First up is ClevelandIdeas.com — a social media project conceived, developed, self-financed, promoted and maintained by the good folks at DigiKnow, Inc.

Per the ClevelandIdeas.com website, DigiKnow is sick and tired of negativity. And they’re looking to use the “Wisdom of Crowds” to generate good ideas that might be used to make Cleveland and the region stronger in the future. I interviewed King Hill (President/Principal) and Scott Chapin (Director of Consulting Services) with the following questions:

1) How did you conceive of ClevelandIdeas.com and what inspired you to invest so much into the program?

We decided that in 2009 we needed to increase our awareness locally, so in March, we created an open contest to the staff to generate a campaign/marcom idea for DigiKnow in 2009. The results of this were several strong ideas that were integrated into our “We Know” tagline. Since our theme was centered around knowledge, we came up with the idea of using the wisdom of crowds to help Cleveland brainstorm ideas.

2) What’s the primary platform that powers ClevelandIdeas.com? What unique features does it allow?

The website is built on the open-source Pligg platform that functions much like Digg or the SalesForce application that Dell’s IdeaStorm and myStarbucksIdea.com are built on. The system allows users to register and submit ideas/comments and allows any visitors to vote, pushing them up/down the list accordingly.

3) What other social media channels are you using to support or supplement the program?

Twitter was our primary social media channel to drive awareness of our efforts. We built a script that identified all of the local twitterers in the Cleveland market and followed the top 1000 users. We tweeted any interesting activities on the site as well as general activities relevant to our Cleveland audience. Facebook and LinkedIn pages/groups were also setup but were not heavily promoted. Several lively discussions developed in LinkedIn surrounding our overall concept and the need to generate ideas for Cleveland.

4) What cross channel marketing support have you used to drive awareness and participation?

The website was promoted through traditional media including radio and outdoor, through PR in local newspapers, radio and TV in addition to the social media promotion via Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

5) What’s been the most surprising result or lesson learned thus far?

There have been several interesting results from this campaign. The most profound is the balance of traffic that was generated by social media, advertising and PR. Attributing website traffic as best as possible, there was a relatively even mix between these three marketing channels. The engagement of visitors was another surprise. The average time on site was 5 minutes, but more surprisingly, the average for visitors that submitted an idea was 25 minutes.

Results after 5-weeks:

• 293 ideas
• 1,885 votes
• 501 comments

6) What actionable results or intelligence have been discovered?

By controlling all of the pieces of this marketing puzzle and having full data on the site activities, we were able to see which activities we did triggered what level of response. Within this Petri dish, we were able to tweak relatively small activities and see the results. A good example of this was inviting people to follow us on Twitter. In each round of following, we got about a 50-60% follow back rate and an obvious spike in visitors to the website.

7) How will you measure the success of ClevelandIdeas.com – for the City of Cleveland and/or DigiKnow?

Our goal is not only to get the best ideas into the hands of local leaders, but to help push them to happen. Success in that sense will be to have an idea from the site become a reality and benefit the city. From DigiKnow’s standpoint, in addition to helping the city, the awareness created and the positive feedback we have already received makes this campaign a success for us.

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You can’t do it all with social media. There, I said it. I know marketing budgets have been slashed and management is clamoring to use those free, newfangled Web 2.0 tools. But you can’t turn to social media to save the day. It sucks, I know.

Social media is a slow build. Blog and Twitter page don’t just “go viral” before your eyes. It’s more like planting a seed, fertilizing it and tending to it carefully over time. The more you support it with complementary traditional advertising, the better the odds on it taking root and blossoming. Cross channel marketing of social media initiatives is extremely helpful, but easily overlooked, especially during tough economic times. Remember the Subservient Chicken campaign by Burger King? Yah, it was supported by a national television advertising campaign whose cost were certainly NOT chicken feed. They spent a few hundred grand on a cool Web site/social media initiative, but then invested several million dollars in advertising to support it. Very important point not to forget.

Or how about Barack Obama’s presidential campaign that set a new standard of excellence for grassroots, Internet marketing — seemingly deploying every social media channel available. According to BusinessInsider.com Obama’s spend on the internet was a surprisingly low $8 million. That’s just 3% compared to the $245 million he spent on television advertising. Clearly he wouldn’t have spent such a colossal some on television if it wasn’t necessary.

Change doesn’t have to be light-switch proposition. Start a social media initiative today, but be sure to make sure it’s “on brand” and supported by complementary advertising/public relations. Over time (months or years), transition money from the traditional media budget into the social media campaign itself, but only after it has sprouted and is displaying positive signs of growth. Abandoning a social media campaign to survive on its own does nothing more than waste your time/money and seal its fate as a failure.

Sincerely,

Gary

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