Connie Bensen

cross posted to the Engaging Times blog

I am excited to announce the first in a series of white papers on Social Media ROI. I have ten topics planned in which I will be exploring the versatility of social media monitoring and how it can influence your organization’s bottom line.

My white paper series will show how a social media monitoring tool supports business objectives across an organization. It allows you to measure your social media efforts and is a must have for every marketer’s toolbox.

The first topic covers how you can leverage social media monitoring (SMM) to leverage your search strategy. SMM can be a powerful supplementary tool to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for getting your web site ranked and found by your target audience. Every organization wants to better know their customer segments. Traditional market research and focus groups can be expensive and time consuming. Social media monitoring now provides a cost effective method to gain an in-depth sense of what consumers want and need. This whitepaper outlines how you can utilize that information to make your website(s) and Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns more effective.

You can download the paper here: 4 Ways to Take your Search Marketing to a New Level with SMM

You are welcome to sign up for the Freemium of Alterian SM2 and explore my ideas.

Questions? Please ask!  And I would love your comments & ideas!

What is more important than your customers? Maybe your Community Manager?!! Today is a day to celebrate them & their impact on your organization!

Jeremiah Owyang always has thoughtful and innovative ideas. Last week he asked on Twitter:

Community Managers are your unsung heroes. If your company is forward thinking and has one or a team of them then you know how important they are. They work tirelessly to ensure that customers needs and expectations are met. It’s a very challenging role yet very gratifying! We do it because we love it. We love providing for our people: our customers, our colleagues, our management and our community at large.

Jeremiah has suggested that we make the last Monday of every January as “Community Manager Appreciation Day” #cmad

I would like to expand on Jeremiah’s list of challenges that Community Managers face.

Internal challenges: A large part of a community manager’s role is facilitating a culture shift within the organization so that the customer’s needs are not only heard but responded to in an appropriate manner. This includes ensuring that management and the executive level are well informed with feedback.

There are so many Community Managers that have influenced me:

Jeremiah Owyang, Chris Brogan, Sean O’Driscoll and the list goes on.

And I am so appreciative of all those that I’ve had the opportunity to cross paths with over the past few years. I always learn with every discussion & try to give back what I can.

So hug your community manager & let them know they are supported!

There will be no Pepsi ads at the SuperBowl this year. Pepsi has chosen to spend $20 million on a social media campaign rather than buying a 30 second spot at the SuperBowl. Mashable outlined how they are choosing to invest in building community.

The cost for a SuperBowl ad has been growing exponentially over the years. (Source: MSNBC)

• 1967 cost $42,500
• 1987 cost $600,000
• 2009 cost $3 million

ABC News notes that Pepsi spent $142 million on Super Bowl ads over the last decade.

This is a bold move! Being the first could be game changing. They will get a month’s worth of word of mouth now. Then when they execute on their campaign people will not only be aware, but that many more will participate. The $20 million will be spent on the Pepsi Refresh Project, an effort to to refresh the world we live in. Projects will be proposed by the community and then voted on. The philanthropy will extend into the offline world.

Imagine if that $142 million over the past decade had been spent on making Pepsi’s world a better place? (Ok, they need to advertise, how about half of it then?!)

This decision marks the shift that many of us have  been predicting.

• Social media marketing will become mainstream.
• Community building will take priority over a 30 second ad.
• Many channels will be leveraged rather than just tv

In January 2008 a number of us had a conversation on Twitter about the huge spend on SuperBowl ads. Mack Collier proposed a social media campaign composed of:

• $100 k hire a community manager
• $300 k hire 5 talented bloggers ($60 k ea)
• $100 k 20 events across the country ($5 k ea)
• $100 k hire someone to facilitate the offline meetups

So a company could spend $600 k and have talent of the highest quality. These people would listen to customers, participate in their communities online & offline, and encourage the conversation. Let’s assume the budget is $20 million like Pepsi is dedicating. That leaves you with a healthy chunk to for supporting your advocates and to build your brand’s community.

Will building community be more effective for Pepsi than a 30 second spot during the SuperBowl? What say you?

It’s been over a year since I posted my list of must have tools. Each time I get a new computer I have to install these immediately or I can’t breathe.

Here they are:

Evernote – This is my ultimate favorite, most needed application.

• It’s a place to keep notes, passwords, etc. Items can be tagged & searched for.
• Drag in URLS and images – perfect for noting sites/blog posts for future reference
• It’s installed on each of my computer but synchs with my account in the cloud
• SO all of my info is available on every computer I have it installed on!
• It has BlackBerry functionality, so now there’s the option to record voice notes (I may need a larger memory card)

LiveWriter (only for PC’s – sorry) – My most favorite tool for blogging!

• I write all of my blog posts in it. (note to Joe Cheng & team at MS – I would like this in the cloud & synching with my other PC’s too please?).
• I blog to all of my blogs from it – here, Alterian’s Engaging Times blog
• What I love about it is that it’s so userfriendly.
• The best thing is that it plays nicely with Joomla (which is what the rest of my site is built on and I can update it without going into the backside!).

Snag It – The TechSmith folks have such a great product here.

• I use it all the time to grab screenshots & toss them into LiveWriter or email.
• So easy to use & add mark ups – LOVE it & couldn’t live without it
• Betsy Weber is the most amazing community person at TechSmith!!

Digsby – A chat aggregator that puts everyone in one spot no matter their choice of IM.

• aggregates Facebook chat. I wish that it did so with Skype too.

Skype – A great way to stay connected with everyone around the world.

• This has become a must have ever since the geographical boundaries no longer mattered.

All of them are free except SnagIt.

What tools make your life easier in this digital world?