Here are a few of the best practices we apply:

1. Recruit key influencers and advocates. This is easily said; however you should implement a social listening strategy to help find those individuals that best suit your needs. You can do this by selecting key words that most resonate with the nature of your brand. Here is a great example of the power of influencers.
2. Implement sharing and referral functionality to facilitate word of mouth.
3. Implement a system that rewards contributors (gamification). Check out how Ford has embraced this concept.
4. Be transparent and honest with new and existing users at all times.
5. Provide excellent content that is open and free. Learn more about content and experience: Content is King, Experience is queen.

For more information about launching successful communities check out Do’s and Don’ts of Successful Online Communities.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Email Marketing systems. One thing all of them talked about is the ability to use a combination of implicit or explicit personalization technologies to categorize, segment, target and serve their users more relevant information via personalization. I have to agree that in theory this sounds cool and I’ve seen case studies of this type of technology improving click-thrus, time on site, and conversions. In the midst of these software demos, I stumbled across Ford’s new site which offers an alternative method.

Enter Gamification

As a marketer, you’re always challenged to reach, engage, and connect with your users in more relevant ways. To prevent confusion on this topic I am going to walk through what I think about Ford’s take on Gamification or should I say a better and more frictionless way to achieve true segmentation.

Walk-through

In an effort to drive Ford’s loyalty programs and brand evangelism, Ford created a social community website. Ford Social is all about Ford’s customers – all content on the site is created by its users with the exception of the blog (although some of the blog entries feature stories about Ford’s customers). Users can submit their own photos, videos, and product ideas with Ford and the rest of the community. If inspiration strikes, they can also share their ideas too.

In addition to the flow of user content, Ford allows their users to personalize their profile with a badge that fits their identity. The choices of badges range from basic (Ford Owner, Built Ford Tough), to lifestyles (Athlete, Tech Geek), to occupations (Contractor, Employee), and even user-requested badges. Not only does this allow Ford to segment and customize the site for their community, it allows Ford Social users to express themselves and interact with others that share their interests. It’s a great idea that benefits both parties.

Ford Social has managed to claim the Holy Grail of sales and marketing – segmentation and personalization. The ability to target users based on their likes, lifestyles, and needs is almost impossible to obtain for some businesses, but Ford found a way to cut through all of the mechanics of personalization to achieve a real connection with its users by utilizing the following techniques:

•  Brand affinity
• Emotive connection with the brand
• A reinvented sense of customer loyalty
• Social referrals

I love everything about Ford’s take on a socially-driven website. It’s innovative, creative, and fun. I hope to see more sites using this approach in the future.

The Social Media Tourism Symposium is an event where tourism related marketing folks meet to discuss ideas and learn how to better use social media in their promotional activities. The symposium will be held in November of 2012.

The Symposium is using an Offerpop app to host the voting, and while it seems like a great idea that a social media symposium would use social media to pick its host city, the implementation is a little confusing. When you land on the Symposium app it says that “voting will occur here” but there are actually no links to the voting on that page. Links to the actual voting opportunities are available via the groups Timeline.

For more information check out the hashtag: #soMeT12

And to vote for Milwaukee visit our voting page: (As of 4/3 Milwaukee was winning by over 1K votes, GO MKE!)

Moreover, we addressed an alarming concern: The lack of User Experience in higher education curriculums. We posed the question: “Can UX be taught, or is it a skill set based primarily on intuition? If UX can be taught, what would a UX curriculum consist of?”

With the help of the audience, we generated a list of resources and curriculum ideas that are being passed on to Linda Menck, Professional in Residence, Advertising at Marquette University.

• Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines
• discover.usabilla.com
• “Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve Krug
• Edward Tufte‘s usability reviews and books
• The Psychology of Everyday Things
• Overviews of possible career paths
• Collaborative projects (cross disciplinary, too!)
• Assigned Mentors
• Attendance of UX events or workshops
• Lessons in failure
• The benefit of constructive criticism
• The value in UX
• Agile methodology / iterative projects
• A one-day event with panels and keynote speakers
• Tap into Milwaukee’s rich talent pool
• Moderated panels with intro-level talks and mentorship
• Hackathon and designathon participation
• Introduce students to employers
• Lunch and Learn events
• Appreciation for good design
• Web resources like uxbooth.com, smashingmagazine.com, and uxmagazine.com
• Usability Testing
• Persona and Use Case development
• Content Strategy
• “A Project Guide to UX Design: For user experience designers in the field or in the making” by Carolyn Chandler
• Require students to take a programming class or develop a website to learn the process of website creation and enhance user experience chops

After the presentation, members of the audience were also invited to share additional curriculum ideas with the MkeUX Facebook Group.

Brian Molstad and Lukas Sparks of 7Summits were also in attendance.

“Let’s take a look at your height, weight, and vitals.”

I need to understand a website’s vitals – system response time, traffic, referral traffic, bounce rate, a user’s average time on the site – before I can begin my diagnosis of your site . Gathering this information is a step that helps me identify who your users are and why they are using your website.

“What are your symptoms?”

I need to know the symptoms before I can fully identify the problem. Is your website failing to convert leads or sales? Does it have a high bounce rate? Does your site take forever to load?  When I know the symptoms I can develop a more accurate diagnosis.  I’m not going to misdiagnose the site and bill you for an impersonal website that doesn’t alleviate the problem.

“Tell me about your lifestyle, your family, and your daily routine.” 

I need this information to create a custom experience that improves your site’s life and meets your users’ needs. If I know your users are on-the-go or work on their feet, I’ll design a website that renders particularly well on mobile devices. If your users spend hours upon hours on Facebook, I’ll suggest a Facebook login option for their convenience.

“Let’s talk about preventative care.”

Based on what I know about you, I’m not only identifying your current challenges — I’m also thinking about how to prevent further obsticles. If I know you still have some growing to do, I’ll create a design that accommodates new content and features. Just like you, this website is dynamic.

“I’ll need to see you again for a follow-up appointment.”

I’m going to conduct user testing early and often, and I’m going to need your feedback.

Designers are responsible for a website’s user experience. They need to consider the clients’ audience throughout the entire design process to ensure the design is successful. So the next time a redesign is in order, break out your UX stethoscope and take these steps to analyze, diagnose, treat, and ensure the well-being of your website.

The Name on the Back of a Jersey is More Important than the One on the Front

One of the most interesting examples of social media integration comes from the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League. In a game against the Buffalo Bandits in February, the Wings donned jerseys that featured their Twitter handles on their back instead of their last name. Before the announcement, roughly half of their 23-man roster had a Twitter account, but the Philadelphia Wings provided every player with Twitter training to ensure that their accounts would be maintained throughout the season. They were the first professional American sports team to replace their last names with their Twitter handles.

I think the name switch-a-roo was a brilliant idea. The Philadelphia Wings received national exposure for their innovative utilization of social media. It also lowered the threshold of accessibility to one of the lesser-known professional sports leagues, and it allowed Wings fans and casual observers an opportunity to develop a stronger bond with the entire Wings team.

All-Star Effort

Larger sports leagues are also starting to expand their use of social media. In previous years, the winner of the NBA Slam Dunk Competition was decided by a panel of judges, but this year the NBA let their fans vote for the winner through text messaging, Twitter, or NBA.com. The National Basketball Association also created a social website for the 2012 All Star Game which featured top Facebook and Twitter posts, exclusive videos and photos, and the NBA All Star Pulse, a tool which tracked all mentions of trending players and topics during the game.

Saying Aloha to In-Game Tweeting

Like the NBA, the National Football League made Twitter a part of their all star game. The NFL has a rather strict policy when it comes to Tweeting during games, (Chad Ochocinco knows this firsthand) but for this year’s Pro Bowl game players were allowed to Tweet during the game from designated Twitter stations on the sidelines. Players were also allowed to Tweet from their cell phones immediately before and after the game and during halftime.

The Only Time it is OK to Tweet during a Race

The most extreme example of social media innovation could be found at this year’s Daytona 500. Brad Keselowski Tweeted live from his car during a delay in one of NASCAR’s most famous races. He became the first in-race Tweeter in NASCAR history, and he gained over 100,000 followers in under two hours. When someone asked if Keselowski had a phone in his car, he simply responded with “Maybe ; ).”

Tweeting in the middle of a delayed race caused some people to wonder if Keselowski violated any NASCAR rules. Drivers are not allowed to have any recording devices in their cars that is not used for competition, but NASCAR announced in an official statement that they had no plans of penalizing Brad, because he did not break any specific rules. NASCAR then went on to say “We encourage our drivers to use social media to express themselves as long as they do so without risking their safety or that of others.”

I commend NASCAR for their ability to recognize that Keselowski was taking advantage of a unique situation. It is not very likely that this will happen again during a race, but if NASCAR were to allow every driver to have a device to Tweet from it could be an entertaining way for drivers to interact with fans during a rain delay.

Taking it Outside the Ring

Even though it may not be considered a sport by some people, it is hard to deny that World Wrestling Entertainment is doing an impressive job to increase their social media presence. Recently the WWE has made a large push for social media integration within their sport. The number of Twitter accounts affiliated with the WWE is astounding – 70 current wrestlers all have their own Twitter accounts, and the WWE has twenty different Twitter accounts dedicated to their brand, including a WWE version of Barack Obama. When a wrestler walks into the ring for a match, their Twitter handle is prominently displayed at the bottom of the screen, and sometimes they will drop their own name during some pre-brawl banter.

In addition to their growing Twitter presence, the WWE has an extensive collection of videos on their official YouTube account. The WWE has uploaded over 6,700 video clips, ranging from classic wrestling matches and wrestler entrance videos to videos that encourage community outreach and full episodes of recent matches.

Their channel is not just used for broadcasting, though. The WWE also has an episodic series known as the “WWE Inbox” where wrestlers answer questions from their fans. There is only one problem with the WWE YouTube channel – comments have been disabled for every single one of their videos. I find it surprising that a brand that is willing to provide so much content would prevent their fans from sounding off on the videos they are watching.

As social media continues to evolve and grow, it is certainly refreshing to see how professional sports are able to adapt their policies to stay relevant. I look forward to seeing how sports will continue to innovate their brands through social media.

Many experts are sharing their thoughts as to how social media will evolve this year, and I pulled together some of the highlights to share with you. Additionally, I’ve included sources and links in context so you can dig deeper into this research and data for yourself. A big thanks to Dion H at Dachis Group, David Armano at Edelman, Jeremiah at Altimeter and the folks at Nielsen for your work, thought, data, sourcingand insights. To be clear for purposes of definition, I am defining social media as everything that is external to a company, and social business as everything inside a company. Obviously huge opportunities exist to bridge these two concepts into one business continuum.

Social Media Key Trends and Predictions:

Almost 40% of all social media users access social media content from their mobile phones.

Most of us are already experiencing the boom in mobile.  Smart phones and tablet devices are as essential as laptops or first generation cell phones used to be.  As social media continues to grow, the need for those experiences to seamlessly translate to mobile devices is high.  We are a connected society, and while social media started this trend, mobile is enabling it to develop further and will need to be a part of any social media strategy.

Facebook has the second most unique visitors per month in the United States.

At 7Summits we often explain to clients that simply having a Facebook page is not a social media strategy.  However, I think you will agree that the data confirms that Facebook is an essential part of a social media strategy. The potential reach is amazing, because Facebook includes all ages and demographics. When combined with one of the most targeted ad platforms available, you can easily reach millions of users with a little effort.

By 2016 advertisers will spend $77 billion on interactive marketing.

Advertisers spending $77 Billion on interactive marketing means the opportunity for new ideas, technologies, tracking tools and more is growing fast, and while some have called it a bubble, a prediction of growth 4 years out signifies we are still far away from that potential bubble bursting.

Social Technology Trend Predictions:

• Big Data – Connecting vast streams of information that social media is unleashing within, across, and outside of organizations leads to Social Business Intelligence.
• Cloud – Cost and operational agility will start to be something organizations cannot ignore.
• The rise of the next Web – Businesses will increasingly look at making their products internet addressable and socially connected through means such as Social Media, HTML5, and mobile devices.

Again we see here the importance of making information available and usable, wherever we are. As more data is acquired, we must be able to collect it, study it, understand it, and share it with the people who can take that intelligence and turn it into actionable items to improve business. Big data brings us the information, cloud and “the next web” will make it easier to access.

Social Business Trend Predictions:

• Social business budgets will continue to increase.
• There will be a rise of Social Apps and App-stores.
• Internal communication will shift to online intranets.
• Content Strategy and Integration will be imperative to success.

Digital properties that have made marketing efforts easier and more targeted are now finding their way into an organization’s wheelhouse, making internal communications, collaboration, and knowledge sharing easier than ever. Besides making an employees day to day job easier they also provide real business outcomes allowing companies to decrease costs and improve efficiency.  As things like community constructs play a bigger role in business, the need for a holistic approach to  integrate, consolidate, and merge content from various sources will continue to present opportunities and challenges. This is always the biggest pain point on any project. While a community will give an audience a reason to stay and engage, content gives them a reason to come.

As you can see, Social Business is rapidly changing, and businesses that learn to change and adapt to the dynamic demands of their customers will thrive. I look forward to seeing how Social Business will continue to evolve in the upcoming years.

While when we think of Girl Scouts we often think of cookies, many miss the point of the organization and its goals for women. Chavez commented, “Often overshadowed by the tastiness of a thin mint is the fact that the program (cookie sales), which totaled $700 million in sales last year, is actually designed to train young girls to be entrepreneurs, managers, and leaders, and to inculcate a basic sense of financial literacy.”  While at a corporate level Girl Scouts are taking steps to becoming a more digital organization, local troops are already going digital on their own. For example, one troop in Ohio actually used mobile payment technology during their door to door sales. It’s only a matter of time before more troops (or the corporate level) get smarter and use social and digital to their advantage to increase sales, learning, and enrollment in the Girl Scout program.

“We have to be where girls are,” says Chavez. “Girl Scouts was founded 100 years ago. We need to update the organization and our model, or else we’re going to lose people.”

Chavez . Kids (both boys and girls) spend a lot of time online whether in children’s communities like Webkinz or more grown-up sites like Facebook. In order to reach this audience, brands must be online.

So what kinds of steps are the Girl Scouts taking to turn a 100 year old organization more digital?

• Forming Digital troops- where girls meet regularly using web conferencing and complete activities at home at their leisure.
• Looking for a CIO- the first ever in the organizations history.
• Revamping their badges to include more technology focused activities, including things like web etiquette.
• A new campaign complete with its own website called “To get her there”.

http://www.togetherthere.org/ This website is part of a new initiative by the Girl Scouts to further promote women in leadership and technology roles. While the campaign is thoughtful, I do wish that the Girl Scouts would really go for it and do something online radically different to reach their broader audience.  The togetherthere.org website is not geared for young girls; instead the website obliviously skews toward an adult audience- asking for donations to various charities. There are so many ways that the Girl Scouts could take advantage of social media elements such as online activities, community and forums, content for girls to consume to further the Girl Scout mission and make this website and campaign more powerful.

Its sad to see that the organizations with the most potential to use social media to help others are often slow to adopt its principles because it’s difficult to get funding for new initiatives, or convince a conservative board of directors that social media will have an impact.  The Girl Scouts are taking steps in the right direction, and the sky is the limit to how digital and social will help spread their message. I will definitely be intrigued to see what they come up with the in the future. Hopefully aligning with their goal of enabling more female leaders and technology professionals some of their best digital ideas will come from the girls they are trying to inspire themselves.

The Bridge community has more than 2,400 members and  hundreds of private groups to help answer any questions a prospective student may have about MSOE. There is also an application form that is directly integrated into MSOE’s admission system that provides a step-by-step progress tracker, giving students specific tasks to help them navigate through the admissions process. High School students can use their Facebook credentials to log into the Bridge and ask questions, contribute to conversations, and chat with fellow members for instant feedback. The MSOE Bridge is an innovative approach to the college application process, and 7Summits is grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with MSOE on this project.

Here’s a snippet from the article:

The college admissions process is a painful experience for many hopeful students, filled with strict guidelines and often unhelpful officials. But the Milwaukee School of Engineering may have developed the solution. Their Bridge program is an original approach to the process of applying to college. Following the model of social media, the program serves as a way for applicants to create a profile and connect with admissions counselors, other applicants, and students to share advice and information. In the past, this function has been served by third-party websites; but the benefit of MSOE’s program is the school can maintain the accuracy of the information on a medium (the internet) where inaccuracy abounds.

Read the full article.

Check out Press from the release of the community.

For example, a recent article - 5 Easy Ways to Get Sued for Social Media or Blogging - showcases multiple ways you could get yourself in trouble online without even knowing it. He highlights a lawyer friend of his who admits,

“I’d love to be the lawyer who sets a precedent on things like this – breaking new ground to defend the rights of Internet users, or protect a business that has been targeted unfairly and maliciously. Both are worth fighting for.

“But what I tell my clients is to ask themselves seriously if they want to be the person who pays for it. If they do, I’m ready. But most just want to avoid trouble. So settling, removing the offending content, and avoiding the causes for the trouble in the first place by learning (and following) the rules is usually the best idea.”

In a time when communicating becomes easier and faster every day, should society be punished because our legislative system has only grown slower and more complex? The inability of legislation to move at society’s breakneck pace can be scary, and it may lead to legal issues that could be avoided if social media regulations were up to date. As most of us simply jump on the bandwagon, moving onto the newest and coolest social media platform, some people inevitably have to become the “example.” Is there hope for legislation to ever incorporate social media to the extent that their processes are expedited? Unfortunately, the answers is “Probably not.” So instead education and awareness seems the more plausible answer, but how? How do you get users to take a time out and learn how their behaviors are putting them at risk?

Companies tend to have more awareness of social media hazards than the average consumer. Social Media often scares entire industries away from participating. For example,  the financial services industry is typically a laggard in their use of social media because the regulations make using social often not worth the effort.  FINRA laws are complex and for the most part they shoehorn current forms of communication into old rules, making them very hard to follow.

Simple behaviors from members of the industry such as a “like” or a “re-tweet” signal endorsement of that party for that content. Click a “like” button on unapproved content and you and your employer could be in huge trouble.

Then there’s the undefined value of social media. People often talk about the ROI of social media and the fact that it is hard to measure? Despite the complexity for some companies to measure an ROI, others are literally suing for the value. One such “example” is a recent story of a California man being sued by his former employer for nearly $340,000 for his Twitter followers which he took with him when he left the company.  The company claims those followers were obtained because of his position at the company, and that each one has a monetary value, all totaling $340,000. Does your employer have rights to your Twitter followers? Your blog posts? Your Facebook friends? I bet most of us have never thought about it before.

The government themselves has even broke their own unclear social media laws - Watchdog Group is suing the US government, claiming they did not properly disclose their social media surveillance tactics. When a request was made for the information per the  Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) several agencies failed to report how they collected data, what the data was used for, and who had access to said data. While many of us have no doubt made jokes about social media and big brother, how many of us have thought about checking on the governments practices and calling them out on their missteps?

And while people continue to be “made example of” and major outdated laws go unchanged, many seemingly frivolous laws are swiftly brought to fruition. For example, in Missouri a law was recently passed making it illegal for a teacher to friend a student on Facebook. While it makes sense that we make the relationship rules easy and just say it not allowed, is this the most important use of social media laws to get into place? What about children with poor home lives who develop special relationships with their teachers? Is it wrong for them to get support via social media? What about teachers being able to better police their students by getting more insight into their private lives? Being able to bust students for drinking or drug use. The situation is again an unclear one, and I would certainly argue that their are more important issues to tackle.

So how aware are you of your social media behaviors and current legislation? More importantly what are you going to do to protect yourself?