One such item is how organizations incorporate social elements into their e-mail marketing campaigns. This is relevant as organizations that leverage both e-mail marketing & social channels tend to receive better results for their campaigns according to a report from Vertical Response. This strong correlation can be further amplified by fine tuning the social enablement of the actual messaging.

If you review branded e-mail marketing campaigns you will see inconsistency in how social sharing is enabled. The goal should not be to drive awareness that the channel exists, but to create frictionless sharability of the content and in some cases to also provide relevantly targeted messaging based on the users social graph data.

There are multiple buckets that brands across multiple verticals fall into when representing social connectivity via e-mail.

1) The Social Chicklet – Many brands follow the rule of just adding a socially enabled chicklets to the top or bottom navigation of communication. While paying homage to the brands owned channels, the actual engagement on this style of placement is lower than other methods.

Playstation as well as a majority of brands that reference social channels in this manner go with the approach of simply providing visibility into the fact that their channels exist. There is however a missed opportunity to share the message itself or specific content segments that are worthy of sharing.

2) The Social Call Out – The second level of integration takes the social chicklet & applies a direct call to action that is specific to the desired channel. This at the very least calls out to the user that a certain action needs to be taken that may drive additional value to the user.

In the example below, Fandango provides specific calls to action on what they would like for the user to do with the referenced social channels. FOLLOW us on Twitter, LIKE us on Facebook

Here are other examples from Eddie Bauer which leverages the facebook share call to action, Macys & Red Envelope.

3) Socially Enabled Content – Xbox deploys a strategy that not only calls attention to their specific channels but also the ability to directly share the content of the e-mail, they also take special care to socially enable each individual content block for maximum sharability.

4) Socially Centric Communication – Some brands have invested efforts to provide communication that directly highlights their social channels and how users can benefit from engaging directly with their channels. The benefit to this approach is that individuals consume different types of information across different channels. By highlighting the benefits that their social channels provide, they are potentially driving the user to action to associate with the brands owned social channels. It is also possible to track the organic growth associated with the call to action to test the impact of the campaign as some brands e-mail databases triple their current fans/followers, etc…

Below is an example from CORT that highlights an individual receiving value and drives a targeted message about a potential value exchange from engaging via their social channel.

Pizza Hut dedicated an e-mail message touting the value of becoming a member by leveraging their current network size, teasing with potential exclusives.

5) Socially Relevant – One of the bigger opportunities for brands is associated with the adoption of social sign on & leveraging open graph data to drive highly targeted recommendations and communication. In my recent post I wrote about the benefits of social sign on and open graph.

From an e-mail standpoint, the ability to pull in relevant open graph elements to further drive socially enabled gifting, such as birthday reminders and socially optimized wish lists come to forefront. These principles can then be applied to driving socially relevant and targeted messaging to drive a user to take action on behalf of either themselves or their closest friends.

Example of how Old Navy could further socially enable a post purchase e-mail

By taking the time to consider how to truly socially optimize e-mail marketing, a brand can truly capitalize on the permissive nature of their users to share their content vs. vaguely eluding to the fact that the brand has social channels.

On a final note, socially enabled sharing when it comes to retail shopping experiences are key across the prime millennial & gen x targets when it comes to point #3 below.

Follow Tom Edwards @Blackfin360

Hi, I’m out of the office today so going to try my first time posting via my iPhone. Here goes with just a few nuggets this week…

Stats of the Week

· Moms report keeping an average of 13 apps on their phones, while two-thirds say that less than half their apps are for their kids. Source.

· Mobile accounts for 10% of Internet usage worldwide; double that of 2010. Source.

· 40% of teens video chat with their friends. Source.

No doubt, a hunger for visual content exist online. Facebook’s enhancements for brand pages as well as the network’s explosive stats on photo sharing best reflect this observation.

• According to its updated SEC filing, Facebook’s photo activity grew faster than the rest of the site: on average more than 300 million photos were uploaded to Facebook every day in Q1 2012, up from 250 million photos in Q4 2011.
• Facebook photos receive 3.2 billion “likes” and comments per day.

And with the progression to Timeline complete, Facebook’s $1 billion acquisition of Instagram on April 9 was the next step in the network’s visual evolution.

As the innovations outlined above remind us, the rise of visual social networks are forcing brands to think and act more visually. So a picture is no longer worth a thousand words — perhaps it’s worth a billion “Likes”?

[This post borrowed from The Marketing Arm's ShareBlog.  Thanks Audra!]

Good Infographic that summarizes why photos are exploding in social media…

(image credit: artist Koen Demuynck)

We love stories. When we were kids we insisted that our parents read us one more story every night before we went to bed. Or better yet, make one up! Look at the television shows we watch now. Shows like Game of Thrones and Mad Men are essentially mini movies that we get to watch every week. The quality. The stories. What about reality shows? American Idol, Deadliest Catch, Restaurant Impossible, The Bachelor. These are weekly stories that have villains, plots, resolutions. We’re so hungry for these fantastic stories and we are lucky that they just keep coming.

And we’re starting to watch these stories in new ways. Look at the KONY video.  Nearly 90 Million people have watched a 30 minute movie on YouTube. I repeat, a 30 minute movie! Not an 80 second video about a cat or talking babies, an important documentary.

Meanwhile our phones are quickly becoming both a primary tool for viewing movies, television, and Internet-based videos as well as a significant source of creation. That iOS or Android piece of technology you carry around in your pocket has the ability to take photos with the same high resolution quality that were previously only attributed to devices made by the likes of Nikon or Canon.  Remember when you carried a phone, a camera, and a video camera to your kid’s birthday party? Like most other parents, I only carry one now, my iPhone.

As we take these lusciously vivid new photos at a mammoth pace, inventions like Pinterest and Instagram are helping us share them with the world.  Each photo tells a story of where we are, where we’ve been, or where we hope to go.  And each time a friend comments on or re-pins our photos, the story takes on new meaning for that person.  Then there is the complete personification of visual storytelling, the new Facebook timeline.  Photos are now so rich and large and the timeline enables us to tell the chronological story of our brand or our lives.

Many brands are taking advantage of the new Facebook timeline, but one brand stands out head and shoulders above the rest.  That brand is Red Bull.  The company whose energy drink sold over four and half billion cans last year and boasts 60% market share over a thousand competitors doesn’t do a ton of traditional advertising.  Sure, you’ve seen the ads about Red Bull giving you wings, but for the most part, we don’t see a ton of commercials or billboards. What we do see is that colorful logo plastered on every crazy extreme athlete with a death wish.   Red Bull epitomizes a brand entrenched in visual storytelling.

When Facebook timeline went live, Red Bull jumped in head first.  From the lead graphic to the individual photos on their profile, every image tells a compelling story.  Some subtle, some overt.

To get you to discover all the fascinating images and the history of Red Bull, they even put together a scavenger hunt that asked you to navigate through all the rich content on their Facebook page.

And Red Bull does so much more than just great photos.  They are also highly focused on video and film.  Each of their events and all of their sponsored athletes are documented by some of the best action filmmakers on the planet.  Check out their YouTube channel and you’ll find nearly 2,000 videos with hundreds of thousands of subscribers and a quarter of a billion views.

And finally, look at Red Bull’s website.

The site is dedicated to sports, culture, events, music, film, games, and if you look really hard, you might find a link to their product.

Red Bull breaks the rules.  It is lifestyle, story, visuals, and culture first… product last.  And it works.

Red Bull has taken a serious stance on visual storytelling.  And yes, it can work for everyone.  We’re visual people.  We love great images and great stories, and we’re more apt to buy from those who can show us what they are about.  Visual Storytelling is a trend and it will only get bigger and better as technology makes it easier and easier to tell our stories.

Every week we compile lots of interesting stats here at Fanscape. Here are some of our favorites from this week:

Social CRM

• One in two consumers who utilize social media channels for customer service want an actual response.
• Customers willing to spend 21% more when there is good customer service
• 93% of respondents said that companies fail to exceed their customer service expectations.

Source: American Express

In a study by Sword-Ciboodle of brands using social media:

• 91% of respondents believe that providing customer service over social channels is a good thing for their customers
• 89% think it is a good thing for their organization.
• 24% say social increased their customer satisfaction.
• Only 14% say this was about meeting customer expectations

How long do you wait on the phone?

• The average American is willing to wait 13 minutes on hold for customer service (Source: Various)

Social Sign-On Increasing:

• 45% of users opt to use their social log in when arriving at a site and given the option.  Facebook, not surprisingly, dominates in this arena.

Source: Janrain

And for the ROI lovers out there

The vast majority of companies who had invested in social media saw a positive shift in their bottom line as a result.  Source: eMarketer

Fun Stats: Cinco De Mayo  

• Cinco De Mayo commemorates the Mexican army’s 1862 victory over France at the Battle of the Puebla
• Cinco De Mayo is a bigger deal in the US than in Mexico
• The White House celebrated Cinco De Mayo yesterday (May 3, 2012) and served the following:

Chip Station
Homemade Corn and Plantain Chips
Guacamole en Molcajete
Pico de Gallo

Cold Items
Tuna Ceviche
Sushi Grade Tuna with Tamari-Lime Marinade Shrimp Cocktail Tequila-poached Gulf Shrimp with Avocado-Cascabel Pepper Relish Chile Flavored Rice Crispies Ensalada de Sandía Compressed Watermelon Queso Fresco and Mountain Mint

Taqueria
Tacos de Carnitas
Slow-braised pork with Tomatillo Sauce
Tacos de Pescado
Grilled Yellowtail Snapper with Cilantro Slaw

Hot Items
Cordero Al Mole de Tamarindo
Espresso-rubbed Grilled Lamb Chops
Tamarind Mole

Vegetarian Sopes
Wild Mushroom, Chihuahua Cheese,
Roasted Poblanos and Crema

Cayo de Hacha Al Pipián
Seared Scallops with Pumpkin Seed Oil

Dessert
Coconut Tres Lechés
Mexican Wedding Cookies
Vanilla Orange Arroz con Leché

Source: Lynn Sweet

As social media matures, so too do its related expectations. We’re in the midst right now of a transition from social media to social business. Sure, we’ve all been searching for the ROI associated with our Facebook and Twitter endeavors for a few years now, but what we’re really starting to see is a fundamental shift in the way social media fits within a company.

Back in my music business days, the Internet guys (or should I say – guy) were the last ones consulted on what to do with a new artist. Today they lead the conversation. As do the respective leaders in film, television, and publishing.  Businesses outside of entertainment are quickly gaining traction in that area too as digital becomes core to the launch of any new product from all aspects including market research and product development. 

Digital and social media find themselves at the center of a business’ strategy and not the add-on. Thus the transition from social media to social business. These days, when we get called in to talk about social media with a brand, for the most part they already have a significant presence on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn, and even Pinterest. The conversations have become far less about how can we help you get to a million fans on Facebook and more about how can we turn those virtual fans into even bigger fans of the brand. And let’s cut to the chase – we want those fans to buy more and tell others to buy more.

A social business strategy is more complex than a social media strategy. It involves multiple divisions of a company and it involves buy-in from the senior level. All you have to do is look at what Walmart and American Express are doing to understand that social is quickly becoming a core part of some of the biggest companies in the world.

A social business strategy is essentially a collection of strategies that work together to ultimately drive loyalty and sales.  This includes:

• Analytical Strategy – Analysis of action to date – a deep understanding of what is working and what hasn’t.  You’ve most likely spent at least a year trying things in the social space, what are the results?  What are the needs identified such as personnel, better reporting, data analysis, training, etc.?
• Establish a Value Proposition – Have you identified what your customer wants in exchange for being part of your social presence? What’s in it for them?
• Growth Strategy – You probably have a semi-arbitrary goal for the amount of fans you want following you on your various social properties. Do you have a legitimate reason for this number or does 1 million or 2 million Facebook fans just sound like a good number to report to the bosses? Have you studied the direct competition? Have you studied the quality of fan that you currently have and identified where they came from and how often they participate? We’ve all heard the quality vs. quantity argument, but have we really spent time determining if every new fan is as valuable as the ones that came before?  Have you used every asset you have at your fingertips such as email, in-store signage, better presence on your website, or integration with your advertising efforts? Before you start buying those fans with Facebook ads, have you tried to convert your actual customers?
• Activation Strategy – What do you do with people when they become a fan?  This is also known as community management. You’ve got them there, now what do you do with them? Do you actually engage with them or do you just recite quotes from famous people and send out 25% discounts on things they don’t necessarily want?  Do you have the proper resources to manage your community? 
• Content Strategy - One of the most important strategies in showcasing your company and your products. We’re a visual society and the smartphone revolution is making it easier to take photos and capture video at a quality previously owned by Nikon and Canon.  You need a definitive approach to not only capturing content but how you disseminate it.  Is your content compelling? Is it real? Is it sharable?  
• Mobile Strategy - Everything we do on our desktops and laptops is headed into the palms of our hands. Every point made above should have mobile factored in as well. View this presentation to really get the point.

I could go on, but any more and you’ll start getting dizzy and ask yourself how on earth you could ever get all of that done. The point is that everything I stated above is meant to drive more business your way. It asks you to take a good look at what you are doing and whether you have the right process in place to make this work. Again, this is for your business, not for bragging rights.

Every week we compile lots of interesting stats here at Fanscape. Here are some of our favorites.

These stats are compliments of AllFacebook, eMarkter & PageLever:

• The average Facebook page post is only viewed by 7% of page’s fan base.
• As a page grows, page views drop 12 times faster than impressions.
• Pages have reported a 46% increase in engagement since Facebook Timeline launched.

Per Facebook’s recent SEC filing, Facebook now has:

• over 901 Million users
• 500 Million users accessing Facebook via Mobile devices

Every week we compile lots of interesting stats here at Fanscape. Here are some of our favorites.

These stats found on Statspotting…

• By the end of 2012, the number of mobile-connected devices will exceed the number of people on earth, and by 2016 there will be 1.4 mobile devices per capita. There will be over 10 billion mobile-connected devices in 2016, including machine-to-machine (M2M) modules-exceeding the world’s population at that time (7.3 billion).  Source: Cisco
• Apple’s stock soared to new heights on Thursday, pushing the company’s market capitalization to $456 billion, a number that is greater than the values of rivals Google and Microsoft combined. Source: Apple Insider
• What is the fastest adopted gadget of the last 50 years?  Nope, not the computer, the TV, or the mobile phone.  Drum roll… The boom box!  Source: The Atlantic

In recent conversations with Klout’s Garth Holsinger, he provided insight into the release of brand pages for Klout. “Previously, a brand was treated like an individual user, which in some cases does not necessarily make the most sense as a Klout score for a brand should mean something different.”

With the new release, Garth’s words ring true in that the new squad pages uncover the top influencers associated with the brand (topic) as well as showcasing the latest Red Bull content and providing a platform for the brand to directly reward influencers with brand centric perks.

Below is an example of the initial beta for the new Red Bull squad page

This presents an interesting dynamic for brands, as they are able to reward those individuals that are already passionate about the brand vs. pushing content to individuals to consume. By aligning influencers directly with the brand, it provides an easy point of connection between brand & influencer.

The example below showcases the top 1000 influencers tied to the topic of Red Bull

The top influencers are determined by +K’s which are given to other users who are influential around specific topics. Note that +K’s are specific to the Klout platform meaning, users who are already engaged with Klout directly are influencing the allocation of +K’s vs. simply using a users Klout score. This is a key point to consider for brands looking to solely use Klout squads as a primary influencer identification & engagement channel.

Top influencers also have an opportunity to receive a news associated with the brand as well as access to brand perks that are centralized within the topical brand page vs. the normal perks location via the navigation.

Normally, perks are exclusive products or experiences that users can earn based on their overall influence tied to their Klout score that are distributed to select influencers based on their topics of authority, location & score. With the introduction of squads, a secondary level of perk associated with topic specific influencers are also available. I have a request in to Klout to confirm if the topical perks are also associated with a premium cost similar to the existing perks program.

This is a significant step forward for Klout as it creates a more relevant experience for brands vs. treating brands as an individual and applying the Klout algorithm solely based on the brands published content. This new model makes more sense from a brand perspective. It will be interesting to see how the topically driven influencers begin to align as the system is predicated on klout’s proprietary +K’s.

Follow Tom @Blackfin360