First of all, how does your company define a conversion?

For some, it’s a prospect filling out a contact form. For others, it’s a direct sale. In any case, determining the direct dollar amount result tied to social marketing can be tough given the number of other factors in the way. If we’re being judged based on the number of contact forms filled out, we don’t like to be held accountable for end sales because so much of the effort depends on a company’s sales staff. We are happy to be held accountable for at least starting that conversation.

USA Today has a decent post detailing a few measurement goals, here. But keep in mind, there are a few generalities to be made in the article. What do you think?

Here’s a simple fact: Bloggers want you to tell them great stories. They need the content. The problem is, most people simply assume their product or service is the story.

GrandCamp Adventures is a company built by a former IBM executive and a branding guru that designs products for a unique and somewhat hard-to-reach market. Their stories and activities are designed with the help of developmental experts to foster better relationships between grandparents and grandchildren. To augment online advertising and traditional PR tactics, we recommended launching a blogger relations / outreach effort. Typically, this has a few direct benefits:

• Increased awareness among target market
• Direct traffic to website
• Opportunity to build social media following
• Long-term SEO value

Sounds great, right? Then why are so many companies bad at it?

People forget that most bloggers didn’t start as professional journalists. They sometimes have other jobs or even if they are journalists, they may have other beat assignments. This means the old-school method of just plastering press releases all over creation won’t work. It also means you have to approach bloggers as if they were people.

Who to talk to?

Our first step was to build the influencer list. There are a lot of tools to help with this, both free and paid. We used a bit of both, but if you don’t want to buy a Cision membership, you can use Google Blog Search, Klout and Technorati to do the initial prospecting. Next, we wanted to quantify our list to make sure their traffic, inbound links and subscriber lists were large enough to warrant our attention. There’s no perfect way to get 100% accurate info, other than to peer into each site’s analytics dashboard, but you can use quantcast and Compete to get a pretty accurate estimate.

Once we completed our list, we segmented the bloggers into tiers. Tier 1 would get a lot of individual attention. Tier 2 would get product and Tier 3 would get an email and press release. How you break this up depends largely on the resources you have. If you can afford to put everyone in a blimp for the superbowl, they’re all Tier 1.

Getting Tier 1 Attention

Tier 1 bloggers are popular. Lots of people read ‘em and lots of people send in their crap. I had one editor tell me, “we literally get over 100 products per day and yours was the only one that got a phone call today.” So, how did we break through? We treated the outreach effort like a friendly ad campaign.

First we performed our initial blogger relations etiquette dance. There’s a lot of information on how to reach out to bloggers. Brian Solis has an ebook out there about it somewhere, I think. Next we dug deep into each Tier 1 blogger looking for something we could leverage for an introduction.

For example:

Family tree in packaging sent to one of our targeted bloggers. Names have been blurred.

One blogger’s emphasis on family history became evident throughout her posts. So, we decided to tie the product’s ability to connect grandchildren with older generations to this blogger’s motivator. I spent a day digging around and eventually found an old MySpace account she hadn’t cancelled from when she had been a teacher. From this, I found a picture of her with a few students. One of these students had a sweatshirt with the school name. Next, I found a picture of her standing next to a similarly aged man. Clicking on this photo I was able to find his profile and get a first name. Plugging the blogger’s name, the school name and husband’s name into Ancestry.com revealed a few hits on family trees. I hired a genealogist to track the family history all the way back to when it came over from Ireland. We then took the family tree to one of our illustrators and created a large framed version to send along with our product. The result? Three separate articles about our client and products on a website with a very high monthly visitor count.

Every Tier 1 blogger received some sort of individual effort. And while we didn’t get every target we were going for, we did find one out of four bloggers were willing to pick up our story. Story being the key word. We didn’t just send the product and talk about how it is new or unlike anything anyone has ever seen. The story about a product, from a blogger’s standpoint, has to resonate personally and emotionally. If so, you’ll find bloggers joyfully writing about your product, as we found with the blogger focused on family history. Just remember, stunts like this should not be one-off ventures. Rather, you should imagine that you’re starting off a relationship with a blogger with a bang. You provide them epic content, they provide you with attention.

Long-Term SEO Value

There is a reason Blogger/Influencer Relations was ranked the #1 most effective social media tool in the Marketing Sherpa 2011 Social Benchmark Report. Yes, as soon as a blogger publishes a story about you, you can get all sorts of attention, awareness and traffic. But even after the initial fervor dies down, those inbound links don’t go away. In fact, links posted on NYT.com or dailycandy.com can deliver value to your website long after the initial posting. Each article that mentions your company or product and includes a link back to your site builds tremendous SEO value. I asked my friend John Sherrod over at Search Discovery to explain why. Here’s what he said:

Search engines have sophisticated algorithms that measure many factors in determining the relevance and quality of a website or web page.  One of the signals that helps search engines evaluate relevance is how other websites link to, or reference, a given website. Links from credible, authoratative websites and popular blogs have a positive impact on SEO because they influence the credibility and authority of the referenced website.  At a high level, the links from one website count as “votes” for another website within the logic of a search engine.

A good comparison would be the references one provides on a resume.  Given two resumes that reflect equal experience and background, the resume with the most authoratative references will stand out as superior.  A reference from a college professor or the CEO of a large company, for example, will be much more influential and indicative of quality than a reference from someone’s neighbor or best friend.

- John Sherrod, Director of SEO

Search Discovery

In other words, if a site with a good Google quality  score – like About.com – publishes a link to your site, it’s a bit like having a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. It’s a nice bonus for an effort designed to be one of the main outreach arms to an effort traditionally designed for inbound purposes. If you have any questions about launching a Blogger Relations effort, I’m happy to answer as best I can.

A little help for your next blog post...

I was recently sitting with a prospective client showing them how we would use our process for language analysis to fuel their blog content when I saw a lightbulb go off. The client was a division of a quarter billion dollar food supply company looking to better connect with restauranteurs through blogs. In answering the question, “what do we write about?” I started to show the client how it’s possible to find and sort through millions of online conversations to find out exactly what these restauranteurs are are concerned about. After looking at a few graphs, the client looked up and said, “wow, it almost feels like cheating.”

She was referring to the fact that the guesswork is methodically being taken out of many aspects of marketing through monitoring and analysis of online conversation. Want to know what IRA customers hate about working with their HR departments prior to developing your next ad campaign? How about what aspects of a particular kitchen appliance is more appealing to new moms for the next round of product design? Chances are, there are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of conversations that can give you more insight than you’re used to having.

This is not to say traditional research is going the way of the 8-track. It’s just you can’t deny the power of observing large quantities of unsolicited product or industry specific feedback. We recently completed a language analysis project for a company in the golf equipment industry. We found hundreds of thousands of blog posts, forum posts and other online conversations totally free from sponsored content. These were real people talking with each other, looking for answers to specific (often the same) questions or just venting about how a product failed them.

We use language analysis as fuel for helping companies develop blog, social or other online content marketing efforts, but we’re starting to help companies with product development efforts and persona research. These are things great social media prognosticators have been talking about, and even experimenting with, for brands with big experimental budgets. It’s just nice to see some of this starting to work out for everyone else.

My how far we have come. I remember as a Creative Director for JWT Specialized Communications back in 2007 talking to a marketing director for a very large company who had never even heard of Twitter, much less employed it as a marketing tool. Today, I find most clients know the lingo, but there’s still a basic understanding of what makes social media marketing different. This can play out in a variety of ways, so who gets invite to the social content planning table? You want the right mix of people without overloading the decision making table.

Bring the traditional advertising people, just make sure they know you can’t use your billboard headline for a Tweet.

Some companies understand the need for integration. They know at a basic level that TV needs to play well with print and digital. A common problem lies in the assumption that social media should be treated similarly to outbound marketing efforts. “Isn’t social media just another way to push content?” asked one of my early clients.

Yes and no. Blogs, social networking sites and other digital properties where two way conversation takes place do provide opportunities to deliver content designed to further a company’s brand. They are also places where far too many brands end up poisoning their own well. The old adage “there’s no such thing as bad publicity” should be hung by the neck from the top of GM Headquarters. Remember the “create your own advert” campaign? The first of several social media blunders resulting from a desire to “push content” over “provide value.”

The traditional ad folks usually own the brand and thus are a very important part of making sure your social media strategy fits with the overall communication goals.

Make sure the media planners share their schedule.

If you’re planning a major Mother’s Day promotion while all the TV runs during Easter, the end result can be a very expensive lesson. Social media strategists need to be fed information regularly otherwise we get skinny and grumpy.

The social media team is usually a 2^nd or 3^rd level contractor and doesn’t always get the priority 1 information meant for the media team. Coordinating resources is a great way to make sure inbound and outbound marketing efforts make each other more effective. This is not to say there should be a media planner approving the social content strategy, but a copy of the media plan is a must.

The rise of PR and the confusion of roles.

Most PR firms do a tremendous job making media contacts and developing stories. Not all PR firms have strong digital chops. Many PR firms excel at integrating social media into the marketing mix, but most are held back by a simple lack of online experience in areas beyond blogger relations.

In a perfect world, the social media strategy team draws from the work of the PR team. Any story being told to magazines should, in a general sense, match that which you see on TV or on a specialized forum. Get the brief from the PR team as you would the media team.

Ignore web developers at your peril

Oftentimes the smartest guy in the room is the geek that rolled out your CMS so that it works brilliantly with your favorite designs. Your digital partner needs to be at the decision making table for your social strategy because they are usually the crew who ends up doing most of the implementation.

Yes, most social media resources either have or can find digital resources, but it’s usually smart to let the web vendor take first shot at making sure all the social plugins work properly or build the blog in a way that plays well with the other web properties. Commerce hath no fury like a developer scorned.

If the SEO guru is not at the meeting, reschedule

There is a lot of talk about whether or not social media responsibilities should fall under PR, branding or SEO. SEO makes a strong argument in that practitioners are well versed in the theory of inbound marketing, not more pushy outbound strategies. I personally think SEO companies make a great compliment to social media strategy, but they often need creative and marketing input to balance their technical prowess.

Still, the SEO people own the keyword lists, help developers built a site Google can actually see and understand the value of good content. My preference is to be joined at the hip with a client’s SEO vendor to ensure all is working properly.

Other players

Social media is increasingly being used for CRM, direct selling, product development and even research. There may be a host of other individuals that need to be a part of putting together your social strategy, it all depends on what you want to accomplish. The list above is what I consider to be the bare minimum for a successful effort. Not including the expertise of any of these specialties is asking for a turf war at best and a less successful effort at worst.

Let’s say you want to reach out to the aging boomer market. The AARP blog pulls in a remarkable 4 Million viewers every month. Then again, there are dozens of bloggers within specific areas of interest who can each count on an average of 7,000 unique viewers every month. Which one deserves your attention?

To answer that question, you have to take a look at the strengths of your team. Are you a business attempting to reach out to bloggers and other influencers on your own? Do you have a consultant to help? What’s the background of the decision makers?

After most recessions, I’ve noticed those with accounting backgrounds often get elevated to marketing director positions. The thought is to get an analytical mind in place to stop the bleeding until economic conditions improve enough to allow for more free associative thinking. If that’s you, AARP may not be the best place to reach out. Though attractive, there are many a marketer trying to get access to the mid-sized city that is the AARP blog’s audience. You may be better off putting most of your resources in going after the influencer with 5,000 – 20,000 unique visitors per month. In this case you can follow the Blogger outreach code of ethics or read the latest tips on getting a product or service reviewed. The most important aspect of this effort, however, is finding the right resources. That’s where a good consultant can help.

If you have trained creative minds on your team, don’t be afraid of aiming for those fattened calves. Read about the blogger and find a way to get in front of the influencer in a meaningful way. Of course, the best approach is to take time and develop a true relationship before you ever ask for anything, but the realities of project timelines don’t always allow for such.

You also have to take into account the uncertainty of this type of work. We’re working on a very fun influencer relations campaign right now and we have pretty solid estimates of how much attention we believe we can pull, but in the end, we don’t know for sure. The product is amazing, the content is solid, the presentation will be entertaining and relevant. None of these things, however, guarantee a product review or favorable article. If you have proven talent, you’ve stacked the odds in your favor.

Start small. Reach out to a few hungry upstarts with growing traffic numbers and rising technorati scores. Once you see the ins and outs of how the relationships are built, get bigger. Heck, even an accountant can do that.

Much of this is still hush hush, but we can say that we recently helped Lotus Cars take a close look at how potential buyers are talking about their brand and a few competing brands. We crawled the web and pulled data from blogs and forums to determine the most important features for buying an exotic car and which are most closely associated to Lotus versus their competitors.

The data was laid out in a heat map format to show associations across three dimensions of comparison. We’ve included an example of this type of result, but it’s NOT the Lotus data – duh. Results of this kind can be used to fuel social media marketing strategies, branding choices and even lead generation campaigns. Stay tuned, good things afoot on this front.Much of this is still hush hush, but we can say that we recently helped Lotus Cars take a close look at how potential buyers are talking about their brand and a few competing brands. We crawled the web and pulled data from blogs and forums to determine the most important features for buying an exotic car and which are most closely associated to Lotus versus their competitors.

Bridge The Generation Gap
Let’s say you’re a marketing manager who needs to convince a director that they’re missing the boat on social media. Realize that your first obstacle is a generation gap. You’ve likely been more active yourself with social media and therefore understand the innate value of building relationships online. Instead of bombarding your superior with a broadside of statistics, focus your argument on a success story they can understand.

For example, nearly half of Americans over 50 use Facebook. In fact, Facebook is the number one driver of traffic to the Huffington Post. That’s the kind of information that might pique the interest of a budding curmudgeon.

Be Sensitive To Fears Of Career Suicide
As the manager, you are held accountable for tactical mistakes. You lose your job when you fudge up the media buy and cost the company a few hundred thousand. However, the director or VP is responsible for a defined percentage of growth or at least maintaining a level of success. If a large budget reallocation doesn’t generate ROI, your superior finds himself looking for a job during the worst job market since the Great Depression. 50 year old marketing  execs aren’t exactly in high demand right now. Understand this and go easy on the guy/gal.

Recommend a Pilot Program
You think your new product blog will be a hit? Convinced that a Facebook page will capture the attention of thousands of adoring fans? For God’s sake, don’t push your boss to sacrifice the tradeshow budget to fuel an army of community managers. Develop a plan that requires a 10% shift in budget resources. Call this a “social media pilot program.” That’s always easier to swallow than a full scale and seemingly permanent shift in marketing tactics. This way, if the pilot program works, your boss looks like a hero. If it fails, your boss can slink away without losing face and still looks like a measured risk-taker.

There’s a lot of hype around social media. Just be sure to recognize that the people in your organization who make the big decisions are also taking the big risks. Help your boss make a good decision and you’ll likely be rewarded in the long run.

Have you had any problems convincing people where you work to engage with social media marketing

My wife always wanted a children’s book store. I wonder if it looses its appeal if it only exists online. Check out the full study.

South Side Steve, one of the hosts of Rock 100FM’s morning show talks about his bod pod experience.

I think this also has to do with the coupon offer they extended to Rock100 listeners. Couponing works, especially in online sales. Check out these stats from Compete. What’s your online couponing strategy look like?