Agency CEO：3 keys to drive business results from social strategy

   

                        IMAGE: MASHABLE COMPOSITE. GETTY CREATIVE, JOHAVEL

      As agency CMO, you have noticed that Social media platforms reveal great opportunity for promoting the brand and many companies consider social media as main marketing efforts. But how to drive business results effectively from social media worth attention. From integrate marketing communication perspective, we should develop social media marketing strategy base on fully understanding of consumer.

      As a student in The Medill Integrated Marketing Communication Program of Northwestern University, specializing in digital marketing, I have found two interesting articles that give advice on driving business results from social strategy.

      The first article is: “How Brands Using Social Media Ignite Marketing and Drive Growth: Measurement of Paid Social Media Appears Solid but Are the Metrics for Organic Social Overstated?” Author: Gian M. Fulgoni, Publisher: ComScore, Inc.

http://www.warc.com/Content/ContentViewer.aspx?MasterContentRef=f5a5245e-05d0-49c6-89af-6005b1621d05&CID=A105451&PUB=JAR

      It mainly discusses the social media has brought new ways of marketing and amplify the effects of traditional marketing. It also compares the organic and paid efforts in social media.

      The article two is “Building digital brand engagement: A journey from social media insights to leverage brand engagement”Author: Federico Barallobre

Publisher: PepsiCo

http://www.warc.com/Content/ContentViewer.aspx?MasterContentRef=6f678b37-44d3-4d97-bd98-251784ed9299&q=social+media++brand&CID=A104250&PUB=ESOMAR

      It introduces seven drivers of engagement to think and act differently to appeal to consumer and engage them digitally.

      After reviewing this article and from my experience in Northwestern Integrate Marketing Communication program, I have developed three action items that you need to consider, they are:

• Take innovative marketing action. To attract people’s attention and go virus, innovation is the first thing to consider.
• Connect with media influencer. Cooperation with influencers can expose the brand to huge amount of followers and drive business results directly. 
• Corporate with traditional marketing efforts. Integrate marketing is customer centered and combine the efforts from traditional and digital marketing to influence your target customer in different aspects, and thus drive the best business results.  

     We should manage the social media platform as effective way to promote the brand and drive market revenue. Most importantly, consider from the consumer perspective to achieve better results.

Yawen Gan, MS in Integrated Marketing Communication from Medill, Northwestern University. She has great interest and passion on digital and social marketing and want to explore the opportunity in social platform.

Twitter: Mia@MiaYawengan

RSVP, in english please. (1/5 - Things to Remember for a National Ad Campaign )

While the title is catchy, it really doesn't speak directly to your targeted reader.  I would recommend you re-do the title to something shorter and more pointed to your reader.  Maybe something like "Not Deeply Understanding your Target Markets = Risks and Failures"  Or something like that.

Now, remember we are speaking with a very sophisticated but time compressed audience.  So we need to immediately get their attention and quickly move to your studies.  Therefore, your opening paragraph should be  2 short sentences focused on engaging the target reader and then establishing your expertise on the topic.  I would recommend starting with something like:

While agencies "preach" target markets, the explosion of social, mobile, and web touchpoints makes it imperative to really understand who they are and where they go to get information.  As a graduate student in the Northwestern Medill IMC marketing program and an executive with XXXX agency, I have been researching some of the perils of marketing in today's more complex marketplace and have found two articles which offer guidance and directions agency managers need to know.

Now, don't start with step 1 but start with the research.  I would start by discussing the Year of Mobile.  Cite the author and have another link to their site.  Tell the reader about the article in a single paragraph to highlight the key findings from the article.  Keep it short.  Avoid personal stories but keep your analysis of the article in a natural voice...which you are using very well in this document.

PS, one other thing.  It looks like this is a typewriter font.  I would change it to something which looks more modern like Ariel or another newer font.


Step #1 - Know your audience, determine the media, speak their language and they'll respond.

The various media outlets we have at our disposal today allow marketers extraordinaire to e-eavesdrop on our customers.  Finding out where your customers "are", what they're talking about and how they like to communicate are the keys to getting the RSVP you're looking for.
You really don't need the RSVP theme.  Start with the first article.  It looks interesting Don't you hate it when you send out 50 invitations, 5 people respond and 55 people show up? Me too.

Before you lick the stamps and mail the letters figure out who your customers are and THEN invite them to the party.  I manage several national ad campaigns during daylight hours and find it so easy to jump to " The Year of Mobile " when a client asks how they can expand their reach.  I've seen presentations from partners on geo-fencing and call transcription services and these are natural ideas to jump to.  Everyone wants to be invited to the party, right?

Perhaps a mobile campaign IS the right way to go.  Companies like xAd offer both search and banner options that may fit your clients' audience and there are many reasons for a "why wouldn't you do it?" argument...but...getting back to the RSVP...where are your clients? what are they talking about? and, how are you going to get their attention?
While personal stories are interesting, either make this your second article or drop it.  It makes the blog too long and more difficult to read. I was recently involved with a client who conducted a trial with CityGrid for several months.  Previous to this test they believed that their B2B model wasn't a match with advertising on an interactive network, but much to their surprise, it is now their top converting platform with conversion rates in double-digit excess of their other efforts.  Why?  Well, it turns out that people who are faithful CityGrid users (CitySearch.com, UrbanSpoon.com etc.) are the same customers our client is looking for.  They like food, they like eating and apparently they like reading advertisements while they're at it.

It isn't a novel concept, I know.  But I'm a bit of a traditionalist (and, yes, I keep Emily Post on hand).  Once you find your guests and pick out the best invitation, attract them with a message that sounds like them (skip the photos of your dinner/cocktail/dessert please).  They want to know about how awesome the party is going to be, and how going to the party will do so much for their social status.

Cutting-edge technologies and new media platforms can drive insane results...or, they can fail to provide any calls, clicks, emails, "likes", pokes or tweets because your customers aren't there [yet].  Stay tuned for steps 2/5 of Things to Remember for a National Ad Campaign...and remember, know your audience, determine the media, speak their language and they'll respond.
This should be your second article.  Structure the blog to have the first article, the graphic, and then the second article assessment.  Tell the executive what you want him/her to understand from the article.  If you like it, they will like to know what you found. This post was written by Christina Kellman - Interactive Strategy

After the 2 sentence intro, the second paragraph on article one, the graphic, the third paragraph on article two, now you are ready for the action items.

Start with something like "From these two articles and my studies at Northwestern, here are three action items I recommend you initiate.

THEN, give them 3 bullet points.  They most be short [2-3 words] and really memorable.  Draw them from the two articles.  After each bullet point, you can put a dash and then a single sentence of explanation.  No more than that.

THEN, give us a great, short summary paragraph.  1-2 sentences.  Encourage the reader to act on the three action items and tell them the benefit.

Then you have your personal paragraph.   Try this format and, when you are happy, publish it and let's get testing.


Christina Kellman is an Interactive Media Manager in Orange County, CA. In addition to her active role with the agency, she is in the midst of obtaining her master’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University’s Medill School. Want to Follow her on Twitter?

Mendhi, Grah Shanti, Garba, Oh My! Details for Wedding Planners.

You have a brand new client, a blissfully happy couple who wants you to plan their extravagant 5 events Indian wedding. 5 events?!?  If you’re not familiar with the ins and outs of an Indian wedding, it might seem overwhelming. As a current graduate student in the Northwestern Medill IMC program who has planned my wedding along with helping many friends, I am here to help you navigate your way through each of the events!

Some Basic Facts:

Weddings are one of the most important days for brides and grooms. In the Indian culture, weddings are the most important day for the entire family. It’s not only the union of the bride and groom but it’s the union of both of the families. Because of that, large celebrations are held for many days, getting everyone ready and excited for the upcoming marriage.  Tradition and customs are very important, probably the most important aspects for all of the events, and it’s important to gain an understanding on what is happening and what rituals mean so you can better plan the events.  When I was planning my own wedding, I realized there was a shortage of planners who are versed in the Indian culture and aspects of the wedding, but with Indian weddings on the rise the opportunity for planners is huge.

Traditionally Indian weddings have 5 events:

•  Event 1 Mendhi: where the bride and all of the close family and friends decorate their hands with henna.
• Event 2 Grah Shanti: Traditional religious ceremony that prays to remove any obstacles and bring the bride and groom happiness and prosperity.
• Event 3 Garba/Raas: A night of energetic and fun folk dancing for all of the family and friends, getting everyone excited for the wedding.
• Event 4 Wedding: Wedding ceremony that involves many intricate details from the arrival of the groom during his bharaat to the 4 pheras (circles) around the fire.
• Event 5 Reception: Filled with lots of food and drinks, everyone can celebrate and enjoy their time spent with the bride and groom. 

Can you find my name?

Night 1: Mendhi

At every event, there are games and rituals that the bride, groom and families participate in. As an event planner, don’t freak out if the brides’ side is trying to steal the groom’s shoes or if the bride’s mother is trying to grab the groom’s nose. These are all fun and important aspects to an Indian wedding that make it even more interesting!

The ritual of putting henna on a bride was originally started as a way to help cool the bride down before her wedding (especially against hot India sun!).  Now it’s more for the beautiful color and design it gives.  When the bride is getting her henna put on her hands and feet, the artist usually hides the groom’s name in the intricate detail. On their wedding night, the groom is supposed to search his bride’s hands to find his name. Only if and when he finds his name, will he be allowed to consummate their marriage. This tradition is obviously all in fun and I’m sure most brides’ cheat ;)!

Ready to jump in and learn about the other 4 events? Here are a few quick to-dos’ to help you get more acquainted:

1.     Talk to the bride and groom and understand what events and customs are important to them

2.    Try to attend different types of Indian weddings to get a feel of what goes on

3.    Read a couple of books like “Rituals & Customs of a Hindu Wedding” by Kavita Kapoor to get a deeper understanding of the ceremonies

Niki Shah is a part-time graduate student at Northwestern's Medill program, studying Integrated Marketing Communication. Currently working at Energy BBDO, she is very interested in brand strategy and bringing the strategy to life creatively. Follow her @NikiHansotiShah and connect with her on LinkedIn: Niki Hansoti Shah.