There is a deservedly famous scene in Taxi Driver (Martin Scorcese, 1976) where Travis Bickle, the lead character played by Robert de Niro, tries various lines and deliveries in front of a mirror, angrily and seemingly puzzled at an imagined effrontery, and exclaims “Are you talkin’ to me?!”

This is what I imagine most traditional marketers’ expressions and words to be in the face of the social media explosion: surprised that their consumers are talking to them. And in many cases, talking back.  As well as upset at the loss of control of their carefully crafted messages, unsure of whether to do anything about it, then unsure of what to do.  And in my own reenactment of the Taxi Driver scene, with brands as Travis Bickle, I envision the mirror talking back, in the voice of consumers: “Are you talking to me?!” “Yes, but are you listening to us?”

Since the once one-way monologue from brands to consumers has irreversibly mutated into a multi-way conversations thanks to social media, the need to listen has become a critical part of any marketer’s must-do list.

One could even say that listening to what consumers are saying about your brand, which has been called many things from Social Media Monitoring to Buzz Monitoring to Social Listening, is a matter of survival.  Here are a few reasons why:

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A few weeks ago, I was asked to share some of my favorite social media tools with iMedia Connection.  Here is a re-post of that article and a few of my favorite applications - some free and some paid - that are worth their weight in marketing gold.

Article Highlights:

• Social Mention gives a great snapshot of blog, forum, and microblog buzz, sentiment, and keywords
• Radian6 and Alterian’s SM2 offer solid analytical tools, easy-to-use interfaces, powerful data retrieval, and more
• Quantcast and Compete are both free resources for basic metrics such as site/blog traffic, user demographics, page views, and unique visitors

In many ways, 2009 was the year of the “a-ha!” moment for social media marketing. While many people long-involved with social media and word-of-mouth marketing knew it was only a matter of time for the masses to embrace this type of marketing, others were just starting to get their arms around the importance of establishing and leveraging their social footprint to build engagement, dialogue, and awareness.

As more companies, brands, and individuals are building their social media presences, the universe of online tools — which used to be somewhat more limited — continues to expand on a daily basis. Not only do we have more choices in how we place content and measure social media, but the tools available to us also change and improve just as frequently.

To provide a little background on me: I run a social media marketing agency (KARMA Media Labs) that helps organizations and individuals connect with their target audiences and build word of mouth in the communities where they live. In order to find these audiences and strike a chord, it’s important to be armed with the right tools to listen to what is being said, find the right influencers, communicate with your audience in a way that is relevant, and provide content that is likely to be shared.

The following is a list of some my favorite tools and sites — some free, some paid — that have been worth their weight in gold in not only finding that desired audience and key influencers, but also putting the right content in front of them to build conversation and word of mouth.

Read the rest of this entry at iMedia Connection

A few weeks ago, I was asked by Lisa Lacy on behalf of ClickZ why MTV’s Jersey Shore has become so popular through social media and conditions for the “perfect storm”.

‘Jersey Shore’ Builds Momentum with Social Apps

By Lisa Lacy, ClickZ, Jan 20, 2010

When actor Michael Cera got his hair blown out by Jersey Shore’s DJ Pauly D in a cross-promotional effort for Cera’s new film, Youth in Revolt, it was a new high for MTV’s hit reality show.

The show’s basic premise is similar to over 20 preceding seasons in MTV’s Real World franchise, yet Snooki, Vinny and the rest of the gang have reached an unprecedented level of cultural saturation. According to Nielsen, 1.4 million viewers tuned in to the premiere on December 4. And numbers have steadily risen since then, culminating in 3.6 million viewers tuning in on January 14.

That’s thanks in part to MTV’s efforts to harness organic buzz and create branded content. The company has launched a Twitter integration, exclusive online videos, and is preparing new features such as a character generator and an iPhone app.

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As a marketer wishing to create a presence on Facebook, one is often faced with the decision of whether to create a Group or a Fan Page.

Before the design revamp earlier this year, Facebook Groups and Fan pages both had similar functionality and one big problem: they didn’t give people a reason to come back.

Once someone joined a group or became a fan, there wasn’t much to remind them to return for a visit.  This made the decision pretty much 50/50 for a marketer as one option had about the same pros and cons as the other.

Point: Team “Fan Page”
The Group vs. Fan Page game changed a few months ago when Facebook updated Fan page functionality to act more like a personal page.

Rather than having static content, fan page news updates and wall posts would be pushed out to fans’ newsfeeds and foster more organic word of mouth and engagement (see our previous entry on the benefits of a Fan Page). During this time, Groups stayed the same– stuck with limited functionality and passalong factor. The marketing choice became a lot easier: create a Fan Page to maximize participation.

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Yesterday, over a lunch meeting with some friends and media colleagues, we started getting a bit philosophical about social media marketing and how companies are not only beginning to embrace it, but how they’re budgeting, implementing, and integrating this type of media internally as part of their overall marketing strategy.

One of the questions that came up: 

Does a company really need senior level involvement or outside help to execute social media marketing, or can it be done internally by a team of interns?

Interesting question.  The short answer is, yes and yes.

In my opinion, the mistake many companies make in leaping into social media marketing is that it’s all about having a Twitter and Facebook page.  Well my friends, if this is all social media marketing means to you, by all means, have your interns go to town.  But to me, social media marketing is so much more than that.

Reaching your target audiences where they live online is much more than how you’re represented in social networks.  Tapping into the power of influencers, bloggers and taste makers who specialize in your cause or subject matter is something that is a bit of a talent, as there’s so much clutter and competition with getting messages and your call to action heard.  If that’s something your intern can do, more power to you.  However, sometimes it’s better to have a strategic game plan in targeting where you’re brand is represented, how consumers will engage, and the likelihood they will spread the word.

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Recently, the US Senate voted to end funding for the F-22 Raptor stealth fighters based on recommendations from the Defense Department.  This jet is the world’s costliest weapon and was designed in the 1980’s to combat a similar set of sneaky war planes the Soviet Union had in its arsenal.

At the time, it was clear that we needed to go head to head with our Soviet counterparts to ensure that our country stayed safe. They had planes, we had planes. They wore uniforms, we wore uniforms.  All was safe and secure in the world of high profile and high cost defense.

However, the world has changed drastically since then.  The Soviet Union no longer exists and while there are still well-gunned challengers in the world, the biggest threat to our national security comes from people without uniforms or weapons commonplace in the battlefields of the past. These new enemies are crafty and covert, utilizing methods that require a more surgical approach than our F-22 bombers can deliver.

So, how does this apply to the current state of marketing?

Well, before social media took off in the US, marketers used traditional advertising vehicles to get the word out.  Many of these options, like TV, radio and print, provided great reach and enabled an advertiser to increase brand awareness at a fairly significant cost.

The ability to connect with a single customer in a meaningful way outside the store, a call center, or direct mail was just not possible.  This would be the F-22 phase of advertising, as we all used pretty big guns to hit a target we might not know that much about.

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Have you seen that video…

…where the lion hugs the guy who raised him as a cub? Or where the kid’s still dizzy after his trip to the dentist? Or even that video of the South Park episode where Canada goes on strike for the Internet’s money – the Internet has money, doesn’t it?  Well, does it?

Well if you haven’t seen those videos, it doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that people are talking about them.

Getting the word out there via sending the link to a friend, having a conversation about it at a bar, having a laugh at work. All of this does matter in the world of promotions, advertising, and marketing. So why aren’t more brands and companies making them?

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Today’s entry is brought to us by our guest blogger, AV Flox, editor of the hugely popular social media blog OMGOMGOMFG.com.

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Once upon a time, a woman complained about a job offer on her Twitter account and earned the scorn and ridicule of the world when an employee of the company in question cornered her with a series of tweets.

For those of you who missed the fall of Cisco Fatty, here’s the run down: a woman by the Twitter username @theconnor, tweeted: “Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work.”

Not long after, a long-time Cisco employee, @timmylevad, replied: “Who is the hiring manager. I’m sure they would love to know that you will hate the work. We here at Cisco are versed in the web.” He went further with more tweets about the applicant’s naivete, contacted bloggers to write about the incident and asked followers to retweet his comments. Read the rest of this entry »

You’re a company, or a brand, an artist, or a marketer who wants to promote your cause and you want a presence on Facebook.  You’ve seen it done before, but you just don’t know what your options are.

Should you create a Facebook Group?

Or is a Fan Page your best bet?

In the past, Fan Pages and Groups both had a similar problem: they tended to get initial fan interest, but couldn’t keep fans coming back for more.  There was a lack of social functionality and value for both the fan and the cause.  In essence, the Fan Page and Group used to act like the Facebook version of the brochureware web site back in the day. That now seems to have changed.

While the new redesign of Facebook has infuriated many of its users, it has also created more benefits for marketers and those who want to engage with their audiences and fans.

Facebook has thoroughly revamped Fan Pages in the past few weeks to offer much more viral potential with their built-in news stream integration and dissemination features: any action is seen by each users’ friends and actions are more easily shared.

While the Facebook Groups page still looks and feels the same, the Fan pages have been improved to look and feel more like user profiles.  These new features have driven a lot of users to them while making Facebook Groups a much less influential and used communication tool than before.

Some things to keep in mind if you’re considering a Fan Page:

• When updating your wall, your updates will be included in all your fans news streams
• Fan page editors can update their fans about new content, promotions, upcoming events, and more.
• Fan page editors can send messages to either their entire fan list or segment their update to targeted fans
• Messages from fan page editors appear in their inbox “Updates” tab
• Fan page editors can click on a tab called “insights” which gives information on fan page views

We suggest before starting a Group or Fan Page, you should thoroughly read through Facebook’s FAQs:

Facebook Pages: http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=175

Facebook Groups: http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=414

With Facebook’s recent redesign of user home pages and updates to the Fan Page template (and very few updates to Groups), we at KML couldn’t help but wonder if the Fan Page is future home for any and all who want a Facebook presence to interact with their fans and audience.

And if so… how long will we enjoy that feature for free?

Not a week goes by without my seeing yet another article or blog post bemoaning the fact that social media marketing cannot be measured or touting a new, “revolutionary” way of measuring word of mouth (WOM).

I really enjoy this lively debate but my own experience at KML and beyond has made me a believer: social media marketing can be measured and most campaigns can be evaluated on an ROI basis.

There are several issues that I believe create the brouhaha around metrics and social media marketing.

• Most companies do not take the time to define what their social media goals are in measurable terms to determine what their success metrics are. And many times, agencies are just as guilty.  As one often says, you cannot manage what you do not measure and you cannot measure what you do not define.

• Every social campaign, even for the same brand or product or property, will have different metrics attached to it. Because the objectives of campaigns and the environment and circumstances in which they are implemented will differ, so should their metrics. A campaign may need to focus on conversions to measure its ROI, another may be all about buzz and awareness with yet another’s success measured on time spent engaging with a specific tool or piece of content.  And too often, we see marketers using the same old, and usually irrelevant, online metrics of pageviews, unique visitors, etc.

• Here’s an ugly little myth: “even if you can figure out what to measure with WOM/social media marketing, the measurement methodologies are so unreliable as to make the results meaningless.” Nonsense. Word of Mouth, social media, non-traditional online marketing analytics are just as accurate as traditional offline and online analytics, but because the marketing methods themselves are new, their measurement has not been codified into accepted standards.  And there are sometimes several ways or methodologies to track one specific metric.  This, however, does not make these measuring tools inaccurate but it does make them more likely to be influenced by subjective interpretations.

• Social media marketing measurement tools are developed and released on almost a daily basis and existing methodologies are being constantly refined which will give our industry trustworthy tools much faster in its lifecycle than any other advertising or marketing field before.

Stay tuned for part 2 which will list some of the free and paid measurement tools that we are huge fans of at KARMA Media Labs.