So perhaps you’re already heard this or maybe you have not but the McDonalds Hashtag #McDstories was created with the intention of getting people to share their good experiences with McDonalds. However, turns out that there are a lot of bad stories people can share as well.

LESSON: before you try to create your own company/brand hashtag to ‘engage’ your customers, you might want to create a worst-case scenario in your mind as to how it could backfire.

In this case, I don’t think Rick Wion, or whomever came up with this grand idea was thinking when they launched this push for engagement with the hashtag.

But, thanks to Rick, now we all know how critical it is to take the following steps when coming up with a brand engagement hashtag strategy:

1. Make the hashtag short enough (ideally 8 characters or less) – this always holds true.
2. Make the hashtag make sense for what you’re trying to communicate. There are plenty of good examples of this, just take a look at things that consistently are trending on twitter.
3. Think of the worst case scenario it could create. For example, #mcdstories – I’m sure a lot of people have had bad things happen to their food. WIth that many locations, something’s gotta give.

So, at the end of the day, thank you Rick for helping us out with this lesson.

Fore more coverage, for those of you who aren’t aware, see below.

Went from this:

To This:

If you’ve been a reader, my guess is that you’ve been wondering why I’ve been on such a long hiatus.  Well, I’ve been working a lot really close in the field of social media monitoring- selling the stuff actually. And so, I have had the opportunity to get a very clear picture on what it is that companies and brands are actually trying to do with social media.

Over the course of the year, I have spoken with decision makers at over 200 companies- mostly small – medium sized businesses ( sampling of companies that make up the majority of our North American economy) about what they’re doing with social media, what their goals are, what they’re trying to accomplish and how social media monitoring can help them.

Here are the top things I’ve seen in 2011 about where the average medium sized businesses stand when it comes to social media.

Business are 1.5 Years Behind Their Customers

While consumers are ahead of the curve, many businesses are dramatically lagging behind to understand the new insights.

This isn’t to say that businesses aren’t catching on to the fact that it’s important to listen to the conversation online. I think they know this by now and if they do not, they’re probably in trouble to be left behind. Nevertheless, people as individuals are very ahead of the curve when it comes to participation on social media and businesses too scared in their efforts to embrace new media are falling behind with every tweet unheard.

I think that the majority of this is because many business don’t know where to begin or what to do first and there are too many self proclaimed social media experts out there that have never worked in a corporation long enough to understand how businesses really think and function.  The combination just makes it hard to get anything done as they can’t rely on their other or understand each other to make some decisions that will work going forward.

The basic point here is this:

No matter what you or your company is selling – your customers are out there and they are talking about you.  There is a wold of data out there to help you understand how to reach and engage with these customers better, faster, more effectively and businesses are about 1.5 years on average to make that leap from the time they realize their customers are online.

No Significant Difference in Adoption Between B2B’s and B2C’s but B2B’s Care Twice As Much About Data

The interesting thing I’ve found though is that there is really no significant gap in b2b vs. b2c’s incorporating social media into their mix internally.  Only on the external does it seem that social media is important more-so to b2c’s for obvious reasons but this isn’t the case as I’ve spoken with many b2b’s that are equally, if not more-so, emphasizing the importance of social media. Moreover, for some reason,

b2b’s appear twice as likely to emphasize data points on which to make social media strategic decisions.

From conversations with both b2b’s and b2c’s, I’ve found that b2b’s place much more emphasize in tactfully spending their marketing dollars where it seems like b2c’s are literally flying on a whim in many cases and relying on outside agencies to know their customers better than they do and just handle their social media for them – literally.  They’ll spend hundreds of thousands just to pass off the task to have someone else be their brand essence for them at a b2c which just blows my mind.  My theory is that it’s due to panic because it became much more obvious for b2c’s to make a move on social and get engaged however it’s unfortunate because sustainable growth means knowing your customers inside and out, not paying an outside firm to do it for you….

Needless to say, business are still figuring out what to do with this animal and how to incorporate it into the marketing mix and business.  The key mistake I’ve found is that companies are treating it as a separate animal in the marketing mix when really its a compliment to everything a business does…which leads me to my next point.

Companies Need to Stop Treating Social As a Separate Animal & Get Holistic about Looking At Social

From my experience talking with hundreds of decision makers at hundreds of different companies, I’ve found that more than 90% of these companies STILL want to compartmentalize social media.

Newsflash:  Your Customers (businesses or consumers) don’t work that way, so you need to adapt now. 

 The truth is, every department needs to get an understanding as to WHY listening on social media is important to them. The best way to make this happen in an organization is through stories and data to back them up. The only way to do this is with the help of technology and someone who knows how to use the technology.  Certain social media monitoring technologies can sort through all the data that’s out there and provide you with insights that are relevant to all your organizations departments and business functions: HR, IT, Support, Finance, Business Development, Sales and of course Marketing, Communications, PR and so on.

My Advice? Get the data you need from a social media monitoring provider.  You can work with me if you’re not sure where to start and then form a pannel from each of your departments to get together once at the beginning of the year to analyze the data and do quarterly reviews on what they’re learning.  As an organization, you must work together and take a holistic approach to social media as it will interact with every department – of course some more than others but in matters of the customer – it is always better to over-understand and over-communicate what is happening with your fans and buyers internally. This over-understanding of the business across departments will be what defines or destroys your organization over time.

Many more insights to come so please be sure to SUBSCRIBE to this blog and follow me on Twitter.

Last but not least, one litter disclaimer- I am by no means in this blog post calling out any specific clients or prospects I’ve worked with in the least.  In Sales you of course have the opportunity to receive hundreds of No’s before you receive a Yes and so I’d like to call attention to any clients that I’ve worked with – you know who you are – because you are ahead of the game and are the outliers of this study from my working with you  Thank you for the opportunity and I assure all clients and prospects that I will never give away any big hints to the companies I’m working with or without in any way. 

Social Transaction Sharing Sites

These sites, apps, widgets, and what-nots fall into the social shopping category that is rapidly growing, gaining investors, market adoption, and changing the way consumers make decisions about what they buy, where and more.  Essentially, with the swipe or a card or a simple mention, you can share with your network (or the world) what you just bought with your piece of plastic.  After sharing it with the swipe of a card, you can talk about it, rate it, discuss the overall buying experience with anyone.  You can share price so you can let people know whether or not they got ripped off or not.  Essentially, these tools are amazing for consumers. For business and marketers, however, it depends on if  you use them or ignore them…

Who to watch: Keep your eye on Swipely & Blippy.  On May 11, 2010  Swipely  received $7.5 in Series A funding.  Swipely will compete hand in hand with Blippy, another social credit card transaction site, but the difference is user intent as implied by TechCrunch.  While Blippy focuses more on digits, Swipely focuses on the transactions and products themselves.  The consumer intent with Swipely is more to explore what their networks are buying to gain suggestions on where to buy.  Blippy on the other hand appears to be more of a price gauge so consumers can make sure they are not paying too much when their neighbor paid half that price.  Basically, the sites link to your credit/debit cards so that you can choose to share as much or as little about your purchases as you want with your social networks.  Swipely’s focus is to add value to the transactions themselves by allowing networks and friends to share information about your purchases that is useful.  Swipely will not show how much your spending but rather what you are getting.

What’s it to US?

This trend makes word of mouth marketing less about what people are saying and more about what people are doing.

By making it quicker than ever to share with your friends what you just bought, for how much and where, these tools are essentially taking the talking out of word of mouth marketing and making it more about doing.  The age old saying, “actions speak louder than words” is finally very true.  Indeed, talk is cheap.  This gives marketers something to think about especially if their former concerns where what people are saying on Yelp, review forums, discussion forums, While there are a number of potential business models that can and will probably pop up because of this trend, most of these social transaction  sites are only accessible by invitation code.  The thing to keep in mind for marketers and consumers alike is that social transaction sharing can be integrated throughout the consumer decision making process. While obviously, this will first impact the more socially savvy at first and then move throughout the adoption curve, the point to keep in mind as marketers and consumers is that this information will be available and it will impact decisions and ultimately, sales.  Marketers can integrate a social transaction sharing strategy throughout their campaign to leverage this new trend.  Meanwhile, consumers can benefit.

The true test of a good campaign for brands will be integration across consumer touch points along the decision making process.  Are you using social technologies to become aware, generate interest, understanding, shape attitudes, affect purchases, and ultimately impact repeat purchases?

It has often been preached that social media technologies need to be incorporated thoughout the marketing mix and campaigns need to approach new technologies likewise.

Bookmark The Social Capitalist to stay up to date on social shopping trends.

Social technologies are changing how consumers make decisions and how shops, restaurants, and retailers alike make a sale.  The term “social shopping” has popped up in an effort to describe the new technologies that are changing the ways consumers shop and make decisions.  A lot of bloggers use the term “social shopping” as a blanket for this new trend in how people buy and share their purchases.  However, as social technologies evolve, new business models come up making the term “social shopping” a  bit bloated as there is a lot that can fall into the category.  Awareness of these technologies is critical to the retail marketer and they can be extremely beneficial to the socially savvy shopper.

There are a number of trends to be aware of.  For instance, there are new mobile applications, localized sites, augmented reality applications, social shopping/sharing avenues, location based networking sites, and more that consumers are using to make decisions about what to buy, where to go, and what to spend.  It takes the entire concepts behind word of mouth and makes them work faster than ever.  The good word of mouth about your business that would once take a week or two to get from one friend to another over a phone conversation or otherwise, can now be shared between networks and friends without even a second thought- simply a push of a button or swipe of a credit card.  Its not even word of mouth anymore, it is word of action, arguably.  Nevertheless, whether you are a business, marketer or a lover of shopping and bargaining, these tends and tools are something to stay aware of as they can help us all make better decisions across the board.

Stay connected and bookmark the Social Capitalist to stay up to date on social shopping trends and developments changing the way consumers buy, share, and socialize.

Can an in store mobile strategy save your slumping retailer sales? In very well might.  Smart retailers have shown that the integration of other technologies, such as smart phone bridge shopping apps, into the shopping experience keeps consumers in the store longer so they can buy more and improves their perceived shopping experience to keep them coming back. When retailers differentiate themselves with the integration of these cool new bridge apps, they pave the way for consumers to talk about their experience with their friends and do a lot of your word of mouth marketing work for you.  Further, the new social mediums allow these opinions and experiences to travel faster and farther than ever before.

Earlier this month a great interview between Dave Sikora, Founder and Ceo of Digby, and Emarketer took place on the topic on mobile commerce.

• The mobile channel is an in store differentiation opportunity.
• Traditionally there have been 3 channels for retailers: catalog, physical storefront, and the website.  Mobile today, however, is now arguably the 4th channel tying in all three.
• Tying in mobile to the in store shopping experience can really keep people in the store longer and really engage with the consumer.  Some examples of this include the scanner and how we can now scan barcodes and make purchases from our mobile device.
• Bridge apps that are specifically designed to engage people in the store are going to become much more frequent.
• There are two kinds of apps in this space: (1) The ones with no brand affinity like price comparison shopping apps; (2) The ones with brand affinity. Apps that let you check into the store (with brand affinity) can notify the retailer that you are there. The retailer can then alert the shopper of deals on particular products on their mobile device.  The experience allows the retailer to create a more engaging and enjoyable experience.
• Price comparison mobile apps have really been a threat to retailers.  One way retailers can combat this threat is by negating these services to provide ” value over and above buying on price” according to Sikora.  There are many ways and possibilities for retailers to do this.  Some ideas include video feeds on certain products with the scan of a barcode.
• The key is to always have your brand on the deck of their smartphone and have opportunities for the consumer to learn more and engage with your products instead of compare prices.

Conclusion, branded in store mobile apps offer a way to do 4 major things:

1. Integrate the rest of the channels (storefront, catalog, website) into one.
2. Engage the consumer with your brand.
3. Battle the other price comparison apps and reviews that pose a risk to your next sale opportunity.
4. Differentiate from the rest of the retailers.

For more articles on the social shopping and mobile stay connected with The Social Capitalist SMO Blog for updates by subscribing.   Last but not least, if you are a retailer, be sure to download the GS1 WhitePaper on “Getting Your Retail Enviornment Ready for Mobile”. Find it on the post on differentiating by integrating mobile in store.

New bridge mobile apps and other technologies have made it possible to seriously differentiate oneself in the retail space.  While some stores fall behind, other stores are kicking some in store shopping butt.  There has been a lot written on the subject of the direction of mobile in the social shopping space but GS1 serves up some impressive services and a handy dandy whitepaper to get retailers acquainted with all the amazing things they can do to improve and further engage customers in the shopping experience.

There are a variety of ways retailers engage:

Mobile has allowed us to do the following with these interactions.  These services are all things that most companies like GS1 serve up to retailers:

For more great information on different mobile services that you can integrate with mobile to create a more engaging shopping experience, consult Mobile in Retailer WhilePaper from GS1.  Also, be sure to read the post on mobile and social shopping by subscribing to the Social Capitalist SMO Blog.

Below is a resource to help CMO’s navigate through some key social channels.  Link to social landscape chart jpeg.    Feel free to download and use.