Time for blogging, social networking and contributing to online conversations has been hard to manage recently with major events going on in my life. I wanted to give a quick check-in of a few trends I am watching.

• The Twitter Explosion. Three years ago, new media marketers predicted mobile marketing would be the future and here we have it. The growth chart has hit the proverbial exponential upswing and if your not on Twitter it’s time to figure it out. Basically, people can broadcast what they are doing from their mobile phone. And for businesses, they can do it too. It’s nice.
• MySpace is officially past it’s prime. Just this week, comScore came out with numbers that indicated that Facebook was bigger than MySpace.  I’m afraid, not even Borat can save this one.
• Social media marketing is becoming more and more integrated with customer service departments. Check out what Zappos.com is doing on Twitter.
• For my healthcare followers, the all important mom of the household decided to check out Facebook and abruptly decided it was more for their kids.
• Done with SEO, most companies have moved to more advanced marketing tactics like developing useful applications for mobile phones.
• Crowd sourcing using web technologies has and will continue to drive business decisions at innovative companies.

Please feel free to let me know if you think I missed some important social media marketing trends.

If you work in marketing or communications, you probably have little doubt that your organization should start utilizing social media, but are you ready?

From my experience, C-level executives often worry about what could go wrong. They worry people will say bad things and even worse that no one will do anything about it. The reality is that if you have company, people are already out there talking you. And if you don’t know about what they are saying, chances are you are already doing nothing about it.

I put together a series of questions that might help you decide whether your department or organization is ready to join the conversation on social media.

• Do you have a marketing or communications department?
• Does your marketing or communications department produce news articles, press releases, videos, photos and/or events?
• Do you know who your target audience?
• Is your target audience on social media platforms?
• Do you have key messages?
• Can your social media administrator answer common questions posed on social media?
• Do you have the ability to call on experts within your business to help with complex questions and situations?
• Does someone in your department have experience utilizing social media platforms?
• Have you contacted a lawyer or your legal department to see if there are any subject areas or statements you might want to avoid?

If you answered yes to all these questions, chances are you organization is ready. If not, your problems may be bigger than deciding if your organization is ready for social media.

“Twitter asks ‘What are you doing?’ You can tell Twitter what you are doing on twitter.com or you can text from your cell phone.” says one person who doesn’t understand twitter trying to explain it another person who knows less about it. This conversation is usually followed by a “Hills” like awkward silence and a few shrugs of the shoulders.

I’ll be the first to admit I was absolutely lost the first couple of days I started using Twitter. I didn’t follow anyone I cared about, none of my friends were on it and I didn’t understand what to say or what to do

Looking back, as much as I hate to admit it, it wasn’t until a weird owl named “Mr. Tweet” gave me a few suggestions of who I should follow before I began to find some interesting people on Twitter. From there I was able to branch out, finding a few more people who were conversing with the people I was newly following.

Before I knew it I had a nice little network of people to follow and talk to. Most of them weren’t too weird. For the most part they were interested in some of the same things I was: Minnesota, healthcare marketing, the internet, celebrities and sports.

So why are marketers so obsessed with Twitter?

Because they care what you are doing and thinking, especially as it relates to products and services they have to offer.

A quick search and you can find that there are people actually interested in everything from Anoop Dogg on American Idol to polar ice caps. Marketers find this invaluable because they can have real conversations with people thinking about products and services they have to offer.

Take for example this scenario layed out by Peter Hershberg in Advertising Age:

“A young woman in Chapel Hill, N.C., wakes up sweating. Her air conditioner has died. She knows she wants a new one, but she wants one that will be energy-efficient, easy to install on her own, reliable and not too expensive.

She hops online and types, “I need a new A/C today; I have $250 to spend — help!” into Twitter, which in turn feeds automatically into her Facebook status. She immediately begins to receive replies in both channels from friends with advice on retail outlets, air-conditioner brands and how to stay cool with no A/C. She also sees an @ reply on Twitter from a national big-box retailer letting her know its Chapel Hill location has new air conditioners in stock, as well as a link to the section of its website that shows air conditioners for under $250.”

This is a great example of how social media can be used be marketers. Consumers don’t even need to walk into a store to be helped. All they have to do is say what they are thinking about something and someone should be there to help them. Zappos.com has over 430 employees actively mining Twitter and it is part of their customer services. Do you?

Follow me at twitter.com/allanwoodstrom.

It has been said that most of Generation-Y thinks they know everything about computers and technology. And although I don’t work in a technology role, I am often called upon by different colleagues to help them solve a computer problem. In most cases, I either know how to solve the problem, or I am able to trouble shoot my way to a solution.

In a way these situations make me feel pretty good. But I had to ask myself today, is my generation full of technology gurus? Or are we smart asses who think we know everything about technology because we know how to do a couple of cool things on a PC?

To answer my own questions, let’s first look at my technological background (which I would imagine is pretty similar to most college graduates my age):

• 19 years experience working with computers and software applications
• 8 years experience managing web-based applications
• 12 years experience working with Microsoft Office
• 7 years experience managing my own personal web site
• 100’s of hours experience managing my reputation online (yes, Facebook counts)

But are we as special as we think we are? My answer would be no, not really. And while others might consider parts of my job very technical (web sites and graphic design), I do not. Each generation coming after us will have at least the same technical understand of computers and software as we do. It comes with growing up and being educated in the era that we did. It is our responsibility to understand technologies and bring them to the workforce. It will help our country improve efficiency.

I had a basketball coach once say that if he were able to find a younger player who could do what I could do, as good as I could do it, that he would go with the younger player because he had a greater upside.

But is this true in business? No. You can’t possibly learn everything about business without experience beyond technology.

We should be weary of believing our upside is so strong that we should be allowed to check Facebook four times a day. We have a lot to learn and gain in experience in terms how to manage relations and how to work with a diverse team with varying size egos.

I hope that Generation-Y professionals learn to embrace their computer skills with some humility. (And yes, we are all very talented.) But we must not forget that before long we will be asking our even younger professional colleagues for help with new technologies.

North Dakota State president, Joseph A. Chapman wanted his university to become a major research university. As an article this week in the New York Times points out, Chapman saw athletics as a way to broaden NDSU’s exposure on a national level and boy was he right. Did I mention the university located in Fargo, ND had an article about it in the New York Times?

Moving on, Chapman might have never imagined wins in football and basketball over teams from major conferences. He may have also never dreamt that the basketball team would make the NCAA tournament in its first year eligible. But that’s exactly what has happened and the university in all of its departments will become better because of it.

Chapman told the New York Times that since the university moved to division one athletics, “freshman enrollment was up 23 percent, research expenditures had more than doubled, and that the number of Ph.D.’s awarded this year would top 100, a five-fold increase from 10 years ago.”

Social Media Application
This same theory can be applied to social media. If you want to help a company grow though social media, chances are you’ll have to focus content and social utilities on a subject that appeals to a broader audience, not necessarily where the core competencies of the business lie. Much like NDSU used sports to generate awareness and support for other areas of the University.

Take for example one of the largest shoe companies in the world. If all Nike ever talked about was new technologies in shoe making, only some serious runners and engineers might care. On the contrary, they have broadened their reach and audience on social networks by focusing content and online tools on things that the general running public cares about.

NikePlus.com, a running social network, built by Nike allows runners to log their miles run, share their stories, look up local races, get running tips and connect with other runners. Best of all, Nike has made it very simple for runners. As an article in BusinessWeek points out, all runners have to do is plug in the mini ipod that hides in their shoe and everything they did is immediately tracked and uploaded to the Nike website.

The article also points out that since the launch of Nikeplus.com, Nike has increased its running shoe market share from 48% in 2006 to 61% today. 

To reiterate the point of this article, if companies want to bypass advertising with dying newspapers and radio stations and dive into social media marketing, they have to research what their audience is interested in and deliver. The rest of the business goals will work itself out with added exposure.

Go to McDonald’s. Order an extra value meal. Eat it and leave.

How many times do you think you were exposed to the golden arches?

Think about this typical experience:

You drive into the parking lot, look at the building, walk in the door, order some food, talk with an employee, go to the bathroom, look at the kids toys, get your cup, fill your cup, get some napkins, get some ketchup, pick up your food, sit down, unwrap your burger, look at your tray, eat some fries, drink some soda, threw away your trash, walk out the door and drive out of the parking lot.

If you are anything like me, chances are you thoroughly enjoyed your #2 extra value meal. And perhaps you didn’t realize it, but everything you did while you were at McDonald’s, constantly reminded you of where you were.

Not that seeing all those arches, changed whether you had a good or bad experience, but next time you are driving down the freeway looking for a place to eat, you’ll have some associated feelings with the golden arches based on what your last few visits were like.

How does this apply to healthcare?

If you create a positive experience for patients and their friends and family, don’t you want them to remember where they were?

Think about your patient’s experience in your clinic – from the time they set up an appointment, drive in the parking lot, walk in the door, visit the front desk, talk to the scheduler, pick up a pen, fill out the health history form, read a magazine, watch television, talk to a nurse, sit in the exam room, talk to a physician, take with them a patient education piece and care plan, walk out the door, get better – how many times were your patients reminded where they were?

With approximately 50 percent of patients utilizing the recommendations of friends or family members to select a primary care physician and 20 percent of patients utilizing the recommendations of friends or family members to select a specialist physician, branding your practice should be a major part of your marketing plan.

Ever wonder why each month seems to be “National ‘Something or Other’ Month?”

It’s called Marketing.

I will preface this entire article by saying, I don’t think that all “National ‘Something or Other’ Months” are bad or get lost in the shuffle. In fact, I would even go as far as to say for healthcare marketers, “National ‘Something or Other’ Months” can be quite effective.

Just yesterday I received an email that said,

“March is colon cancer awareness month.

http://www.mngastro.com/stories/

Please schedule your colonoscopy or encourage your friends and family members over the age of 50 or if you have a family history.”

The email was from a colleague, who received it from an employee at Minnesota Gastroenterology, P.A.  The stories are great and it looks like they are using a local media partner to help spread the message. This is a great example of a local healthcare group making the most out of a “National ‘Something or Other’ Month.” I am sure their schedulers are busy this month making appointments for the rest of the year.

Finally, this post wouldn’t be complete with me getting on my soapbox and preaching the use of social media. I didn’t see that Minnesota Gastroenterology had posted the videos to YouTube. A comScore report in December 2009 showed YouTube accounted for 25% of all searches done on Google sites. In total, YouTube alone had a higher search volume than on all of Yahoo’s sites. It might not produce dynamite results, but it might be worth getting a few extra hundred people to the Minnesota Gastroenterology web site over the next couple of months.

I did a little research to find out if there were any musicians or hip hop artists successfully using Twitter to market themselves. Surprisingly, I found very few.

MySpace, still the ultimate hangout for musicians, rappers and hip-hip artists has helped launch the careers of many young musicians, including: Soulja Boy Tell Em and Sean Kingston. But can an emerging social media tool like Twitter, do the same thing?

My resounding answer is no. MySpace and Facebook have two major things that Twitter does not: users and features. It was estimated that Twitter has about 3.5 million active users. Compare that to Facebook and MySpace, who respectively have 175 and 110 million users and it’s clear which network has the greatest opportunity for exposure. 

Also, musicians on MySpace can create unique experiences for their fans. Passersby can listen to music, view photos and read blog posts. Compare that to Twitter, information and interactivity is limited. Other than a background, which may or may not look good on every screen, not much can be used to differentiate new artists from one another.

I will close with a final comment, saying that musicians with an established brands like Jay-Z or Diddy could attract quite a following. It just depends on whether or not they embrace Twitter. Notice how many people are following NBA star, Shaquille O’Neal. 

Hip Hop Artists on Twitter
Soulja Boy Tell Em – http://twitter.com/souljaboytellem
Kanye West – http://twitter.com/Kanye_West
50 Cent – http://twitter.com/50Cent
Snoop Dogg – http://twitter.com/snoopdogg
Diddy - http://twitter.com/iamdiddy
Q-Tip – http://twitter.com/QtipTheAbstract
Noreaga – http://twitter.com/noreaga
Ghostface Killah – http://twitter.com/GhostfaceKillah
MC Hammer – http://twitter.com/MChammer
Joe Budden – http://twitter.com/mousebudden

Please let me know if you think I left out any major hip hop artists using Twitter.

Clients interested in social media marketing are almost always interested in what they can do on Facebook. And it’s understandable why; users spend hours each week looking at pictures and interacting with friends. When discussing Facebook marketing, it is important to have reasonable expectations about what is possible and what is most likely to happen, given your client’s requests. When putting together a Facebook marketing plan, below are a few things you should and shouldn’t expect.

Expect:

• Expect to do a lot of audience research if you want good results building an application.
• Expect negative reactions if you decide to send out mass messages to random people or you are making a lot of random friend requests. Facebook could suspend your account if you do this. Conversely, you should try posting videos, notes and pictures and allow people to look at what they find most interesting.
• If you build an application, expect to have to put in some time promoting it before it promotes itself.
• Expect a lot to your application usage growth to come from friends inviting other friends and news feed notices going out showing that someone has added or utilized part of an application.
• Expect that you should to utilize other social media sites like YouTube, Twitter, Digg, and blogs to achieve the greatest results.

Don’t expect:

• Don’t expect people to become fans of your brand or business, just because you created a page.
• Don’t expect people to put a great deal of time and effort into conversation with your brand, unless they are uniquely touched or are passionate about your company.
• Don’t expect great results, if you aren’t doing anything that brings value or entertainment to the end user.
• Don’t expect a lot of people to click on your ads if you are simply looking for brand awareness. Offering an incentive or posting a low price for a product will most of the time increase your click through rate.
• If you build an application, don’t expect users to tell friends on their own. It’s best to have sharing built into the application.
• Don’t expect a great campaign to last forever.

Please feel free share any tips or advice if you think I may have forgot any. Additionally, here are some more great resources to check out:

The Top Five Viral Facebook Techniques – AllFacebook.com

Facebook Developers Network – Facebook.com

A Failed Facebook Marketing Campaign (About Walmart) – Social Media Optimization Blog

Facebook Marketing Stunt Backfires – Marketing Pilgrim

President Obama in Office

President Obama used social media to raise money and awareness during his campaign towards the presidency. It should then be no surprise that he has continued his social media outreach with a white house blog and weekly video blog. 

On his blog, which isn’t really written by him, you’ll find updates of what he is doing and copies of remarks given at various events, press briefings and meetings. It should be an interesting chronicle of his daily activities. You can even subscribe to his rss feed. 

A few bloggers might disagree with my analysis of this blog,  but I think this is a start in the right direction for a more transparent presidency. The move is actually one of many that shows Obama wants to reach out to new audiences. His first sit down television interview was the Al-Arabiya, which sub sequentially opened up many more opinions about his actions. 

What do you think about the president’s latest attempts to “join the conversation?” Do you think the nation will listen?