top of the tweet stream (see pilot brand examples below). What should your primary message be here? What are the creative elements? What are you trying to accomplish on Twitter and who are you trying to reach? If those differ from Facebook, Google+, and YouTube, how so? Answers to these questions will drive how your page looks and what will be your initial pin tweet, which many pilot brands have opted to promote a video or image, such as @SubwayFreshBuzz, @CocaCola, and @Jetblue.

Brand Pages won’t roll out to all companies right away. When brands are given full access to the new pages, it will be interesting to see how brands, given a heads up on the exact elements of the new pages beforehand, will use this new tool for reaching customers on Twitter.

Here’s how some Facebook Pages are riding the holiday gifting wave to boost interaction with fans, help them generate gift ideas, and influence sales this holiday:

1. Dice: Fan-Generated Ideas

One of the leading sites for tech jobs, Dice is running a sweepstakes that will grant five winners their most-wanted tech toys this season. Upon submitting their entries, users are prompted to head to Dice’s wall to share their most-wanted item. The result is a highly active wall loaded with gift ideas for tech savvy people.

2. Revolve Clothing: Bringing experts’ top picks into one tab

Revolve Clothing gives Facebook tab visitors one-click access to the top fashion picks from trendsetters such as Nicole Richie and Lauren Conrad.

3. Country Door: Curating the Catalog with F-Commerce

Home decor brand Country Door has made it simple to pinpoint the great holiday gifts under $40 – and provide easy access to purchasing them through its Shoutlet-powered Facebook storefront.

4. Environmental Defense Fund: Causes, gifts, and a Facebook storefront wrapped into one

The Environmental Defense Fund‘s “Presents for the Planet” tab brings gift ideas to a Facebook tab, tying in causes it endorses and philanthropic gifts that are also shareable to users’ Facebook walls and to other social sites.

We’re just a couple of weeks away from the end of the holiday shopping season, but it’s not too late to integrate social media further into your holiday marketing plans. Download Shoutlet’s guide, Impacting Holiday Sales with Social Media: It’s Not Too Late for Facebook & Other Social Strategies to learn 8 ways how.

What do the updates mean for companies using YouTube? Here are 6 possible ways how:

1.  Brands will need to think more strategically about their channel’s activity.
Channels just got more important, dominating the left-hand sidebar of the new Homepage feed. YouTube has shifted more more focus to this area. “The future of the YouTube experience has channels at the center of it,”  Margaret Stewart, director of User Experience at YouTube’s headquarters in San Bruno, Calif.  told Mashable. “It’s a container for all the world’s video, and it needs to be the best home for that.”

Users can watch any video and subscribe to the channel from that video instantly. Once subscribed, users see the latest activity from their channel subscriptions in a stream view, and new subscribers are also asked if they’d like to receive new video uploads via email. There are reverse-chronological updates of each subscribed channel view (an algorithmic feed for the default subscription view, according to TechCrunch), and users can now “pin” 10 channels to their YouTube home page. Check out the video below to see the tour.

Brands that want to have a greater impact on YouTube will need to publish regularly to stay top of mind. There will be a greater need to think strategically about how all their activity relates to the channel itself, versus thinking about videos individually. With this week’s announcement that YouTube Insights was replaced with the new YouTube Analytics, data about which videos drive subscriptions and audience retention can help shape that strategy on an ongoing basis.

New channel templates are available, and as Mashable reported, “Executives and designers at the company emphasize that this just the beginning of the redesign; more channel-focused changes and channel templates are coming soon.”

2. More exposure of videos via channels could mean a heavier emphasis on YouTube community management.
More exposure could mean more user feedback and comments, which is great. Keeping tabs on channel conversations and having tools to help manage moderation, such as Shoutlet’s Social CRM for YouTube, can help companies provide excellent responses and more quality interaction with their YouTube communities.

3. Shared video content becomes even more valuable.
Part of the redesign is one-click access to recently shared videos on Facebook and Google+ by people you follow on those networks. Shared videos will go farther: Videos shared to G+ and Facebook will make it back to YouTube’s Homepage feed, and YouTube has also made it easier to share YouTube activity from YouTube to Facebook, Twitter, and other networks. This also makes producing share-worthy video assets more important as well.

4. Brands that are active on Google+ Pages could have an added advantage.
As mentioned above, G+ video-sharing gets equal treatment as Facebook video-sharing. This gives Facebook and Google+ shared videos equal real estate and more prominently visibility for users. The more video by brands on Google+ means potentially more sharing – and more exposure to anyone using YouTube.

5. YouTube could prompt YouTube regulars to become Google+ users, where they can interact with brands.
For consumers who are YouTube regulars, this could nudge them toward getting active on Google+ and interacting with companies there. When they arrive, they’ll find the experience to be nicely integrated with YouTube, with a similar look and the recently added YouTube button that allows Google+ users to search, view, and share videos from the Google+ interface.

6. YouTube advertising could become more widely adopted.
If the redesign increases users’ time on the site, an increase in advertising is soon to follow.

Like other Google updates in recent weeks, only time will tell how they truly will affect brands’ social media efforts and if they will alter users’ social networking habits. Still, a major redesign of the this video-sharing institution is significant. Usage is only increasing on this platform, and brands that want to stay on top of what’s next in engaging customers will watch this space closely.

What are you seeing in this new redesign? How will it change the way companies use it? (Also, do you think the slide in the YouTube offices had anything to do with the redesign? Even if it didn’t, it looks really fun.)

We’ve heard some confusion about this metric, so let’s dive in. The “People Talking About This” metric counts unique users who did the following actions in the past 7 days:

• Liked your Page
• Posted to your Page’s Wall
• Liked, commented, or shared a post
• Answered a Facebook Question you’ve asked
• Responded to an Event
• Mentioned your Page
• Tagged your Page in a photo
• Checked in or recommended your Place

As a Page admin, you can glean more data about what people are talking about by drilling into Facebook Insights – and extrapolate actionable information from it. For instance:

• See the percentage change in this number from the main Insights dashboard.
  

  Image via Facebook's Page Insights product guide. Click image to download this PDF.

• Get a sense for which users are talking about your Page. Clicking the “Talking About This” link on the left-hand sidebar under Insights brings you to a page that displays information about the demographics of these “talkers,” their countries (based on IP address) and languages used. Knowing which types of Facebook users are the most likely to interact with your Page can guide your content and tone toward increasing the engagement you have – or point to how you should change course if your activities aren’t engaging the users you’re going after. Comparing the demographics of overall fans to the demographics of those talking about you unveils extra data about how your content is being received.
• Also on this page is a chart that allows you to segment various types of posts and see how effective each type is at generating stories. (When a user takes an action, such as liking or commenting on a post, it creates a “story.”) See which types of stories resonate most with Facebook users.
• Dig deeper into how users react to certain types of posts. On the main Insights dashboard, data for individual posts include a “Talking About This” column. Do people click Like on photos more often than they comment? Do videos get more comments? Clicking this number shows you the types of stories created for that post and helps answer these questions. Not only will this inform every day posts, but can also help you decide how to promote larger campaigns as well.

Like any metric, teams usually want to know how their own Page’s numbers are stacking up against others. Because this number is public, looking at Pages of similar sizes and activity in your industry is a good start, although Facebook Insights itself does not tell you the breakdown of how other Page’s fans are interacting with that page. (Remember that paid ads and Sponsored Story campaigns can influence this number.) Understanding what this number looks like for your Page will help you gauge if you’re improving over time. Facebook Product Manager for Page Insights David Baser anticipated that this is how this metric will work for brands, as he told ClickZ: “Over time, marketers and consumers will have expectations (on what that number should look like for brands),” he said. “A brand’s business objective will help define what the appropriate level is for their page.”

To get a feel for how the most popular Pages ranked shortly after the new metric was released, check out this post by Mashable to see People Talking About This levels and how they compared to the number of Likes.

“People Talking About This”  has entered the analytics conversation at a time when there has been much debate about whether fan counts are a meaningful metric for social media teams. A recent case study by Louisville Slugger shined more light on this metric after a one-day baseball bat scavenger hunt boosted the number 834% in one week.

Diving into your Page’s Talking about This numbers can illuminate which content gets fans to engage and how they do it. This helps optimize content and increases the chances that EdgeRank will allow your post to be seen by more people in the News Feed. Facebook designed this stat for Page admins “to understand what drives that number and how they can best engage their advocates, so that they can get a sense of how to optimize their Page content to increase the people they’re reaching with their messages. Which means that no matter the size of your Page’s audience, you can really get a good sense for which posts spread and get shared with others,” a Facebook spokesperson told Search Engine Land.

What are your thoughts? How important will this metric become?

But it’s not too late to boost your holiday marketing efforts online. There is still time to build social media tactics into your marketing plans. Driving online sales, generating awareness, and strengthening the relationships you have with fans and followers can all be achieved, even this late into the holiday season.

In our new report, “Impacting Holiday Sales: It’s Not Too Late for Facebook & Other Social Strategies,” we outline the top 8 things you can do to in social media to influence shoppers and boost holiday revenue. Download this free report to get ideas and see examples of other companies’ holiday social media efforts.

Click here to download this guide.

Scheduling tools and social media management platforms have become much-needed resources for taking pressure off teams. Scheduling tweets, Facebook updates, and other posts in advance makes sure content reaches audiences at the optimal times and that audiences in multiple time zones don’t miss out on updates. Creating and pre-scheduling updates also frees up time to respond to customers and have one-on-one conversations on social platforms, writes Melissa Parrish in her new report, “Become Responsive through Push and Pull Social Media Marketing Strategies.” It’s among the key tactics to help improve overall responsiveness in social media.

Time-saving strategies that help social media practitioners do their jobs better are inherently good. But there are nuances to this process that can make the difference between saving time or reaching more customers and detracting from the connections you’re working to create.

Do

Cross-promote, but don’t cross-post verbatim. Facebook fans, Twitter followers, LinkedIn company followers, YouTube subscribers, and now those who have circled your company on Google+ aren’t the same. Their reasons for following you on each platform is different, and depending on your brand or product, the types of customers who’ve followed you on each platform might be very different from each other. Factor in that each social media network has its own rules and styles, and you can see how posting the same message verbatim could alienate some of your followers. For example, a Facebook fan could be confused by a #hashtag posted on your Wall. Sharing content on multiple platforms simultaneously is a great strategy, but make sure you’re tailoring the message to resonate with each platform’s unique set of followers.

Test timing for your unique audience on all platforms.

There’s been an influx of research in recent months about timing on social network sites, including the best times of day to post. While all these studies are interesting, the only true way to know what works for your brand is to test at what times certain content gets a reaction. This will help your team know when the best times are to schedule posts and be available to post immediate responses to customer comments at peak times.

Use geotargeting and other filters when pre-scheduling.

If the reasons you pre-schedule posts include trying to reach your audience in different global time zones, try making the post even more relevant by also filtering by country on Facebook. If your company is active on Google+, publishing to different Google+ Circles at times that make sense for each one helps make the message that much more relevant.

Schedule more than posts.

Scheduling the publication of photo albums and even entire campaign launch and end dates can streamline workflows. Social media management platforms like Shoutlet support these features.

Don’t

Schedule and run.

Scheduling posts can help save time, but have plans in place to monitor and respond. Posting updates throughout a weekend, for instance, can help, but if you don’t check in to your social presence until Monday morning, you might have missed out on the chance for one-to-one conversations (or prevented a social media firestorm with timely responses). Save time by building posts in advance, but remember there’s no shortcut for building relationships with your community. Use tools, including mobile tools, that let you quickly monitor brand mentions on Twitter or be alerted by email if certain keywords are mentioned on your Facebook Wall. Make time to check in on your scheduled posts and respond to fans and followers with custom messages.

Go overboard with the cut and paste.

Scheduling tweets to publish at different times over the course of a day, for instance, increases their visibility to new customers. But be wary of sending the exact same post out multiple times. Not only will you avoid the same people noticing the same tweet, but you could also be overlooking how tweaking the messaging at different times can spark interaction. For example, a fashion brand publishes a post about winter style tips from an in-house designer. Tweets in the morning might focus on her work outfit tips, while weekend versions might focus on trends in holiday party outfits.

Fake real interactions.

If a message gives the illusion that it’s a one-on-one conversation, steer clear of automating it. Take auto-DMing on Twitter: Someone follows your brand and receives an instant direct message that sounds like a genuine hello. Sadly, it’s not. Don’t take the chance of getting a new social relationship off on the wrong foot.

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Every company’s social connections are unique, and the sub-sets of those followers on each social networks have their own characteristics. Scheduling updates is a nice way to streamline your processes and create bandwidth for your team, but make sure you’re not scheduling at the expense of connecting with all your fans and followers in a way that is familiar to them.

HuHot Mongolian Grill ran a Shoutlet-powered contest on its website. View it below.

For marketers on Facebook, such promotions have been a wildly popular tactic. Facebook does allow contests and giveaways to run on Facebook, as long as they are hosted by a third-party app. Running contests have allowed brands to grow their fan bases, engage existing fans, and attract new ones organically and through the use of ads and Sponsored Stories. The success of these campaigns on Facebook has left many wondering why Google+ shut these out. Maybe it’s a temporary rule it plans to reverse at a later date. No matter what its reasons are, there are ways to promote contests and promotions on Google+ – and your brand might be better off because of it.

The decision to launch a contest that runs solely on Facebook has been any easy one to make until this point. Why try to drive your fans and followers to your website when most of them are already on Facebook? Facebook has sharing and activity notifications, as well as advertising options that can spark participation with your contest.

Brands that have run contests on Facebook are now weaving Google+ into their daily social media outreach. It seems as though their future contests would still be run on Facebook, with traffic from any Google+ posts about the campaign bring driven to their Facebook Pages. But doing this could mean companies miss out on valuable benefits (and see unintended consequences).

Companies using Shoutlet can launch the exact same contest on a Facebook tab and on their websites simultaneously. For users, the experience is identical. For contests that include a voting component, all entries are displayed both on Facebook and your website, giving all an equal shot at gathering votes. For companies active on Facebook and Google+, this can serve as a way to expand your reach in social media without having to develop two versions of the same campaign or manage two sets of user entry data. (After creating the contest in Shoutlet, it can be published to a Facebook tab and embedded into any site via an iFrame.)

A few additional reasons to consider this approach:

• Hosting a contest or giveaway on your website and Facebook (in the case of Facebook, one that’s been built with the right third-party platform) means you’re in compliance with both Facebook and Google+ guidelines.
• Driving Google+ users to a Facebook tab instead of your website could mean an extra step for them if they aren’t logged in to Facebook. Plus, sending Google+ users to your website contest also prevents those who have transitioned away from Facebook from being turned off by landing on your Facebook Page.
• Are you a retailer? Drive users engaged with your brand on Google+ (or any platform for that matter) to your website.
• It’s been speculated that one of the reasons Google+ is prohibiting contests is to give company websites a boost in terms of search engine optimization.
• Promoting contests on your website on Google+ connects you to customers you might not have been able to reach previously, which could mean increased chances for engagement and new email subscribers.

How companies use Google+ will unfold over the next several months. By borrowing a successful tactic from Facebook and easily adapting it to this emerging space, they can embrace the specifications of each platform without missing the opportunity for new interactions with customers in social media.

The doors are open for all companies to create Google+ Pages. Brands like Pepsi, Macy’s, H&M, and Burberry were among the first rolled out. When brands arrive, they’ll find Pages that closely follow the design of Google+ profiles and a few interesting features. Here’s a breakdown. (See more details for each feature under the image.)

1. Verified Accounts: Much like Twitter’s verification, users see a quick confirmation that they’ve found a brand’s official page.

2. Circles: Users can add Pages to multiple circles, including circles that contain both friends and Pages. Pages also have the option to follow users, but only if they follow the Page first. Pages can add users to their own circles and share specific content to those circles. In both cases, this means more control for organizing the viewing of Pages and profiles.

3. +1 button: This shows how many people have clicked “+1” on your Page, your website, and in search results, with totals to show all +1s to a particular site in the next few weeks, according to Search Engine Land. Some have speculated that having both the option to follow a Page in a circle and +1 the Page will be confusing. But the two separate options here give users varying levels of engagement options. Do they just “like” the Page and company and want to publicly raise their hand in support, or do they go one step further and choose to opt-in to posts and updates? How users choose will in itself tell marketers something about their audience.

4. Share this Page: An easy way to share Pages with users and circles. Facebook’s Share the Page option is nearly invisible, tucked at the bottom of Pages’ left-hand sidebars. For budding Google+ Pages, this promotes sharing.

5. Tabs: Four “tabs” are available: posts, about, photo, and video. Unlike Facebook Pages, content other than photos and videos are focused on the stream. The stream is the main focus on Google+. Pairing this focus with the fact that there hasn’t been any hint of a Facebook EdgeRank-esque visibility algorithm, which means the stream is an unfiltered view of updates. Visibility could potentially be hurt by circles because users manually choose which circles to view; but those who want to see them arguably will, depending on when they log on. The lack of custom tabs with content is a big difference between Google+ and Facebook Pages. One other key tool currently not available on Google+: “contests, sweepstakes, offers, coupons or other such promotions” are prohibited.

6. Scrapbook: The dominant creative feature on Pages, the Scrapbook photos across the top of the Page support animated .gifs. Check out how Burberry has incorporated this.

7. Post Options: In addition to basic tasks like hiding the post from one’s stream, there are a couple of interesting options here. Easily getting the permalink for the post makes individual posts easily linkable for non-users. While you can share posts with users via email in the post share options, this permalink features adds another layer. Also, any user can view Ripples for Page’s posts, which display an interactive visualization of public sharing, including demographic information about sharers and top influencers. The potential this holds for marketers is clear, and it will no doubt add to a brand’s desire to develop more in-depth brand advocate and influencer outreach plans.

Other options for Page administrators are Hangouts, Google+ video group chat that supports nine attendees, which gives live video tools to brands. Macy’s is planning to hold a Hangout Nov. 8 featuring a blogger taking questions about style and fashion.

Like many predicted, Google is incorporating the power of its other products into Google+. A new feature that’s been introduced is a revamping of the “+” search query. Direct Connect allows anyone to type “+BRAND NAME” into Google search and automatically visits the company’s Google+ Page. Check out Google’s video demonstrating this.

What are Your Next Steps?

Brands now have some decisions to make: Do they jump in? Do they hang back for a short time and work Google+ into their social marketing plans before launching? Or do they tune out what’s happening and focus on Facebook and other social media marketing initiatives until Google+ becomes so popular that they can’t ignore it?

When making this decision, the same overall principles important for other social media initiatives apply:

• Know your audience. Google+ is still new, and while it does have 40 million users, those users are generally tech savvy early adopters. If this segment is part of your customer base, consider jumping in. If not, watch this space and listen to what’s happening there.
• Know your resources. Like Facebook and Twitter, launching a page that neglects its followers isn’t valuable. Third-party tools to support publishing and maintenance of Pages hinge on a Google+ API that supports this activity and hasn’t been released. That said, if launching a presence on this emerging platform fits your audience and fits your brand, devoting time and resources to it could hold promise.

Tell us what you think in the comments. Do you love the look of the Google+ Pages? What are some of your initial favorites? Do you think brands will get started here quickly?

Chatter in the social media space lately about QR codes is all over the map. QR codes have either become the marketing tool people love to hate (described by one as “robot barf”), while others say it’s on the brink of exploding in popularity. While there are convincing points on both sides, it’s not time to rule out the QR code. Here are nine reasons why you shouldn’t discount the QR code:

1. Smartphones are becoming mainstream.

Smartphone usage is growing, which is good news for the QR code. 62% of mobile adults aged 25-34 reportedly own one. About 54% of those 18-24 and 35-44 own one (Nielsen). And half of U.S. adult cell phone owners have apps on their phones.

2. People are still motivated by a deal or coupon.

People are using digital coupons, and QR codes are a simple delivery mechanism for digital deals. As of April 2011, access to a coupon was the No. 1 reason why people scanned a QR code – and mobile coupon usage is expected to double by 2013.

image via Flickr from waynesutton12

3. Scanning is on the rise.

Worldwide, scans of barcodes (QR Code, Datamatrix and UPC/EAN scans), increased 20% from Q2 to Q3 2011. In the U.S., it grew 42%. In June 2011, 14 million people scanned one, while another study found that 1 in 4 U.S. smartphone owners have scanned a QR code. It continues to be an upward trend.

4. Savvy brands are using them. (Or, don’t be discouraged by results from brands who haven’t used them wisely.)

Starbucks, Hennessy, and many others have incorporated QR codes into their marketing programs. But there are others who haven’t used them in such savvy ways. B.L. Ochman cites excellent examples about why QR codes fail in Ad Age, including posting them in places difficult to scan (like billboards and license plates). Don’t be swayed too heavily by these poor uses and know that some of the world’s most savvy marketing teams are incorporating them.

5. An informed customer is more likely to buy, and QR codes are a viable way to deliver that information when they need it.

Home Depot includes QR codes on shelf labels so shoppers can learn more about a product. Starbucks recently released a QR code campaign to teach customers about its coffee. When a study by the Boston Globe revealed that a high number of fish deliveries to area restaurants were the wrong species, one company launched a QR program that shares when and where your fish was caught, as well as who caught it. Having the information needed to make a decision about a product at precisely the moment a shopper needs it is critical, and QR codes are a scalable and trackable option. This extends into the content marketing realm as well: Macy’s Backstage Pass QR code campaign taught in-store shoppers about style and connected them with designers. This is relevant content that can push shoppers toward making a purchase.

6. Using QR codes in marketing – and teaching customers about them – will make them more successful.

Which came first, the QR code user or the QR code marketer? This chicken-or-egg scenario points to the fact that QR codes might require a bit of brand education of consumers. It’s a quick and simple lesson: download app, scan, visit site/redeem deal, etc. The more users see QR codes and learn about them, the more they will get used, and the more effective they will be for brands.

7. Fans can Like your Facebook Page more easily through QR codes.

This handy update can help connect to customers on Facebook: iOS5 users can open Facebook Pages automatically in their Facebook apps, rather than going to m.facebook.com where many must log in again.

8. Malicious scammers will always take advantage of technology.

Last month an Android scanning app infected with malware was released in Russia, which diminished confidence in the QR code. While unfortunate, many (arguably most) digital technologies have been hit by shady characters. Security experts and researchers have stated consumers shouldn’t be overly cautious, just be discerning if a QR code isn’t provided by a trusted brand. Don’t let this recent news determine whether or not you try incorporating QR codes.

9. Many of the negative points against QR codes can be remedied by brands themselves.

By following some common advice about QR codes, marketers can prevent negative user experiences:

• Make it worth their time: According to a Russell Herder survey, 31% of consumers who have scanned a QR code say that what they receive in return is always or usually worth their time. 52% say it’s sometimes worth it, and only 17% say it’s rarely or never worth it. So it’s critical to ensure what customers get for scanning is worth it.
• Create mobile-friendly and to-the-point landing pages for each QR code: Mobile users are on the go. Creating mobile-friendly, to-the-point landing pages for QR codes cut down on angst and help give consumers the info they want in an instant.

So don’t give up on the QR code. There are few other technologies that can easily tie offline marketing to online marketing and allow digital marketers to connect with customers when they aren’t online.

We want to know what you think. Tell us in the comments below.

Share these Halloween stats on Twitter:

86% of social media pros are afraid of their corporate social accounts being hacked. (tweet)

48.5% of social media pros think social makes brands less nervous than this time last year. (tweet)

What keeps social media pros up at night? ROI and creating meaningful community dialog. (tweet)

Which spooky character would be the worst at social? Mummies. (They’re too ‘wrapped up’ in themselves.) (tweet)

Embed this infographic on your site
<a href=”http://shoutlet.com/blog/?p=2130″ _mce_href=”http://shoutlet.com/blog/?p=2130″><img src=”http://shoutlet.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/ScarySocialMedia_Infographic.jpg” _mce_src=”http://shoutlet.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/ScarySocialMedia_Infographic.jpg” alt=”What’s Really Scary About Social Media?” width=”620″ height=”2327″ border=”0″ /></a><br /><a href=”http://shoutlet.com” _mce_href=”http://shoutlet.com”>by Shoutlet, enterprise social management software</a>

4 reasons why Pages should work more photos into Facebook publishing:

1. They’re bigger in the News Feed and on Page walls.

Among the recent round of Facebook changes include new sizes for photos. Single images have appeared larger, and photo albums also feature three larger photos. More eye-catching, these photos create extra opportunities for marketers to capture the attention of their fans in the News Feed and on their Pages’ walls.

2. Facebook is now promoting Page photos more heavily.

Facebook recently began showcasing “Photos from Pages You Like” in the right-hand sidebar. A no-cost way for content to be shared with fans, this new feature gives photos additional visibility.


3. They are weighted heavier in the EdgeRank algorithm.

Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm is the formula that determines what gets seen in users’ News Feeds. There are a handful of factors that contribute to a post’s EdgeRank (get the full details on EdgeRank here). The “objects”  in the News Feed (the content, such as status updates, links, and photos) and the “edges” (the interactions users have with your objects) are a main factor in this formula. Photos and video are weighted higher than regular posts. Using photos helps increase EdgeRank scores, which means your images are more likely to be seen by your fans in their News Feeds.

4. Facebook users engage with them more often.

A study by Roost found that on average, photos get 50% more impressions than any other post type on Facebook. They are also among the most likely types of posts to accumulate likes, which are among the top engagement activities for Facebook Pages fans (and also a driver of EdgeRank).

How can you get more images into your Facebook posting schedule?

Take advantage of the new size of photo: Photos are bigger, which means at a glance they can pack in more content. Adding messaging to the photo allows your content to travel via the share button and lets you say more with less.

Maximize use of albums and how they display in the News Feed: When posting photos in an album, think ahead on how they view display – with one larger image and two smaller ones to its right. Facebook chooses which images display based on interaction activity, according to InsideFacebook, but a cohesive look can help attract engagement, no matter which photos are selected.

Not a pro? Enhance your photos with apps like Instagram: Photo filtering and sharing apps like Instagram and Hipstamatic have taken off in recent months. (Instagram users have uploaded more than 150 million images, and reports said Facebook wanted to buy the app.) While some brands are using Instagram itself as a platform for engagement, using on-the-go photo filters can up your photos’ cool factor.

Get creative with the Timeline cover photo: Brands are still waiting for an announcement about updates to Facebook Pages. (Mashable posted some “what if” examples of possible brand pages in the Timeline format.) For users, Timelines have been delayed for those who haven’t opened developer accounts. We are in a holding pattern for Timelines, but it’s not too early to plan ahead for how this space could be leveraged for a Facebook Page – and how images can be provided to fans to showcase on their own cover photos. Volkswagen offered a cover photo to promote its new 2012 Beetle – a smart tactic that allows true fans to display branded content in a prominent way.

Note: Don’t forget about Twitter. Twitter image galleries are visible on your Twitter.com profile page. For the images you send to Facebook, select some that work for your Twitter audience as well.

To promote the recent launch of several new products, Funley’s initiated a strategy that not only boosted their Facebook Page Likes by 18,635 in 48 hours, but also helped them find their current customers, introduce products to new customers, and create an engaged Facebook community.

Initial Campaign: Free Sampling on Facebook

To support the roll-out of new snack options and its new Facebook Page, Funley’s decided on two programs: a free sampling campaign and a weekly giveaway program. It kicked off the free sampling campaign first, which focused on these three goals: 1) Increase Facebook fans and collect data via a sign-up form for future marketing campaigns; 2) Find an audience to sample product to increase sales at retail; and 3) Find brand ambassadors (a.k.a. Funley’s Big Mouths™) that can promote the brand online and also in their local areas and stores where Funley’s Delicious might not be currently sold.

Funley’s offered a free sample and added a like-gated tab that included a submission form to collect information using Shoutlet’s contest platform. The response was incredible: Within 24 hours the Funley’s Facebook Page had jumped from 288 Likes to 17,663. After two days, fan totals reached 18,923. The response was so positive, they were forced to turn off the sampling giveaway long before they had planned. Even after 10,737 users signed up for the sample, more than 8,000 users continued to Like the Page over the next 24 hours.

The unexpected response was supported by the plan Funley’s had put into place before it began: Launch a short-term free sampling giveaway, but roll out a weekly prize giveaway indefinitely. Although the free sampling giveaway closed, 1,881 of its new Likes entered the weekly prize giveaway. By having a plan in place, it was able to engage with new fans, even though the initial free sampling campaign had run its course.

Continued Engagement on Facebook

The sampling effort (one that at its peak was bringing in 200-400 entries every 10 seconds) was a definitive success. Funley’s understands the need to not only attract new Likes to their Facebook presence, but also provide content that gets customers talking, activates advocates, and ensures that their influx of fans don’t depart after the free food is gone, so to speak. How is the company creating a vibrant experience for the new fan base? Just a few ways it’s accomplishing this:

• Consistent brand voice: Funley’s Delicious is fun. It carries its fun attitude onto Facebook – even messages from Millie, Moe and their dog, Lucy, Funley are included. The Facebook presence is truly an extension of the brand. Customers can expect to get the same type of experience on Facebook as they do going to Funley’s whimsical website or opening a box of their snacks at home.
• Content that connects: A lighthearted attitude helps them creates content that connects, but also promoting causes that connect their customers with issues relevant to the products and company mission goes a long way. For example, frequent posts about the need for physical education in schools goes hand in hand with its philosophy of healthy snacking, and Facebook fans are responding.
• Weekly product giveaways: As mention before, these weekly giveaways are effortless to enter. Winners are highlighted in a featured post and receive a thank you from the Funley’s team. (Several of the winners have enthusiastically posted photos of the generous prize pack, which is a delight for any social media team to see.)
• Tools for diehard fans: Funley’s has passionate existing customers, as well as a slew fans who’ve tasted snacks for the first time through free sampling. With still-growing distribution, Funley’s provides an easy way for fans to be Funley’s Big Mouths™ and tell local store managers they’d like Funley’s products stocked in local stores. A downloadable form accessible through a “I Want My Funley’s” Facebook tab makes this easy for advocates to help Funley’s increase in-store distribution.
• Rewards for loyalists: To further reward Funley’s snackers and illustrate its commitment to loyal customers, Funley’s is using Facebook to promote a rewards program that gives away a free t-shirt for every 25 box tops collected.

What do you think about Funley’s Delicious Facebook presence? Have you seen other companies successfully use similar tactics to engage a budding fan base? Tell us about them in the comments.

The webinar will highlight what marketers need to do to be responsive – and prevent the consequences of being unresponsive. It will cover the steps needed to both PULL conversations onto their own websites and PUSH conversations to social networks. Ms. Parrish will walk through the four-part CORE mission: customize marketing experiences, optimize decisions and processes, respond to changing market conditions, and empower customers and staff to advocate for you.

With strategies to improve responsiveness and examples from brands that have achieved this, “Becoming Responsive Through Push & Pull Social Marketing” will show marketers what it takes to stay nimble and proactive in today’s online space.

Register for Monday’s webinar.

October is in full swing, and that means cooler nights, shorter days, and of course, Pumpkin Spice lattes. It also means we turn attention toward all things scary: ghosts, horror movies, haunted houses, and other terrifying creatures of the night.

But that got us thinking: What’s scary about social media? What do even the most seasoned social media pros find truly frightening?

Social media pros: We want to know what’s really scary to you when it comes to social media. Help us celebrate Halloween and fill us in on what keeps you up at night. Take our quick, 9-question survey and enter your email for a chance to win a $100 Visa® gift card.

Whether certain aspects of social media make you want to scream like Jamie Lee Curtis or you’re totally fearless, tell us!

Change is constant. For social media marketers, few events have illustrated this like the whirlwind of announcements from Facebook recently. When it comes to Facebook updates, there’s one other thing we can count on: some marketers will be able to adapt – and others won’t.

The announcements at f8 (Facebook’s developer conference) about the revamped News Feed, Ticker, Timeline, and Open Graph apps are exceptionally promising for users, for app developers, and for the Facebook platform itself. How brands will fare is still unknown for sure, but there are some clues as to how social media marketers can capitalize and prepare to adapt for whatever comes next. In order to be successful in this market, you have to first be prepared to adapt quickly. Nimble organizations benefit most as social media evolves at a pace never before seen. Those that can be flexible and grasp these ideas will make the most of the new Facebook…

Read more of “Will Your Brand Succeed in the New Facebook?” on ClickZ.

1. How can Facebook page owners interact with fans? As of Sept. 30, page admins can no longer send fans Updates. Updates, often overlooked by recipients, appeared in users’ Facebook Messages. Often these were bundled into an “Other” folder within the Facebook Messages inbox. Now, the primary ways to send content to all your fans are posts, which show up in the News Feed, and through Sponsored Stories and Facebook ads, which can be targeted to existing fans.

2. How can I connect with individual fans of my Facebook page? In some cases, admins might want to contact individual fans of their page, whether it’s to address a question or complaint, to connect with potential brand ambassadors, say thanks, etc. Other than a public comment on a fan’s post on your page’s wall, there aren’t too many options here. Access to both fans’ profiles and admins’ personal profiles are as private as each individual makes them. Both will be able to see public posts and other information they’ve set as publicly viewable. But if a fan does have his or her email or other information visible, pages still “may not use any users’ contact or personal info from the site without their permission,” according to Facebook. Brands must have explicit permission to contact those who like their page using this information.

If you’d like to send a private message to a fan, it is possible, but the message will come from the individual admin’s account, and not the page itself.

3. As a page admin, can fans contact us? If you’ve set your page to show “Page Owners,” the public will know you’re an admin and the page will be featured on your personal profile. There’s no way for a fan to send a page a private message. Fans are only able to contact you individually if your Facebook profile privacy settings allow it. (With Facebook’s new Subscribe feature, though, they can follow your public posts if you’ve enabled this feature.)

4. What about platforms that use the Facebook API? Some Facebook management platforms, such as Shoutlet, can pull in certain information about fans, but are limited to very basic info such as first name, last name, and gender. These are also limited by each fan’s personal privacy settings. These are different from individual apps that ask for explicit permission from users to access information such as friend lists, birthdays, etc.

Other ways to reach out to fans online:

Relationship-building with customers in social media can extend beyond Facebook. When you’d like to reach out to fans who’ve interacted with your brand on Facebook, there are other ways to reach out to them:

• Integrate email and social through forms on Facebook. Gathering email addresses on Facebook gives your fans an opportunity to opt-in to updates from you via email. Whether it’s a general email newsletter or email updates about a particular topic, asking for emails gives you another path to connecting with customers online. Shoutlet sign-up web apps are a great way to include forms on tabs and in the News Feed.
• Give them your email address. One-on-one email conversations can be an appropriate avenue for discussing certain customer services issues or when sensitive information is involved. Provide an email address to prevent asking users to post their own. Consider creating a special email address for your team to use for this purpose.
• Include fields for Twitter usernames in forms. Adding optional fields in the forms you add to your Facebook Page that collect Twitter usernames. This allows your brand to connect with users on Twitter, where one-to-one communication from a brand’s account is more flexible.

There was an incredible amount of information to digest, but in summary, Mark Zuckerberg announced the following:

A complete overhaul of the Facebook user profile. The Facebook profile is now a timeline of one’s activity on the site. For many, this means a digital storyboard of their lives, year by year. Facebook’s dubbing them Timelines. Visually stunning, Timelines, Zuckerberg said, are “exactly how you want to browse through time.”

Seamless apps that summarize activities and allow users to express themselves. Communication, gaming, media, and lifestyle apps – dozens of which have already signed on to partner with Facebook – will showcase topical activity on one’s Timeline. They can be added to a Timeline from a friend’s with one click. Frictionless experiences with these apps negate the need for pop-up prompts to share, “real-time serendipity” makes discovering content from friends easier than ever, and highlighted patterns in your friends’ actions open up new ways of visualizing the data of your network’s interests and behaviors.

The announcements today also outlined sweeping updates for Facebook users and app developers. Facebook primarily makes changes to Facebook Pages and other marketing products afterward, but the shift in how Facebook views itself in users’ lives holds promising possibilities for companies. It’s a new mechanism of life curation, the “box” that holds the memories of daily experience. With brands being an integral part of users’ lives, the updates coming for brand marketers on Facebook will be exciting to see.

In the meantime, sign up for the beta of the first product release, Timeline. And check back with Shoutlet to get the latest on changes for Facebook Page owners and social media marketers.

Here are nine common types of tabs you’ll find on Facebook Pages. Each has its own purpose and can be tailored to fit your brand.

1. Welcome: Welcome tabs are a natural addition to a Facebook presence. They are an opportunity to greet new Facebook visitors and steer them toward further action, such as asking for an email to keep up with the brand through a newsletter or linking to other tabs of your Facebook Pages (such as promo or coupon tab) to interact further.

Example: Dingo gives a quick rundown of why pet owners love the Dingo brand and provides a chance to sign up for the newsletter, which offers exclusive discounts.

2. Intro/About Us: Intro tabs provide a quick summary of your company or service and are especially helpful for new companies, Pages launching new products, or B2B companies building awareness through Facebook. (Like Welcome tabs, they are often used as a default landing tab.) It’s a chance to make your Facebook elevator pitch and pique users’ interest enough to Like the page and opt-in to learning more about your company on Facebook.

3. Contests: Sweepstakes and contest tabs are a great way to both create interaction with your current fan base and give them a reason to share your content with friends, which helps create new connections organically. It can also be a content-generator: posts, images, and videos can spin-off from both the campaign’s promotion and user-generated content gathered as part of the contest.

Example: Take a look at a current contest Clorox Toilets Products is running for its “Ode to the Commode” campaign through Sept. 25.

Example: Trilogy by Shea Homes is currently running a sweepstakes across 13 of its Facebook Pages through Sept. 30.

4. Promos/Coupons: Numerous surveys of Facebook users have shown that deals, coupons, and special offers are among the top reasons for Liking a brand’s Page. Offering a like-gated coupon tab is a popular tactic for increasing your fan base. (Tread cautiously, though: Boosting fan numbers by offering a coupon might spike Like totals, but could decrease the quality of your fan base and lower interaction rates if the new Likes you attract are only there for the deals.) Offering an ever-present, non-gated tab you can link to in wall posts and in ads also provides ongoing value for all fans. Add social sharing options to these tabs so make it easy for users to share with friends.

5. Cross-promotion: If your team is working diligently to engage on multiple platforms like Twitter and YouTube, for instance, cross promote. Give customers a way to connect with you on all the places your brand is active.

Example: For Fashion’s Night Out 2011, JustFabulous turned a Facebook tab into a hub of activity that showcased its Twitter contest and live tweets of the event.

6. Topical Discussion: Your Facebook wall isn’t the only place you can talk to fans. Try providing a way for them to discuss specific topics on your tabs with tools such as the Facebook comments module.

Example: Norwegian Cruise Line generated ongoing conversation about their cruise line guest rooms by showing a slideshow of images, paired with a place for users to comment and discuss accommodations.

7. Shopping: New F-commerce and Facebook storefronts are popping up every day. It’s no wonder: 51% of consumers said they are more likely to buy a product since becoming a fan on Facebook, according to a study out this week. Offer a non-disruptive way to showcase your products and include social sharing options so users can share products.  Check out how companies like outdoor retailer Kolpin are showcasing products on Facebook tabs.

8. Live Events: Hosting live events on your Facebook tabs for expert or celebrity Q&A is a great way to hold an event that creates dialog with users. Facebook’s livestream module is a great way to live chat on a Facebook tab.

9. Theme/Content Tabs: Similar to cross-promotion tabs, these tabs can be a way of “reimagining” your content, which Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman describe in their book Content Rules as the process of thinking of new ways to repackage content. Videos, links to how-to articles or blog posts on your website, and other helpful content can create a mini-hub for one hot topic for your customers. Teasing this content in Facebook posts and linking to the tab will give your fan base relevant, timely information.

Example: Outdoor retailer Cabela’s is promoting Cabela’s Deer Nation, a rich content hub on its website, by showcasing it on a Facebook tab.

The right combination of content on your Facebook Page and a good wall communications strategy designed to drive fans back to your Facebook tabs can make your Facebook presence a vibrant place for discussion and increase conversion on your campaigns.

Have any of these types of tabs worked for your brand? Tell us in the comments.

Like this post? Follow us on Twitter or Facebook to hear about future posts.

Vote for Shoutlet’s panel, “What Your CMO Really Thinks About Social Media,” and help social media managers learn how top-tier marketers think social media fits into their organizations. Forrester’s Melissa Parrish will moderate a panel that includes the vice presidents of marketing from American Family Insurance, Kaiser Permanente, and Realogy, who will provide real-world insight into the C-Suite’s view of social media.

Here’s the panel description:

Social media marketing has caught the attention of the C-suite, but elevating it to a higher level within companies is still a challenge. Social media leaders struggle with justifying resources, securing the freedom they need to be effective, and proving social media ROI. Social media moves faster and requires more interaction with the public than ever before, and the C-suite must weigh the risks and costs associated with a social media program. Featuring executive-level marketers from companies such as American Family Insurance, Kaiser Permanente, and Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate at Realogy, this panel will paint a holistic picture of what role executives think social media plays and where they think it’s headed. Forrester Research’s Melissa Parrish will moderate as the panel provides varying perspectives on how social media programs can finally get a seat at the grown-up table and what it will take to get there.

Questions the panel will tackle:

- What do CMOs currently think about how social media has impacted the marketing program (and business overall)?
- What are some of the top hurdles for the skeptical CMO to overcome?
- What does the C-suite need to know to give social media teams more influence in the organization?
- What have been successful approaches for convincing the C-suite to expand the social media program?
- What are underlying issues that prevent social media programs from gaining influence within a company?

Are these questions you think social media professionals at SXSW 2012 would be interested in discussing?

Cast a vote for us and share this panel with other voters.

The decision to adopt an SMMS often contains two main parts: understanding the challenges that can be alleviated by a platform and the added benefits it brings to a social media program. In our new white paper, Social Media Management Systems: Making an Informed Decision, we walk through the top challenges commonly seen by social media teams when they reach a point where they need an SMMS. We also cover the added benefits of these systems and how to embark on the process of vetting vendors prepared, which helps your team choose an SMMS that fits your unique needs.

You can access this report here.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on social media management systems. Do you see more companies adopting them? What are some of the challenges your social program is facing that could be solved by an SMMS? Tell us in the comments below.

GOAL: The “39 and Holding” birthday campaign was launched with the objective of building the Houlihan’s overall fan base and increasing opt-in subscribers to its email club.

DETAILS: Using Shoutlet’s Multi-Account Platform and contest tools, it created a sweepstakes tab, which Houlihan’s syndicated to each participating Facebook Page. Each of the tabs was like-gated, a feature that boosted fan numbers. Fans submitted their information to win “the trip of a lifetime” with a $2,500 travel voucher, which helped build the email club list. Throughout the duration of the sweepstakes, Houlihan’s corporate social media team published 2 to 3 Facebook posts per week promoting the sweepstakes to all 54 Pages and supported the campaign with Facebook ads, email marketing, and in-store messaging.

RESULTS: Facebook posts about the sweepstakes received 1.3 million post views and 6,448 comments or likes in users’ newsfeeds. After 30 days, Houlihan’s picked up 40,444 new Facebook fans and 10,215 entries into the sweepstakes. The email club database grew by 2,920 new opt-in subscribers.

Houlihan’s Restaurants took a popular Facebook tactic to a new level by coordinating the effort across dozens of local-level Facebook Pages. By hosting the same contest tab on 54 local Facebook Pages and syncing posts promoting the campaign to those social presences, it was able to achieve its objectives and connect with fans of its neighborhood Houlihan’s locations.

First, the data. In addition to the data points already tracked in the platform for the various media and web apps Shoutlet supports, we’ve added more data from Facebook Insights, Twitter, and YouTube to complete the analytics picture for marketers. With more metrics available to Shoutlet users, Shoutlet reporting is a one-stop resource for tracking the metrics most important to each company’s unique social media program.

Next, how the data is displayed. The value of great data diminishes if busy marketers can’t make sense of it. Like the full Shoutlet platform, effortless usability was top priority for this release. The outcome is a robust reporting interface with easy-to-follow data charting that efficiently gives users the data representations they need to understand the impact of their social media efforts.

As one example, the reporting dashboard’s login screen gives an at-a-glance look at four sets of data: Social Growth, Social Appeal, Social Engagement, and Shout Activity.

• Social Growth: Facebook Likes, Twitter followers, and YouTube subscribers provide an instant look at the volume of your social media communities.
• Social Appeal: A quick look at overall retweets, Facebook Likes, and YouTube video likes.
• Social Engagement: Facebook Comments, @mentions, and YouTube comment levels in one place.
• Shout Activity: Your team’s output of published “shouts” (posts, tweets, web apps created, etc.)

The Shout Tracker is a feature found throughout the new reporting interface that overlays metrics that track engagement and impact with the posts created and published through the platform. For global or franchise clients with multiple Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube accounts, these can be referenced in aggregate or down to the account level – a feature that makes it simple to gauge what’s happening on every level of your social program.

As enterprise companies have become more active in social media, attention has turned squarely toward social media ROI and accountability. Having a powerful tracking platform at your disposal is crucial. Shoutlet’s CEO Jason Weaver said it best: “Without the right tools, brands will find it increasingly difficult to grow their social media presence if they can’t justify the efforts already being made. In order to stay competitive, they will not only need to expand their social reach but to also measure that reach against business goals and the bottom line – two factors that served as the foundation of Shoutlet’s new analytics solution.”

Read more about these new reporting features or request a demo.

“Seven years of college down the drain”? Not at Shoutlet U!

The traditional college experience is a highly social one. So much so that many students get sidetracked (in extreme cases, up to seven years, like the legendary John Blutarsky in Animal House). Our new portal for social media learning, Shoutlet U, is equally as social (in a different way), much cheaper (free), and doesn’t require eating macaroni and cheese every day (unless you really want to).

Shoutlet U is an online campus where any social media or marketing professional can learn about the latest social media trends, best practices, and tips for using the most popular social media platforms. It’s your social media alma mater – a place for learning about the ever-changing discipline of social media marketing. Webcasts, eBooks, and other helpful materials are part of the curriculum.

For current Shoutlet clients, Shoutlet U includes all this, plus comprehensive, on-demand training videos, a social media knowledge base, and discussion forums. We hope you’ll join us.

Exsisto Amicabiliter! (Be social.)

• Foursquare: Include an “Add to Foursquare” button on any tab. Visitors click to add your venue to their Foursquare to-do list.  The next time they view your venue in the Foursquare mobile app, the to-do about your venue pops up, along with any notes they’ve made about it.
• Like button: Add a Like button to a tab. Perfect for acquiring fans without fan-gating.
• Send button: Makes sharing individual Facebook tabs, Facebook Pages, or pages on your website a snap.
• Activity Feed: Pulls in the latest Facebook-related activity from your website to show users what content is resonating and drives additional traffic to your main web presence.
• Facepile: Fans can see which friends are connected to your brand’s Facebook page or another domain you specify.
• Live Stream: Host chats using Facebook’s Live Stream, allowing fans to converse in real time for events, Q&A sessions, celebrity or expert Facebook Page “appearances,” and more.
• YouTube player: Cross-promote your YouTube videos on Facebook or showcase fan videos about your brand.
• Custom HTML: Users who have ideas for more customized designs can use this module to enhance pieces of the tab using HTML code and a variety of web standard code types, such as JavaScript.

These new updates are in addition to the variety of tools available in Shoutlet to build custom tabs, such as iFrame, image, Facebook comments, and text modules. As always, Shoutlet’s full contest platform, Shop & Share Facebook storefronts, and Shoutlet web apps (video player, audio and video podcast player, Twitter reader, RSS reader, sign-up web app, slideshow, clickable image web app, and others) can be used to create innovative Facebook tabs as well.

With so many “building blocks” for tabs, Shoutlet customers are able to publish custom tabs quickly, pre-schedule the dates tabs run, and track their impact. Assuming just five of these elements are used on a tab at once (although more can be used!), that’s at least 11,881,376 possible combinations brands can use on a Facebook tab.

Now the question is: What combination will you use to engage your fans?

What Google+ might look like for marketers is a currently a mystery, but the possibilities are promising. Facebook Pages have been highly influential for marketing and customer service programs, pushing them into building creative social campaigns and developing whole teams and processes for responding to customers faster than ever. The corporate presence on Google+ – if growth and usage of the initial user base continues – could incorporate equally revolutionary features that mean big things for marketers and community managers.

Google+ Features as a Tool for Targeting and Engagement

In addition to the opportunities for Google to utilize its existing properties (YouTube, Gmail, etc.), the current Google+ features offer potential ways to create dialog, in particular Hangouts and Circles. Hangouts, Google+ group video chat (and the chief rival of Facebook’s recently announced video chat through Skype), means real-time, face-to-face chats with brand reps, customer service pros, and even in-house experts. Group Hangouts based on a particular post, where commenters jump into a chat with a brand representative, could mean significant conversations about a topic a company began. Just as the Facebook Wall prompted fear of two-way dialog that quickly subsided once the right tools and processes were in place, this scenario could make marketers nervous, but could also be a positive shift in brand/consumer conversation.

Circles is another feature that could be leveraged to drive interaction with users. Today Google+ users can segment their friends into Circles, only sharing relevant content with specific groups. Think Facebook post geotargeting, only with fully customized segmentation. For example, for a sporting goods retailer, the interests of its customer base varies. A Google+ corporate profile Circles solution could mean content can be sent through the network to only boaters, while other content is shared with hikers. Relevancy is a key component of effective content. Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithms attempt to build in this relevancy for users so their newsfeeds aren’t bombarded with content they’re uninterested in, but Circles could make it possible to segment social media in a way similar to email marketing, but within the confines of an interactive social network. (For users, being able to build Circles of brands they follow could have an impact.)

Features that haven’t gotten as much buzz as these two, such as Sparks and the new Google Photos (formerly Picasa), will undoubtedly play a role for corporate accounts.

Google+ Plus Google’s Existing Capabilities Could Equal an Unstoppable Force

The topic of content flows into a discussion of the Google powerhouse factor and how integration could pay off big for marketers. Google’s Oestlien said “… ultimately, we want to use Google+ across every Google property. How or when is all to be determined.” This could mean incredible things for marketers looking to capitalize on Google+ in terms of content sharing, analytics, and advertising.

Google’s +1 button is the driver of Google content sharing. For corporate content, this not only functions similarly to the Facebook Like button, but also creates more opportunity for search results themselves to be shared socially on Google+ profiles, with +1 buttons highlighted on Google search result pages. The integration of YouTube could mean important things for video content and seamless sharing as well. In terms of advertising and analytics: With Facebook U.S. display ad net revenue to hit $2.2 billion in 2011 and Google coming in third this year behind Facebook and Yahoo!, the advertising race is equally as active between the two companies. For marketers, Google+ could mean complete integration with the leading pay-per-click platform and Google’s vast display network. This integration will also mean that tracking users through search, websites, and social is now within reach. This could be a giant leap for social media ROI tracking, which is a task many companies continue to struggle with. On Search Engine Journal Glenn Gabe offered a great take on all the potential ways this advertising integration could take shape, from how remarketing can utilize data from Google+ to how Google can offer personalized (relevant) search results based on user social activity in Google+.

We won’t know what the official corporate marketing solution for brands will be until it is released, but the possibilities for marketers are exciting. But whether it is influential for marketers hinges on whether the adoption rate for Google + will rival Facebook in the long term. (Today on Mashable Ben Parr offered a great look at early adoption and what it could mean for Google+.) If user growth stagnates, this is a potential showstopper for the new social network. Where the consumers are active, brands will go. And if users do flock to Google+, the question becomes: What functionality will they have to interact with those consumers once they get there?

Social media has disrupted the way marketing has operated for decades. It’s an exciting development, but it presents philosophical dilemmas for many companies. In the span of just a few years, communication has evolved from a one-way to two-way discussion on social media platforms. As consumers have rapidly adopted social media, companies have etched out their plans for effectively engaging with them.

There’s no doubt that marketers are focusing more of their efforts on social media. 70% of marketers are planning to increase their social media budgets by more than 10% in 2011 (Effie Worldwide and Mashable study). This increased investment in social media means marketers will rely more heavily on tracking data to improve ROI and boost future engagement.

With this shift toward social comes not only a new way of interacting with customers online, but also new ways of assessing its results. To date, tracking social media results has followed more traditional barometers, which does not properly reflect how successful efforts are. New metrics are being designed to specifically track the impact of this new communication channel and are quickly becoming part of a new standard for critiquing a digital marketing program’s success.

Measuring social media effectively is vital to understanding what impact your efforts are having on your business goals. What steps should you take to ensure your company is tracking your social media efforts in a way that makes sense for you?

Read more at Direct Marketing News.

For marketers interested in mobile, the buzz about HTML5 is promising.

This new HTML5 standard essentially makes the juicy, interactive features that made Flash so attractive – video, audio, animation – now achievable within the browser, no downloads or plug-ins required.

It is also a way to sidestep the blackout of Flash content on Apple’s operating system iOS, which runs on iPhones and iPads.

Unlike Flash, HTML5 is compatible with all Apple products, as it is with BlackBerry and Android.

The benefits to end-users are immediately noticeable.

Content is viewable on any tablet, phone, or computer automatically. This also makes it big news for marketers, who cannot afford to lose interaction because of iOS incompatibility – and cannot afford to squander resources on making content compatible on an endless number of browsers.

Read more at Mobile Marketer.

Facebook, through both the platform itself and third-party publishing software such as Shoutlet, allows users to make posts visible to only to specific fans based on language, country, state, or city. This small feature can pack a big punch.

First, it’s local. The popularity of tools that pair local with social, like Groupon, Yelp, Foursquare, and Facebook Places, points to the ability to capture people’s attention with local-level engagement. Large companies, such as franchise companies with hundreds of local social presences, understand that a social connection to their neighborhood outfit can have an unbeatable effect. Personalizing posts to fans by geographic location makes it instantly more relevant, with an added feel-good element: Seeing your favorite brands appeal to your hometown helps spark comments, likes, and clickthroughs. And it doesn’t always have to be about your hometown. Facebook geotargeting is based primarily off IP address, so fans traveling in other cities will see info relevant to them on their mobile devices, such as posts about local promotions. Couple the use of geotargeting with content tailored specifically for individual locations, and it’s a winning combo designed to connect.

How are companies leveraging this? Events are a great fit for this feature. Special events, location-specific sales, book signings, and more all offer relevant posts to fans in those areas. Perry Ellis has used this tactic to promote (e.g. “Join us at the Ultimate Night Out! Tmrw, June 9th from 6pm to 9pm, join us at Lord & Taylor on 5th Ave & 39th st in the city. There will be giveaways, discounts and a basketball shootout with NBA All Star, Anthony Mason in the Perry Ellis shop. See you there!”)

Other ways to use geotargeting features to make posts more relevant:

- Promote store openings: Many popular pages see frequent posts by users lamenting the lack of a store or a particular restaurant in their areas. Announcing new stores and posting about the run-up to opening day are great ways to get a locale excited without cluttering your Wall with posts only a small percentage of fans care about.

- Feature your local employees: Show off great employees to their local markets. Giving fans a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the people that make their favorite brands’ brick-and-mortar shops run is a fun way to give them relevant, targeted content – favorite local waiters/chefs, makeup artists, athletic team support staff, designers, concierges or guides for travel brands are just a few examples. Or, feature employees with great stories to tell or who are giving back to their communities.

- Reach out in sections: Want to just say ‘hi’ to specific locations? Reach out to cities by penciling each one on your list into your editorial calendar. Adding city-specific posts to the regular posting schedule creates ways to highlight cities and get fans talking with each other. For example, a pizza chain might highlight the locale’s favorite toppings (e.g. “Hey Cleveland! Our managers tell us sausage and mushroom is the most popular request. What do you think? What’s Cleveland’s favorite topping?).

- Jump on breaking news: Sometimes important news appeals to one state or city more than others. Exciting news, such as a win by local sports teams or popular events like the Boston Marathon, beg for a relevant, targeted post.

- Consider adding to crisis communications plans: Hardee’s made headlines for its use of social media during the Joplin, Mo. tornado disaster when it was unknown whether employees were injured in the devastation. In the horrible instance that bad news must be announced on a local level, this is one way to communicate via Facebook. Reach out to customers in those local areas to lend support after unfortunate news breaks. Add links for information about how local residents can help those in need.

Facebook’s geotargeting option can make a big impact with fans on a local level. Have you used it? What affect did it have?

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10 ways to get the word out:

1. Kick off the contest promotion by enlisting your current fans and email marketing database. Alert your active email lists about the contest to encourage their participation and help you spread the initial word. Break the news of the contest to your existing fans before launch through a Facebook Wall post to give them an exclusive sneak peek.
2. Promote with Facebook ads. Try targeting current Likes who might not have had frequent interaction with your brand recently, as well as other Facebook users in your demographic.
3. Cross-promote: Don’t limit your promotional efforts to the Facebook platform itself. Leverage your Twitter feed, YouTube channel, website, blog, and other places you communicate.
4. Use user-generated entries to promote the contest: Pull selected photos or videos from your entries to help promote the contest. (Check with your legal representative about how to include language related to the use of this material in your Terms & Conditions.)
5. Fan-gate your contest. Make your contest tab your landing tab and require a Like to view the contest details. This allows new fans to see other contest-related posts, which they can share with others.
6. Enlist e-commerce customers. Add a link to the contest checkout pages or order confirmation emails.
7. Make it shareable: Add social sharing options to your contest Facebook tab to make the process of spreading the word seamless.
8. Think offline. Brainstorm ways to use offline messaging, such as notes printed on store receipts at your brick-and- mortar locations.
9. Add to your website. Don’t rely only on Facebook icons on your website to drive traffic to your page during this time. Add messaging that promotes your contest there as well.
10. Explore word-of-mouth and influencer outreach. Unique contests and promotions can gain traction with bloggers and other influencers in your industry.

More ideas for running and managing a Facebook contest can be found in Shoutlet’s free eBook: “Facebook Contests: A Step-by-Step Guide for Marketers” Get your copy here.

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image by tharrin/Flickr

They’ve got it right; the race IS on. Successful social media teams and racing teams have quite a bit in common. Here are 4 things to keep in mind to be the first driver to pass the checkered flag – or engage customers and drive them to checkout.

Speed
If online marketing and customer interaction are anything, they’re fast. Speedy service has always been a selling point for retailers, but in the social media world, it’s critical. Customers expect fast response times to customer service issues and questions posted on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Working to respond quickly to customers isn’t just a mantra of good community management, although it’s helped companies like e-tail giant Zappos differentiate itself. A recent study shows that 64% of worldwide Twitter users are more likely to buy from a company that responds to tweeted questions.

Speed also becomes a factor for content creation. Just like fashion trendsetters who break the news of the hottest new looks, retailers – who are increasingly serving as publishers themselves – must produce content that consistently and frequently engages customers. The content delivery mechanism is a race in itself, too. Retailers must be able to keep up with their customers in terms of the platforms they are using, whether those are blogs, location-based services, QR codes, social shopping sites, social sharing options – the list goes on. For example, fashion retailer Perry Ellis has offered everything from a live stream of Fashion Week shows to its latest Foursquare campaign.

The Competition
You’re racing around the proverbial track at 200 miles per hour with just inches between your car and the next. Running a competitive retail digital program can feel oddly similar. This means staying nimble, creating and posting relevant content, and launching innovative campaigns that engage (and re-engage) shoppers better and faster than your competitors. Facebook contests are a popular way to incentivize consumers to establish a social connection with one brand over another (after all, 58% of consumers follow retailers to find discounts, according to Shop.org’s 2011 Social Commerce Study.) A sampling of great contests currently running by retailers include Backcountry.com’s Black Diamond Photo contest and KillerDana.com’s boardshort giveaway sweepstakes.

The Team
Winning drivers are the ones photographed with trophies at the end of a race, but everyone knows the pit crew is the engine behind the prize. Retail digital and social media teams are no different. It takes a disciplined focus on brand voice and consistency, community conversation moderation, dedication to customer service, and a true understanding of your customers to attract new buyers and loyal followers. Retailers who do these well create brand evangelists and instigate lively conversations that are worth their weight in gold. (Beauty and personal care brands are especially good at this.)

Drive (also known as guts, courage, or willingness to take chances)
Race car drivers don’t play it safe. Retailers who play it safe in social media don’t win races, either. Customers’ attention is fractured, and there are more places than ever to spend dollars online. Launching fun, innovative online campaigns help strengthen relationships and boost the likelihood that customers will share branded content with their own circles of social network friends.

Marketers in the driver’s seat at retail companies are kicking it into overdrive, as Internet Retailer suggests. The stakes are high, and some retailers will speed ahead. But the real winners are customers, who will enjoy online brand experiences that interest them and make it simple for them to be loyal customers.

Are you at the Internet Retailer conference this week? Stop by Shoutlet’s booth, #1955, to discuss how retailers use social management platform Shoutlet to power their social media programs.

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How can marketers act on these trends? Enter the QR code.

QR (Quick Response) codes are 2-D barcodes scannable from most smartphones. Marketers have adopted the technology and integrated it into marketing campaigns, and the practice is growing. (Consumer awareness of QR codes continues to increase, too – 52% were aware of QR codes as of fall 2010. Another study in February 2011 puts awareness levels at two-thirds of smartphone users.)

The functionality is simple for consumers. Walk up to code, scan, view. That’s why marketers have used QR codes in dozens of different ways, each one with the intention of capitalizing on the seamless way they lead customers directly to your content.

Shoutlet covered the A to Z of QR Codes in a webinar June 8. To learn more about QR codes, pros and cons, and do’s and dont’s, watch the full broadcast or view slides here.

25 Ways to Use QR Codes

Events Marketing

• Scavenger hunts: Neatorama and mental_floss hosted a Manhattan scavenger hunt in December for a chance to win a Ford Fiesta. In late May Starbucks launched a 2-week scavenger hunt to help promote Lady Gaga’s latest album. The hunt, “SRCH by Starbucks featuring Lady Gaga,” starts with a QR code on a Frappuccino banner. After scanning, users are directed to a website to uncover clues.  (The My Starbucks iPhone app also includes a QR reader.)
  

  Starbucks QR code, via Mashable

• Event name tags
• Event swag

Deals and Promotions

When smartphone users who have used QR codes were surveyed, the No. 1 reason they cited for scanning was to access coupons or discounts (trailed closely by accessing information).

• Social media contests
• Coupons and special offers
• In-store sales and deals: Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport has included QR codes on signage to promote deals on concessions.

Print and outdoor advertising/marketing

• Outdoor billboards
• Real estate signs
• Company vehicles
• Storefront windows
• Magazine ads (scan to buy)

Marketing Materials

• Directions to your business
• Business Card
• Videos related to printed materials

In-Store Engagement/Content Delivery

• Home Depot displays QR codes for items on the shelves, which provides shoppers with helpful content about product and relevant how-to information, such as videos, demos, and project guides. (QR codes on Home Depot advertising includes this info, plus a link to buy online.)
• Macy’s invited shoppers to learn more about top designers through its “Macy’s Backstage Pass” QR code campaign. Shoppers can get video fashion advice, designers’ thoughts, and more.
• Restaurant menus
• Product packaging
• Point of sale receipts

Education/Research

• Non-profit applications, such as museum installation instructions. Example: Smithsonian Natural History Museum used QR codes as part of an exhibit on neanderthals. The “MEanderthals” campaign’s QR codes sent users to a site where that can upload a photo, see what they would have looked like 30,000 years ago, and share via Facebook and email.
• Community education/government outreach: New York City is integrating codes into building permits, which gives residents info about everything from restaurant health inspections to construction site details.
• Customer feedback forms
• Internal communications: Add QR codes to nameplates to make it simple to learn more about colleagues.

Entertainment

• Interactive TV: To promote the new album of a music performer on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”, Jimmy held up a QR code in lieu of album cover. Within a day the clip of the segment had made it to YouTube Trends with 50,000 views.
• Movie posters
• Movie theater tickets

Creative applications of QR codes will continue to emerge as marketers experiment with more ways to tie their marketing initiatives together and invest in content marketing that needs innovative delivery mechanisms.

What are some of the best QR code campaigns you’ve seen?

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Savvy beauty brands are harnessing Facebook and launching efforts that are designed to engage customers and spark interaction. Here are four ways Shoutlet customers are doing this:

1. Contests, Sweepstakes, and Giveaways

Contests are currently one of the hottest tactics for Facebook marketing. They are a great way to attract new fans and invite existing community members to interact with the brand. Promotions are one of the main reasons Facebook users have cited for Liking a Facebook Page, and personal care companies are leveraging this.

Remington’s Beard-A-Thon Contest

Remington is hosting a photo contest that invites users to upload photos of the beards they are growing as part of the NHL playoffs. It’s in conjunction with the efforts at beardathon.com, which is raising money for charity.

Cool feature: All participants in the contest receive a free razor – a great way to encourage participation.

DermStore’s Lumene Facebook Giveaway

E-commerce beauty retailer DermStore frequently offers giveaways to its Facebook community. This sweepstakes offers a Lumene prize pack.

Cool feature: As part of the entry form, DermStore is encouraging feedback by asking, “What Lumene product have you been dying to try?”.  Not only will DermStore and Lumene gather insight on what products customers are interested in, but this also encourages additional interaction from participants beyond the standard name and email submission.

2. Facebook Storefronts

As the quest to calculate ROI from social media continues and social commerce gains traction, more companies are experimenting with f-commerce and Facebook storefronts to make it easier for Facebook users to interact with products and discuss them with friends. In the beauty space, social commerce is alive and well. By launching Facebook storefronts that include social sharing options for each product (provided by Shoutlet’s Shop & Share), these companies are giving their communities the tools to ask their friends on Facebook about a product or share the product to more than 100 other sites.

Remington

A personal grooming tool, such as an electric shaver or flat iron, isn’t a frequent purchase, but they are products a customer uses nearly every day. By adding a Facebook storefront to its U.S. Facebook Page, Remington gives Facebook users the chance to browse products, ask for recommendations, and either purchase directly on their website – or do research before they purchase in-store.

Cool feature: Remington’s Facebook shopping tab also includes the option of signing up for the company’s monthly newsletter to help users stay up to date with product tips and specials.

AVEYOU Beauty Boutique

AVEYOU Beauty Boutique is extending its e-commerce site onto Facebook for its 15,000+ Likes to browse.

3. Exclusive Facebook Offers

Promoting offers that can only be found on Facebook makes the relationship customers have with brands on the platform more valuable. Exclusive deals also boost the chances of users sharing them with their own networks.

TimetoSpa

TimetoSpa, which features luxury spa products, has opened a Facebook storefront of its catalog. On the same shopping tab, it provides a Facebook promo code for 20% off.

Real Techniques’ Facebook Friday Brush Giveaway

Real Techniques makes high-tech makeup brushes designed by pro makeup artist Samantha Chapman. Its “Get the Tips” tab on Facebook is a landing tab for those who have not yet Liked the page. Those who Like Real Techniques on Facebook can then enter to win free brushes every Friday.

Cool feature: This giveaway lives indefinitely on the Facebook Page, which gives all new visitors an incentive for Liking the page.

EcoTools

Eco-friendly personal care product company EcoTools encourages new visitors to Like the Page with its “Tools You Like” tab. After visitors Like the Page and enter basic information, EcoTools submits each person into a drawing for a prize pack.

4. Encouraging Engagement

Taking steps to actively encourage community engagement is vital for building relationships and turning interested Facebook users into loyal customers. Contests, sweepstakes, and giveaways are great tactics for generating interest, but it’s this everyday interaction that makes a Facebook Page more than a just an online destination and transforms it into a true community. Bare Escentuals Cosmetics is successfully sparking that engagement:

Bare Escentuals Cosmetics

Bare Escentuals Cosmetics, recently highlighted as a top 20 Facebook Page by Inc. magazine, has an extremely active Facebook community. Chief Marketing Officer Simon Cowell sees Facebook as a key place for conversation. “We consider ourselves a community, not a company,” he told Inc. “And Facebook’s just provided a great platform for us to continue that dialogue we have with our customers,” he said. Bare Escentuals’ loyal customers discuss products with each other frequently, and the company does an exceptional job of encouraging that interaction. From a Ratings tab that solicits reviews of products to strategic campaigns designed to authentically connect with customers, Bare Escentuals is nurturing its strong Facebook community through great content and conversation.

Bare Escentuals “More Talk” tab points users to all the ways to connect with the company.

Bare Escentuals has also integrated a campaign around its new skincare line into its Facebook presence by showcasing the new products alongside videos and its Twitter feed.

Cool feature: Bare Escentuals is also savvy in its cross-promotion of its other social media presences. Including links to CEO Leslie Blodgett’s own Twitter feed and Facebook Page, the company’s Twitter feed, and the Bare Escentuals’ YouTube channel allows customers to connect on a variety of levels in the social space.

What other personal care brands are doing great things on Facebook? Tell us on Facebook or talk to us on Twitter. Receive Shoutlet posts like this one via email.

Tweet

Twitter has 200+ million users. It’s the only platform I’ve ever seen that is managed at such a high level outside of its own tools (non-official apps). According to this article, a sampling of 25 million tweets indicated that 42% came from a non-official app. Of course, this could be thrown off when 2.2% of Twitter users account for 60% of all activity.

This isn’t all bad though. After all, look at how well Facebook did with their “openness” over time. Take a look at the super comprehensive list of tools that are built around Twitter. Anytime companies are building their companies off of your company, it’s a good thing.

My guess is there are two main (and somewhat connected) reasons for the acquisition: 1) market share of tweets from non-Twitter tools, and 2) defense.

With an estimated 42% of tweets coming from non-official apps, third-party publishing is getting out of control. Twitter is reigning in that market share for a reason. They redesigned the Twitter home page last fall to feature more multimedia and be more user-friendly. Additionally, they redesigned their mobile site earlier this month (to some users). Very few companies at this level of popularity have gone through so much scrutiny over a revenue model. With expected ad revenues to reach $150 million in 2011, and possibly $250 million in 2012, and the attraction of Coca-Cola, Starbucks, and other major brands’ advertising dollars, Twitter needs to find the fine balance between third-party development onto the platform and control over the point of origin of tweets.

There are also a lot of rumors that Twitter was in a bidding war with the soon-to-be competitive UberMedia, therefore, it’s likely that there was a very “defensive” component to this move. Assuming TweetDeck makes up a great deal of that 42% of tweets from non-official apps, Twitter couldn’t let UberMedia get that big of a jump on an upcoming, competitive micro-blogging platform.

The move also highlights the impact that third-party platforms are having on the major social networks. (To an extent, this is also happening in the enterprise space with social media management companies like Shoutlet.) These outside platforms are designing tools that provide powerful features and cater to heavy users. Twitter CEO Dick Costolo said: “TweetDeck is a great example of a third-party developer that designed tools for the incredibly important audience of Twitter power-users and, in turn, created value for the network as a whole.” That is also a good thing – and makes the experience richer for everyone.

Aaron Everson is the President and COO at Shoutlet.

Tweet

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