The Wharton Club of South Florida provided an encore presentation to last year’s hugely successful social media event on Tuesday, August 2, at the Storer Auditorium on the campus of the University of Miami’s School of Business. More than 100 attendees enjoyed a 90-minute presentation and Q&A session at the “Open for Business Online Analytics, Behavioral Targeting, Data Mining – The Great Equalizers of the Digital Market Place” event. The discussion focused on strategies and tactics to effectively establish and measure success of Internet marketing and social media programs. The panel of experts included Elea McDonnell Feit, research director with the Wharton Customer Analytics Initiative; Jay Berkowitz, CEO of tengoldenrules.com; University of Miami professor Alex de Carvalho; and Jacques Hart, CEO of Roar Media.

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The panelists agreed on the importance of conducting research before establishing a digital marketing program, and they provided outstanding real-world case studies to illustrate this. One of the examples of consumer analytics is the application of social media monitoring, which is being used to understand what people are thinking and talking about. Successful social media campaigns require heeding the three “E’s” of social media: educate, entertain and engage. Social media monitoring tools, such as Radian6, can be quite costly, the good news is that other analytical tools are widely accessible and free. Finding them is as easy as “Googling” the desired application and tool.

Audience members sought the panelists’ advice on how to best leverage Internet marketing and social media for their businesses and ways they could measure their effectiveness. The panelists advised attendees not to fear Google, rather learn more about it and try to stay ahead of its ever-evolving methodology and solutions. The resounding theme of the event was that today’s business leaders need to begin asking their actual customers questions in order to determine what they want and how they want it communicated to them. Based on this, the brands will be better prepared to engage and interact with consumers and ultimately better sell and serve them.

Feedback was extremely positive, with many of the attendees remaining well past the end of the event to speak with the panelists and network with their fellow Wharton alumni.  The Wharton Club of South Florida routinely provides thought-provoking panels as part of its commitment to its members and the community.. Remember to follow the Wharton Club of South Florida via our own social media channels.

Roar Media has an exciting career position for a bright, high-energy, person passionate about Internet marketing and digital communications. The ideal candidate will be familiar with and already actively participate in the Web 2.0 space: social networking sites; video and photo sharing sites; social bookmarking sites, blogs; wikis, etc. He or she will be able to “hit the ground running” and quickly perform assigned tasks in a high-quality manner and with a positive, professional attitude.

For the right person, this is a unique opportunity to learn from fun, yet seasoned Internet marketing professionals, work on the cutting-edge of communications and be exposed to next-generation communication practices.

Responsibilities:

• Plan, execute, and manage client’s Internet marketing and social media programs
• Update and maintain clients websites through a content management system
• Develop and pitch positive story ideas and client news to top blogs and social media outlets
• Extend client’s traditional publicity by diffusing their news releases and articles in social media environments such as: YouTube, Facebook, Digg, Del.icio.us, MySpace, Squidoo, StumbleUpon, Technorati, Twitter, etc.
• Participate in SEO campaigns and index and optimize pages for search engine results pages
• Upload and feature previously-secured media clips and articles in key social media, Web 2.0 sites
• Actively monitor media for mentions and placements
• Create viral marketing strategies to communicate client’s messaging to key Internet audiences
• Establish meaningful metrics for social media campaigns to effectively measure program output and impact
• Prepare and deliver social media benchmark audits and reports for clients
• Stay abreast of developments occurring in the social media and Web 2.0 space

Qualifications:

• Degree in journalism, public relations or marketing preferred (will also consider candidates with previous related work experience)
• Preference given to those who know basic HTML, WordPress and other open source programs
• Passion for social media, user-generated content, Web 2.0 sites
• An understanding of the fundamentals of Internet marketing and public relations
• Strong writing, proofreading, and editing skills & excellent proficiency in grammar and punctuation
• Strong proficiency in MS Office applications and other web based tools
• Ability to work in a team, as well as independently
• Ability to generate unique ideas and think creatively
• Ability to organize and prioritize work and manage projects under deadline

To Apply:

Please e-mail resume to: info@roarmedia.com

Unfortunately, most consumers are reluctant to give complements, but they love to complain. The Internet empowers consumers with new user-generated content sites that enable them to speak their mind anonymously and they do: More than 40% of all social networkers said they use social media to learn more about brands or products, and 28% said a “friend” has recommended a brand or product to them through social sites.

So why is this important? Peer reviews are more respected and trusted than expert reviews. Consumer Reports has lost its luster and consumers are turning to social shopping to shape their buying decisions. The popularity of Yelp! Amazon, Ebay and TripAdvisor are the proof in the pudding. Negative feedback in these channels can be lethal to any company, but a positive reputation can be the driver of explosive sales as word-of mouth endorsements become viral and organic.

So, how can you maximize social shopping and protect your reputation at the same time? There are many solutions, but may be to turn to the experts. BusinessWeek recently ordained the online reputation management field as an industry. Reputation management firms are popping up everywhere that purport that they protect and manage your reputation online. Here are some service providers that have built proprietary systems to monitor and manage your reputation.

• Radian6
• MightyBrand
• Attentio
• Buzzlogic
• Filtrbox
• Scout Labs

While all of these companies claim to deliver the best results, their methodology is inherently flawed. Their systems are weak on the upfront information gathering and the social media monitoring phase. How can you know that there is a perception problem if you can’t adequately monitor Internet? The best social media and Internet motoring platform in existence is Google. It is no secret that Google’s search platform renders the most comprehensive results. On the contrary, the new upstarts base their monitoring efforts, not on Google search results, but rather on their own proprietary search technology. As a result, they are not able to capture all of the “chatter” being said about your brand and are not seeing the entire picture. Meanwhile disgruntled consumers continue to harm your hard-earned reputation. In addition, these “reputation defenders” charge a pretty penny for their service- in some cases making it cost-prohibitive to get in the game. While their platforms layer in value-added intelligence and analysis to their findings, such as, sentiment, reach, passion, strength, they lack a key component to any successful reputation management program: crisis communications. One could argue that PR firms experienced in crisis management are best positioned to handle these issues. After all, who is better positioned to use words to turn a sour grape into fine wine?

Revisiting Google, we have found that combining Google Alerts with a RSS reader generates the most comprehensive results and most effectively monitors online conversations. The first step is to conduct a thoughtful keyword analysis that aggregates all of the keywords that drive your business. Be sure to complement these keywords with derivations like ”sucks”, “bad”, “expensive”, “broken”, etc.. to view what the naysayers have to say. In addition, you can complement your online reputation management with a few free sites that specialize in tracking social commentary. Try these on for size: Social Mention, http://www.yacktrack.com, http://www.keotag.com/ and www.whostalkin.com.

Taken in combination, you now have built a solid social media monitoring service. Now, that your platform is established, be sure to man the ship with an savvy communications captain that actively monitors the conversation, surfaces negative feedback to the right stakeholders and takes action to right the ship. Many companies find that their PR team is best suited to handle this function being intimately familiar with your brand and messaging platform. Be sure to select a firm with combined experience in crisis communications, SEO and social media monitoring.

So, now that you have sent the bots to scour the Internet and blogosphere for feedback on your brand, what do you do when they return negative feedback and vibes? You’ll have to stay tuned for Part II as we reveal the brass-tactics to dodge the mud balls and keep your reputation spick and span.

Despite the media buzz leading up to the unveiling of the final 2010 census, the “big tally” of 308,745,538 U.S. residents was anticlimactically revealed Dec. 21 when most people were more interested in eggnog and mistletoe. To illustrate, search volume and overall interest for the 2010 census has fallen flat since the number was revealed, according to Google Trends:

This decade’s census cost taxpayers a whopping 325% more than the 2000 census, $14.5 billion. To justify this expense, the census organizer’s marshaled their best PR abilities to over-communicate their achievements along the way. While I am not merely blogging to complain about how the government bought a golden toilet seat, I am blogging to both applaud and critique the 2010 census website and the data collection methods. I choose this topic as the site has become the census’ focal point in the communications strategy.

From a data collection standpoint, the entire process reeks of obsolete technologies and archaic methodologies. In the digital age, why are we still chopping down trees and sending snail mail to complete basic questionnaires? Of course there is a need to ensure that the census is conducted for every U.S. household, but with more than 80% Internet penetration, census administrators could have deployed advanced Internet data collection methodologies to eliminate some of the cost structure. In doing so, the data collected could have been much more robust as there would not have been the space and size restrictions associated with a print questionnaire. The site hosts an interactive presentation of the 2010 census form, boasting that this is the shortest form in history: 10 questions in 10 minutes. The organizers missed the point. It isn’t about the number of questions are in the form, but rather how quick and easy the form is to complete. Having an interactive, intuitive online form would’ve resulted in more questions, less time and less cost. Lastly, an online questionnaire portal would’ve revealed incredible statistics, like time spent, number of user sessions, etc. All which would’ve revealed invaluable information regarding poll takers sentiment toward the census.

As for the Census website, the designers seemed to have taken queues from Obama’s smashing social media success. The core site is a hodgepodge and virtual mash-up of different social media integrations. Social media, as a transparent communications channel, naturally embodies the spirit of democracy; however, the application of social media like anything else, is dirt in, dirt out. While the site has a cool, web 2.0 look and feel and presents many interactive elements, the site lacks a certain transparency regarding the data, as well as certain social API’s, mash-ups and polls. For instance, there is no place to download the raw data and there are no ad-hoc polls giving visitors the opportunity to share their thoughts and feedback. In addition, other mash-ups, such as population overlays with Google Earth could have added valuable visual elements.

On the plus side, the census site is fairly engaging and interactive thanks to many basic social media elements. For example, the site features a blog, a multimedia center hosting a video, photo and audio gallery, as well as call-outs to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.

Additionally, the site’s “virality” is very positive. At every junction, the site’s developers included viral icons like the Add This plug-in, as a well as prominent links to the major social media platforms as list above. In addition, the blog enables readers to send to a friend and to subscribe to an RSS feed.

Arguably, the most valuable feature is the 2010 census data interactive map highlighting population change, population density and apportionment. The map enables users to scroll over states of their choice to view relative data. It also enables visitors to embed the map on your site using Iframes.

Unfortunately, the site fails when it comes to translation. The site has a language function which only translates a basic introduction page and fails to translate any of the other sections. The basic intro page hardly appeases non-English speaking residents. Better yet, a simple integration of Google’s translator could have translated the entire site. This was a negligent omission.

Apportionment — the process that determines the dividing of seats in the House of Representatives among the 50 states — should be taken seriously. After all, it determines how federal funds are allocated back to our congressional districts. As such, I was surprised that the Census team decided to give the section a whimsical label and logo: The Amazing Apportionment Machine. The treatment comes off as immature and seems to undermine the gravity that the process deserves.

Despite some obvious omissions and lack of transparency, I rate the site with overall good marks. It captures, condenses and communicates the results of the Census in an intuitive, logical fashion. Better yet, the site leverages social media tools that provide visitors with a platform to share their opinions and thoughts and to advance the citizen-government dialogue. We just hope they hear our point loud and clear: $14.5B is a ton of money to spend on a census in any age, and particularly in the digital age and in tough economic times.

While most online marketers struggle to keep pace with social media’s rapid evolution, the Wharton Club panel discussion revealed three key constructs that serve as a universal framework for effective social marketing programs.

The first: experimentation. Wharton Marketing Professor Yoram Wind probably put it best when he said: “If you are not willing to experiment, then you really must not want to know the answer.” As an electronic medium built on a highly manipulatable foundation (often open source code), social media lends itself extremely well to experimenting to find the best-performing applications. Basic A/B testing of messaging, content, landing pages, creative, and other campaign elements can yield significant intelligence and help ensure the programs meet the organizational goals.

A second pillar: application of just-in-time measurement. This is a newer social media construct that Silicon Valley industry leaders advocate as an effective way to further build and solidify community and advance social media programs. As social measurement technologies improve and new free and open source tools become available, just-in-time measurement becomes a powerful method to continuously track and measure campaign efficacy vis-à-vis the program’s goals.

The third theme concerns the rate of adoption and integration of social media into a company’s culture and overall marketing-communications programs. Many of the audience members at the Wharton panel discussion shared personal anecdotes of company executives who are reluctant to engage in social media, support its funding or embrace it as an integral part of their marketing strategy. Attendees also voiced concerns about companies failing to protect their reputations online and mitigate negative feedback.

The panelists’ consensus is that social media, as a transparent medium, is having a pervasive impact on our world and communications. If used correctly, it can significantly help a company achieve its goals. Companies that choose not to engage in this dialogue will invariably forgo the many positive impacts and benefits of social media. They also run the serious risk of alienating themselves from the consumers who are talking about them while limiting their ability to respond to crises and manage their reputations online – a dangerous proposition. Without doubt, all sorts of conversations about their companies, their brands, products and services are happening online – whether or not the companies want to engage in them – and smart companies are choosing to invest the time and resources to join the conversations.