The website’s “My Candice Design” theme is implemented throughout with exclusive, Candice Olson-recommended furniture and fabrics.  The design gallery offers a variety of inspirations sure to get your creativity flowing.  Seriously, Candice and Norwalk Furniture know what they’re doing — their stuff is gorgeous.

On a personal level, I have to especially compliment Norwalk Furniture for their teamwork, resolve, trust and sheer ability to get things done.  Having worked in web development for 15-years, I’ve rarely seen such a disparate group of internal stakeholders (marketing, accounting, designers, IT, consultants, photographers and management) work so uniformly and with such a cooperative, positive attitude. The website is complicated.  There are an incredible number of behind-the-scenes details to make everything come together for such a high-touch, online commerce experience.  This was truly a group effort that got the mission accomplished.

So if you’re a Candice Olson fan whose always dreamed of making your home a little more divine, you’re now just a few clicks away — MyCandiceDesign.com

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Now consider social media, the most eclectic, ever-changing fire hose of information in human history. As online marketers, what can we do to make sure our legitimate voice and information is taken seriously?

Answer: Branding.  Yep, that old school marketing stuff…

Your brand is the genuine, distinct personality of your company. It’s what your organization stands for and makes you unique in a sea of otherwise sameness. It’s an emotional connection or way people react to a logo or product. And while it’s often associated with a visual/logo (an icon that symbolizes your brand), it includes what you say and how you say it as well. Over time, your brand builds equity — it means something to people and has value. It builds trust, justifies your attention and rationalizes a premium price.

When it comes to social media, the need for branding is greater than ever. People may find your organization’s Web site in search engine results along with you your Twitter account, Facebook group, YouTube channel and blog. Do all these places “feel” the same? Do they speak with the same voice? Do they offer consistent materials?

Now considering the chipmunk-on-meth attention span of most Web visitors, does your social media channel past the 5-second brand consistency test? Pull up one of your social media channels (say, your blog) then quickly review it for visuals, personality and content:

1. Visual Presentation
   Are you using your logo correctly – colors/size/spacing? Does your color scheme match your Web site? Do your photos match your other marketing materials?
2. Personality
   Does it convey the right tone and spirit? Does it “feel” like your organization?
3. Content
   Is the material you offer appropriate? Or is it just copy-and-pasted from your annual report? Does the depth and breadth of content reflect your expertise? Is it what people would expect?

There’s a lot in social media that you can’t control, but what you say and how you say it is still your choice. Your online brand identity should be treated as an invaluable asset that MUST be nurtured and protected. Because without it, you’re just a commodity fighting to breath in an increasingly crowded online marketplace.

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Brand zombies are mindless, incapable of communication and show no signs of personality. They’re controlled in an undead state by mysterious outside forces.

Sound like any brands you know? To prevent your brand from becoming a flesh-eating drone, consider following these steps:

ANALYSIS
Gauge the relative health of your brand in various social media channels such as blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and niche social networks. Though you might not personally frequent these places, don’t assume people aren’t talking about your brand. Online comments and conversations absolutely affect the associations and feelings people have about your brand. Here are 5 easy research tools:

• Google Blog Search
• Advanced Twitter Search
• Google Alerts
• Facebook Search
• Radian6

PARTICIPATION
After identifying key places and people that may be influencing your brand online, begin participation that proves you’re alive and well. Post some blog comments. Answers some Twitter questions. Be an active member in these mini-communities to show you’re not living in an ivory tower, insulated from the people that help keep your business/brand alive.

OUTREACH
Once you’re reasonably comfortable knowing your online brand dynamics and have established a baseline presence, you’re hopefully ready for proactive outreach to people important to your business: customers, partners, suppliers, employees, etc. What brand experience can you offer that delivers value to these key people?  FedEx created tracking widgets, Best Buy launched TwelpForce, a Twitter-based tech support system, and GM opened up their FastLane blog. Each of these offerings reinforces important brand attributes: FedEx: Delivery Timeliness, Best Buy: Accessible Tech Support and GM: Innovation & Transparency.

Zombies are scary business. Don’t let your brands languish to the point of being undead versions of their former selves. Use readily available social media tools to ward off unwanted spirits and build your brand so it thrives for years to come.

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HP provided 31 “HDX Dragon” computer systems to 31 carefully selected bloggers/influencers to give away to lucky readers on their own sites over 31 days (one per blogger). A key success factor, HP/Buzz Corps really took the time to to know the bloggers. Each blogger was allowed to set their own contest/giveaway rules that were customized to the respective audience and goals.

The bloggers created their own custom marketing materials (microsites, graphics, logos, videos, RSS feeds) and shared/cross promoted with each other. The net relationship was more of a partnership with each other and HP vs. a traditional product giveaway program.

Impressive Takeaways
During the promotion, the 31 bloggers heavily promoted the contest, HP, the HDX Dragon and each other, demonstrating the collective power of the community banding together. Each participating blog site not only saw a 150% – 5,000% increase in traffic, but also sustained traffic levels for several months after campaign was finished.

Impossible to achieve with with traditional media, here are the results based HPShopping.com, month over month data:

• 84% increase in sales on the HDX Dragon System
• 14% increase in overall traffic
• 10% increase in overall consumer PC sales
• 50 million impressions (Alexa data)
• Treasure trove of consumer feedback and traffic stats to be used in future planning and development
• 10,000 reader/entrant videos on YouTube.com and Blip.tv
• 380,000 links discussing the giveaways (per Google)
• 25,000 entries received by the 31 participating blogs

Costs
$250,000 for the 31 computer systems given away including shipping, software, etc. Zero dollars spent on media. While the costs for Buzz Corps aren’t available, they’re likely to be in the $75,000-100,000 range (my guess). Even if they were higher, they were worth every penny for the amount of exposure and good will created for HP. Mucho props to them for pulling off such a successful social media campaign.

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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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In the blogger’s lounge, I started chatting casually with one of Live Search reps who was completely honest, attentive, genuine and sincere. He acknowledged past Microsoft foibles and explained (using plain-talk) how they’ve improved their system over the years and their plans for the future. I’m simplifying and summarizing here, but you get the gist. Half an hour later I realize, “Shit, I’m starting to like Microsoft. What the hell is happening?!” It was then that I realized: PEOPLE ARE THE ULTIMATE BRAND AMBASSADORS.

Microsoft was able to accomplish more with one employee’s conversation (an employee wearing a t-shirt, ripped jeans and flip flops) than millions of dollars advertising. How’d that happen?!

I think this is the essence of social media for businesses. It allows ordinary people to connect with brand representatives in a meaningful, human, lasting way. If organizations empower their employees to connect with customer using social media (within the spirit of the brand), I’m a strong believer that they’ll increase their customer loyalty and begin to convert the skeptics — like me.

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