If you are reading blogs and articles about social media, you have probably come across what brands are calling the next evolution of social media, Social CRM (SCRM).  Even within our Trone blog, Doug Barton wrote a post entitled “Social Media and CRM: Which Will Survive” , where he discussed Dove’s Ambassador program that combined both social and CRM initiatives to drive brand experience and loyalty.

At the LiNC 2010 Conference in May, experts discussed Social CRM and where it’s going.  Paul Greenburg, a leading CRM expert, was interviewed to  discuss the changing dynamics.

He quickly points out that companies are not yet aligned for the changes that this marketing shift can cause within their organizations.  Very few companies deliver a consistent experience across all of their social media touchpoints. Do you know any companies that are poised for each employee to embrace every single customer touchpoint?   As we emerge into the 2011 planning period, all companies should be thinking about what they are doing to deliver one-to-one, relationship-building experiences with their customers.

The mom blogger population is a great group; they are dynamic, competitive, compassionate and large in numbers. These bloggers have influence over their peers and are influenced by their peers. However, learning to treat each of these bloggers as an individual is where a brand stands to gain some trust, respect and eventually support. Just like each of our moms and any mom you know, they are different. They face different challenges, have different backgrounds and have different interests and values. Mashable’s article, Top 10 Misconceptions About Mommy Bloggers, is a good way to start thinking about mom bloggers. But I offer these other tips from experience:

• Use other social media platforms. Mommy bloggers will often leave the smaller personal details about their life out of their blog posts. Twitter and Facebook are great ways to find out these little tidbits of information. Use these pieces of information to connect with them on personal level. If one of your mom bloggers has a funny story about their kids, respond to it on twitter or include it your next email to them. It shows you care.
• Be a resource. Thinking that a blogger should just help you will not help you win over this audience. A brand needs to create content and act as a resource for their target bloggers. Let them know that you understand their lives are crazy and there is not always time to blog. Becoming a resource and trusted partner will be the basis for a strong relationship.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for advice. These mommy bloggers are the experts in their world. If you are creating content or looking to start a relationship with new bloggers, as your current bloggers. Just like networking in person, a personal introduction goes a long way with this group.

When a mom blogger believes in a brand or campaign, it comes through in their posts. Creating a personal relationship with each of those bloggers allows them to see that your brand values the same things they do and cares about the success of their blog, not just the success of the brand. Mommy bloggers have a large amount of influence over each other and over their readership. Developing a genuine personal connection with these bloggers is the first step towards having their support.

There has been a large amount of conversation recently about Social Media and CRM. There are some that are saying we do not need CRM if we have Social Media. I have also heard it said, “Social Media, the death of CRM”. I find it interesting that this conversation is even happening. Both of these are really tried and true marketing programs that have been enhanced with new technology and some new names. It is clear to me that both Social Media and CRM are both here to stay, and both of them have very important roles to play in the marketing mix. I think the better question is how do we best utilize both strategies together to maximize the engagement of the customer and the ROI of the marketing program. Well, I came across a program last week that might be classified as the new buzz ,  ”A Social CRM” program.

Recently my wife received an invitation from Dove to be part of the ”Dove Ambassador” program for their new line of hair products. She received a series of four emails, a survey and a direct mail package. When she received the package it contained a free product for my wife to use, and it also contained five samples of the product for her to give to her friends. The trial packets for her to share with her friends also included a coupon good for their next purchase of Dove hair products. The  series of emails and instructions in the direct mail package spelled out the directions for the program and how to tell others.

I think that the “Dove Ambassador” program has successfully created a social media platform to create “word of mouth” for the brand and they have also leveraged CRM  through their use of targeted correspondence and their ability  to measure success of the program through the coupon redemption metrics.  I can see why this program might be classified as a “Social CRM” program but you know it really is not that new of an idea. Ten or Fifteen years ago it might have been called a ”a direct mail sampling” program  and now it been dusted off and rebuilt leveraging new technology.  Regardless of what we call it, “direct mail sampling”, “Social CRM” or  the “Dove Ambassador Program”,  good strategically grounded programs like this one will survive and be around for many years to come.

We recently conducted a study of internet use among 1800 members of our opinions@trone consumer panel. Among the key findings was the projected increase in the number of internet-enabled phones. With their next phone purchase, consumers will more than double the collective penetration of iphone, itouch, Android-based and other smart phones. Once this purchase cycle completes itself, we’ll have the majority of adults with mobile internet access for the first time. This certainly bodes well for the continued success of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter and suggests an increasing opportunity for many other internet-based services.

Having internet access does not necessarily mean that consumers will be engaged. The behavior of those who currently have internet access, however, suggests use will be significant. Measured by a top 2 box response to frequency of use, 65% are currently checking email, 39% are doing local-based searches and 31% are updating their status on social media sites.

There is no way to judge what the full impact of that many internet enabled users might be on brands and products but certainly the venues to which they’ll have access are affecting both brands and products today. An example is Saturday Night Live acquiescing to the 1,000,000 plus fans who utilized Facebook to lobby for Betty White as the guest host.

White as the host was a big win for SNL with over 12.5M households tuning in. This represents about a 35% lift over a typical SNL audience. While NBC was undoubtedly appreciative of Facebook and its many fans, White conveyed her old, immutable self with her remarks.

“I have to thank Facebook. I didn’t know what Facebook was before this, and I have to tell you, it seems like a waste of time”  

A waste of time? Maybe. But, a popular one with nearly 2/3 of the adult internet enabled population spending a portion of their time on social networks. With that type of penetration, the ease of access provided by new technology and the power demonstrated by the SNL example this is a medium that marketers need take some risk to stay ahead of. 

Just as people are beginning to learn about location-based tools, Foursquare announces that it has reached 40 million checkins. Within five weeks, Foursquare’s checkins have doubled showing its increased popularity. But is the quick growth about to come to an abrupt end?

Facebook has announced that later this month, it will launch its own location-based features.  Leveraging all of Facebook’s users, this might be enough to crush the growth of Foursquare and the other emerging location-based tools such as Gowalla, Whrrl and TriOut. In late April, Trone launched an online usage study that  measured the popularity of these tools. The study showed that the tools mentioned above each had 6% top two box response when asked “how often do you use the following location-based tools on your mobile phone”.  The data will serve as a great benchmark when understanding the impact of the Facebook features launch.

As the penetration of internet-based phones increases, one thing that we can expect is that the popularity of location-based tools will grow.  In the upcoming months, it will be interesting to see how each fights for its own niche market position in combating the Facebook giant.

Today’s mom is ‘connected’ in more ways than you can count.  She has a Blackberry or an iPhone. She has a Facebook page and Twitter account. And she no longer seeks information only from books.  She reads blogs!

 As a mother of two young kids, I am often seeking out information that is not only factual but practical.  I am searching for answers of how to handle a 6 year olds temper to what other moms used to clear a bad diaper rash. And yes, I can get all of this information from something that has 2 covers with perfect stitching, but why?  Why would I choose to read a dated reference book when I can talk to other moms with my same issues and read about how my fellow moms handle certain situations?

 Not only am I huge blog reader, I now have a blog of my own.  An outlet where I share my funny family stories with friends and families.  During my blog research, I have come across many successful mommy blogs that offer everything from family stories to product suggestions. 

One of these such mommy bloggers is at the top of the mommy blogging world. She has made her personal blog her main income for her family and has currently landed a spot on HDTV.  DOOCE.com is by far my favorite mommy blogger.  She is real.  She offers an honest look at married life with kids.  While she spends her days updating her blog, she is also supporting her site with banner ads which now support her family and has allowed her husband to stay home with her.

What a great idea and one I wish I had thought of!  To think that you can support your life with marketing through banner ads on a site that you update because you love to write about your life, family and what you are having for breakfast.  BRILLIANT.  And for those companies who advertise on a blog like this are not brave, but smart.  Those who follow blogs daily are exposed to targeted product placements without evening knowing it. 

In the words of Heather Armstrong herself (the Dooce!) “Here in this tiny space on the web is an example of just how awesome and life-altering the Internet can be.”

 Check her out.  I am sure once you read her blog once you will be hooked.

After years of blocking their contestants from online outreach to fans, American Idol has released a statement saying that they will allow contestants to communicate via their “Idol-managed” Facebook, Twitter and MySpace pages.  Sounds like a fantastic idea, but how will it change the competition?

Here are a few things I will be watching out for:

1. The influence of social media on the outcome
   As the Top 24 is narrowed to 12, we should see indication of popularity by visiting each participant’s social media site.  Can you imagine how much influence each site will hold as fans of the show try to rally their friends and family to support each contestant?  However, a new dynamic may enter as fans might become complacent and not vote if they see that their favorite has millions of supporters on their sites.
2. Each contestant’s ability to rally fans
   It will be interesting to see how each contestant uses their outlets to rally support.  This year’s winner could be decided on an artist’s ability to engage with fans to drive votes. A contestant’s social media savvy will be exposed.
3. Additional pressure on the contestants
   There is no doubt that each contestant feels pressure from the judges and live audience.  Will comments that critics place on the forums create more anxiety for the singers?
4. How much will Idol manage the forums?
   The true beauty of social media is unfiltered, transparent conversations.  I will be interested to see how much Idol allows.

Every year American Idol hooks me somehow, and now with this new dynamic, they have done it again.  How do you think the new social media policy will change the competition?

If you’re like me, in the first hour I used Google Wave, I thought…”eeh. Kinda cool, but I don’t need another thing to check, why not just integrate these features into Gmail? Well, I pretty much got my wish and more with Google Buzz. Now I’m not sure if it’s what I wanted. I think the integration of social media and multimedia-email-like-objects could be cool. I could talk about the potential positives with this new google product, but I think those are pretty easy to see, here are some potential aspects I don’t like:

(If you don’t know what google buzz is, here is a video. In short, its Facebook and Twitter meet gmail. It will be in every gmail account, whether you ask for it or not. (but you can turn it off if you want))

Social Integration

I don’t know if I want / need another digital social touch point. I already use Twitter and Facebook. I don’t see myself abandoning them anytime soon. So right now gmail serves a pretty specific purpose for me right now, it’s my email. I’m not totally keen on the idea of inviting the whole world into my inbox.

Privacy Concerns
If you’ve activated buzz you’ll notice it’s already set up people to follow. Ditto for others. This article put it best “The problem is that — by default — the people you follow and the people that follow you are made public to anyone who looks at your profile.
In other words, before you ever touch any settings in Google Buzz, someone could go into your profile and see who are the people you email and chat with most.”

Must Google run everything?
To me Google feels a bit like the robber-barrons of the 21st century. Right now I have 1) a gmail account 2) an igoogle account 3)p google blog 4)a google phone 5) a google voice account 6) a google reader account 7) a google checkout account 8 ) a google wave account 9) a google picture account (picasa) 10) it’s my interne browser,  its also 11) my text and video chat client and of course, my  12) search engine.  Thats 12 prety major things, and who knows what I forgot. Twitter, Facebook and Apple are among the few major players I still interact with that aren’t google. Do I think google is pure evil like some people do? No. But I feel like I should be cautious. If they do turn out to be pure evil I don’t want them to be in control of everything I come into contact with, no matter how convenient it is.

I’m pretty set in my ways. Right now I like my social media with my social media and my email with my email. Can I resist or will I be fully dragged into the Googlesphere. I guess only time will tell.

(This was originally posted at Digital Pivot before being reposted here and at my website, but I did write it)

I recently participated in a compelling conference on social media. One of the most interesting dialogues centered on the importance of Wingmen — those brand advocates who will support your brand in the dogfight that social media has become.

Before we can define the value of Wingmen in the social media environment, we must first agree on a definition of the form. Unfortunately, due to the category’s lack of maturity, there are nearly as many definitions of social media as there are tools to leverage it. Among the most concise is Wikipedia’s:

Social media is media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media uses Internet and web-based technologies to transform broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many). It supports the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers.

Unfortunately, democratization gives everyone a voice, advocate and detractor alike.  In this environment every brand issue, real or imagined, can surface at any time and in nearly any place. Once an issue is in the fore, conversation runs rampant and the battle is on. Literally before an organization is aware they can be the target of a brand slam.

When it comes to such situations, many companies decide to come to their own defense. Unfortunately, as one might expect, the explanations tend to sound… well, defensive or worse yet arrogant. In these cases, the brand detractors gain momentum so, rather than winning the battle, the brand is just providing ammunition to their opponent. For a good example of brand detraction, go to youtube.com and view the United Airlines Taylor Guitar Video.

Third party support in the form of a Wingman delivers a brand message more effectively than a company ever could. No brand is devoid of advocates or they wouldn’t be in business. These advocates are your best friends, they speak the language of your brand more credibly than you could dream of and they are your best allies in any brand battle.

Of course, you will always face brand detractors, but the advocates have every bit as good a chance to dispel negative conversation and positively influence other consumers. The key is identifying the potential Wingman, engaging them to defend and grow the brand and properly arming them for the battles to come. And, remember all your Wingmen don’t have to come from your customer ranks there are many other potential sources of support on so large and dynamic a battleground.

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