I discussed strategies for the often frustrating task of measuring the effects of a social media engagement. My advice? Nail down concrete KPIs before you begin your foray into social media; use reliable proxies to measure nebulous concepts like engagement; look at the campaign holistically; and stay focused on what really matters - whether it’s awareness, sales or customer retention. Lastly, do projections to help manage expectations and understand what you need to do to break even.

My co-presenter, social media guru Brian Watkins of Omniture, spoke about Omniture’s work on integrating social media cues like Twitter posts, so stakeholders can get all the information they need from their analytics suite.

View my slides on Slideshare to get a taste of the presentation.

Here at Geary, we like to cap off each week with an Innovation Session – an informal meeting with food, drinks and a presentation from the front lines of interactive marketing.

Last Friday, we chose to explore the various ways that Barack Obama and John McCain are marketing themselves online — with a particular focus on Web 2.0 strategies.

We tried to keep the presentation non-partisan, but it was difficult because Obama has made aggressive social media efforts his trademark. He has an active presence on MySpace, Facebook, and niche social networks such as Faithbase and BlackPlanet; active accounts on Twitter and YouTube; text message updates; an active social network at my.barackobama.com; and much more. McCain also has a social network on his main domain and presences on the big social networking sites, but his presence on Twitter and niche social networks is bare-bones compared to Obama’s, and he does not have a text messaging program.

We hypothesized that Obama’s aggressive efforts are primarily a function of the citizens he’s trying to reach — young people and first-time voters, as well as independent voters who spend time on niche online communities. We’re guessing that Obama has found that online efforts are a cost-effective way to reach new, disaffected and undecided voters — and he has the deep pockets to back up these efforts.

Here are some fun facts about each candidates’ online efforts:

• My.barackobama.com, Obama’s in-house social networking platform, is run by Chris Hughes, one of the co-founders of Facebook.
• Obama’s various websites get about 20 million visitors a month, compared to 4 million a month for McCain-affiliated sites.McCain is much more active in paid search advertising than Obama. At one point, McCain was bidding on 226 keywords, compared to only 174 by Obama.
• Obama ran 17 negative paid search ads, while McCain ran only three – the opposite of their general strategies, where McCain’s advertising ran much more negative than Obama’s.
• At present, Obama’s infomercial has 1.6 million views on YouTube. This is significant reach, but it’s dwarfed by the 33.55 million people who watched the infomercial on TV.

To learn more about this topic, you can view the full PowerPoint presentation.

I also recommend “Obama’s Wide Web” from the Washington Post and this article from MediaPost, which gives details about the candidates’ paid search strategies.

Social portals (especially twitter) are being bombarded with messages such as “@XYZ has a twitter grade of 98/100″ and “I have just received my millionth follower” and “I have 2 billion friends on Facebook” and so on.  Now a little gloating is fine, but what is the need for intimidation (or intwimidation as one Gearyite likes to say)?

Apply this idea to your high school experience.  Were you the popular kid, the captain of the football team, the homecoming queen or were you more of a loner, hung out with less people, had unappreciated talents?  It shouldn’t matter if you fell into that first group or the second - you were a person (lets hope anyway).  Scoring the winning touchdown of the homecoming game shouldn’t be more important than winning the science fair or playing in the band.  So why would having 2 billion online friends be so much better than having 50?

Many people look back on high school with terrible memories of the cliques and how they were treated.  At some point I would like to think we all grow up and learn that everyone has something to offer - be it a beautiful painting, good advice, interesting tweets or some other gift that may yet to be discovered.  It is possible that some of the people who pump themselves up in social spaces were the kids that did not get noticed.  However, if that is the case why attempt to make others feel like they aren’t good enough or don’t belong?

Don’t discredit someone online who has few followers or friends, they may have wanted it that way or they just joined the site.  Social media is about connection.  So make a new friend today and remember to be nice.

What they Did wrong:

Electric automaker Tesla recently announced the layoff of 90% of its Detroit office through….a BLOG post.  The blog post states “there will be some headcount reduction due to consolidation of operations” and also informs that the Detroit office will be closing.  The brand new HQ in San Jose will remain open and the 10% that did not loose their jobs will be allowed to relocate and work there.  Which makes sense because the cost of living in San Jose is extremely comparable to Detroit?

What they should have known:

Social media is about communication, connection and relationship building.  Using it as the first communication of a sad occurrence like this does not fit the bill of proper uses.  Maybe Tesla will take the stance that the economy and their “green” nature forced them to communicate this news through a public online portal versus an actual pink slip.

What they could have done better:

We would suggest that a company never use a public forum as a way to announce a lay off/closure before they address the employees.  If a personal session by the company (be it in person or in a webcast) cannot happen an email is still a widely accepted form of business communication that is private.  Addressing the employees in this manner will help to support internal morale (as much as possible in a lay off) and also work to minimize Online Reputation Management issues.

It’s important to remember that Twitter is merely a platform; it combines many features of forums, blogs, text messaging, email, social networking sites, and instant messaging. When used with finesse, Twitter encompasses all the best features of all of those tools — and the marketing potential.

So, how can businesses use Twitter? In the simplest terms:

1.    Learn what your biggest fans — and your biggest detractors — are saying. Enter your brand name (including variations and misspellings!) into search.twitter.com and see what people are saying about you on Twitter. Why bother with old-fashioned focus groups when you can get valuable, up-to-date customer opinions so easily?

2.    Spy on your competitors — and your competitors’ customers. Get valuable insight into how your competitors are using Twitter to connect with their customers, and learn what people do and don’t like about your competitors’ products.

3.    Connect with your detractors — before your competitor does. Again, Twitter’s Search feature gives you near-psychic ability to see what your customers are saying about your brand. When someone complains about your brand, why not step in with a helpful tip, a coupon, or simply an acknowledgement that you care about them and value their opinion? It may just win them over.

4.    Be a hero. When a Twitter user pipes up with a problem or question about your product, swoop in to save the day. Help them solve their problem or acknowledge their complaint — and if they have a real beef, take the conversation offline so it can be resolved fully.

5.    Solicit feedback. Twitter’s short format encourages candor, so ask your customers questions. How do they use your product? What features would they like to see? What do they like the most, and the least, about your product? You’ll be amazed what valuable input can be communicated in just 140 characters.

6.    Reward your customers. Use Twitter to promote contests, distribute coupons, invite your fans to try out new products, and distribute fun factoids about your brand, company culture, etc. The key here is to give your fans and customers a compelling reason to follow you on Twitter and stay engaged with your brand. Also, never underestimate the value of an occasional contest or coupon giveaway —Twitter users love freebies.

7.    Attain CRM nirvana. If used wisely, Twitter can help you build and maintain mindshare, build up a loyal customer base, and turn your detractors into diehard fans. It can help you promote new products, get candid feedback, and be a hero when people have a problem or complaint. And it can help you trounce your competition. In short, Twitter is an extremely valuable as a CRM tool.

So, before you dismiss Twitter as trendy or dumbed-down, ask yourself:  “My customers are on Twitter. Don’t I want to hear what they have to say?”

This story received press coverage and acclaim on mainstream media and in the blogosphere alike.

Apparently, popular culture was not paying attention. A MediaPost Publication released this morning quotes that 58 percent of the general population does not know what social networking is. How exactly is this possible?

The article goes on to say that over one-third of those who are engaging in social networking say it is losing its luster, and they are subsequently losing interest. Most other studies, reports and predictions hail that social networking is still an up-and-coming forum that holds amazing marketing possibilities. So who should we believe? Marketers or the public?

Is social networking destined for greatness and mass adoption or join the ranks of outdated fads before it?

The event is entirely sold out and if you work near the convention center be prepared for the influx in traffic.  The crazy traffic is what got me asking “Who are these people that are flocking to SD and skipping work for a comic book based event?”  I decide to search it out (kinda like Ari Gold with a Google box) to answer my question.  Well It took me one search to figure it out…..The majority of these people are some for of techies.  And here is the search that got me to that conclusion: TweetScan-Comic Con.  This leads to pages upon pages of people talking about going to comic con or being jealous of those who are.

A vast majority of the people on Twitter (or those who are really active in it) have some tech connection.  These people either code, blog, work in online marketing, or have family members or close friends who do one of the above.  So to the techies that are attending Comic Con, have a good time.  To those who will be staring at their computers screens instead, keep checking your RSS.

As more and more companies begin to realize that social media is a space they can no longer avoid, they are looking to hire agencies and internal positions to help navigate the vast space.  However, these new positions (and agency needs) are causing an interesting game of semantics.

A recent 2 page AdWeek article on the subject of social media referred to the same type of position in the following ways:

• Social Media Consultant
• Social Media Expert
• Social Media Czar
• Social Media Team Member
• Social Media Marketer
• and my personal favorite Social Media Evangelist

Now coming from the SEO side of things, someone needs to get a WordTracker account pronto and a quick rundown in content optimization.  Beyond that…..what is the real difference here and does it really matter?  I would say none and no.  If the position listing  calls out a proper set of activities the company needs the position (or agency) to fill, finding the right person or group should be no problem.  Naming it or them should be even less of one.  But hey, if this name-game continues I may push for a title change to Social Media Goddess or Princess or Queen or….you get the idea

Will this site revolutionize the world?  Probably not.  Will it get more people to donate blood? Possibly.  Is it more innovative than setting up a table in a mall?  Definitely.