I thought it fitting to write my last post on building your personal brand online. Don’t worry; I will not pretend to know much after my four short blog posts here. But would like to share in my experience. Whether you are looking for a new job, a student, or gainfully employed, the rise of social media enables you the opportunity to manage your own reputation, both online and in real life.  When you engage in conversations and interact with others, both online and offline, it will help build up an image of who you are over time.

For me, the experience of blogging has made me think about my own strengths and personality and what my online voice would look like. It has been interesting trying to find a unique position amongst the substantial amount of blogs, online posts, articles and thoughts out there.  If you are new to the blogosphere like me and are trying to find your own voice amongst the noise and establish or grow your blog, here’s are 16 Tips for Beginner Bloggers from one of my favorite bloggers Geraldine DeRuiter from Everywhereist and 21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic from her equally talented husband Rand Fishkin, CEO of SEO software company SEOmoz.

Perhaps marketing guru Seth Godin sums blogging up best in this video with Tom Peters.

He says, “It doesn’t matter if anyone reads it. What matters is the humility that comes from writing it.  What matters is the meta-cognition of thinking about what you are going to say … How do you force yourself to describe in three paragraphs why you did something?  How do you respond out loud? … [Blogging] forces yourself to become part of the conversation.”

So for those who have stopped by, thank you! And for those who will be starting new blogs or continuing your own, let’s keep the conversations going.

With the rapid growth of social media, businesses need to focus on analytics and tools to measure and increase their effectiveness online. The right social media analytic tools provide opportunities to measure marketing initiatives and act on insights gained by expanding reach and increasing customer loyalty and retention, ultimately driving sales.

As an eMarketer article points out, 41 percent of marketers had no return on investment figures for any of the money they spent on social channels and only 25 percent are measuring additional sales generated from social media.

Social Media Examiner discusses 5 Reasons You Should Measure Social Media ROI To be able to effectively measure social media efforts, companies need to go beyond brand awareness measurements such as number of fans, followers or friends to conversational exchanges, engagement and online sentiment which will allow it to focus on harder metrics such as ROI. There are numerous metrics out there and no one size fits all approach. But here are some questions that would apply to most companies when measuring social media.

1. Engagement & Participation– Are customers or prospects seeing your message and interacting with your brand? Are there conversations happening and are they being shared?

2. Brand Reach–  What is the audience size that is seeing your content across social networks? Is this increasing or decreasing? Why?

3. Online Sentiment– What is the overall attitude and perception of the company? Are their positive or negative comments and engagement?

4. Influence– Do the people talking about your brand have influence or large followings? Can your key influences motivate others to take action?

What measurements are used at your company? Does your company measure ROI and sales associated with social media initiatives?

Last week, I stumbled across a blog post called TripAdvisor hopes we are all idiots including YOU. Intrigued by the criticism and unaware of any strong negative sentiments towards TripAdvisor, I explored the source further, a website dedicated to exposing the flaws of TripAdvisor and generating support against the company, including legal action.

On their home page:

You can Stand Up or you can Shut Up, the choice is yours. We are a small group of 9 people that have chosen to Stand Up against the arrogant TripAdvisor. NONE of us own or manage any form of establishments, which means that TripAdvisor cannot bully or threaten us. TripAdvisor allows anyone to start posting invalidated lies and damaging content, destroying reputations and livelihoods.                                                

These are very strong words. As a travel enthusiast born with a severe case of wanderlust, I have often referred to the online reviews, ratings and advice from travellers posting on TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel site. With more than 75 million travel reviews and opinions on its site and 60 million unique monthly visitors, I felt it was a business model that worked well because it was able to rank hotels, restaurants and service companies according to actual customer reviews. In my personal experience, these reviews have had a high degree of reliability earning my trust in the brand.

Fundamentally, what TripAdvisor sells is the authenticity of their online review.  From websites, to online campaigns, to blogs, to posts on social networks, the trustworthiness of these reviews is now being criticized. Business owners are objecting to the fact that anyone can say what they like in a review and that they can be unfair, inaccurate or posted by competitors. On the other hand, many others still trust in the reliability of TripAdvisor’s reviews, placing greater trust in it than traditional marketing advertising. Online forums for consumer feedback, like TripAdvisor, are rapidly increasing along with diverse and growing online communities.

All of this makes me think about the importance of managing a company’s online reputation.  We all strive to create brand trust and an excellent reputation, but not effectively utilizing social media and managing a company’s online reputation can be detrimental to those efforts. According to a survey by the Opinion Research Corporation, 84 percent of Americans say that their purchasing decisions are influenced by online reviews. With the rapid growth of social media and online review sites, it is easier than ever for customers to advocate for products and services.  But what about unhappy customers? What should companies do to protect their online reputation?

Be proactive, monitor online sentiment and search results regularly and effectively manage content. A company should be able to quickly respond if something negative comes up.

Listen and know who the influences are. Be responsive and build positive content to manage online reputation and build brand trust. Build a customer centric company to increase positive comments and decrease negative feedback.

Online reviews can provide businesses real-time feedback generating key insights to the company’s product and/or services. Business owners should take advantage of feedback.  As customers continually rely on online reviews, they can be leveraged to be an effective word-of-mouth marketing tool, building upon a business’s reputation. The way a company manages negative reviews can show their customers that management is responsive and care about customer satisfaction, building brand trust, increasing customer retention and ultimately driving sales.

The internet has become an increasingly vital part of the car purchasing experience with 50 percent of customers making their car purchasing decisions online. While the internet has made it easier for consumers to seach for what they need, it has also fostered a highly crowded and competititive marketplace making the customer online experience and brand engagement increasingly important.

Automotive brands have been experimenting in the social marketing world with interactive and creative initiatives and campaigns. Ford Motor’s Global Sales and Marketing VP, Jim Farley, talks about the success of Ford’s online application called the Mustang Customizer, which allows users to virtually create a Mustang to their specifications and compete for votes on design. 4.3 million Mustangs have been designed since the application launched and Mustang sales have increased by 18% this year. According to Farley, it “isn’t about the Mustang, it’s about building the Ford brand” and the auto maker will continue to increase use of social media platforms, especially Facebook, to engage consumers and build the company’s image.

Korean automotive KIA’s campaign ‘Inspired by What you Like’ encourages consumer engagement and interaction with the brand through Facebook.  Recently, KIA invited consumers to enter an online competition to help co-create its new global brand campaign through the submission of videos on what it means to have ‘the power to surprise’.

“We live in the age of participation where people want to be more involved with the brands they support.  By opening up our creative process we are not only acknowledging that, we are actively seeking very unusual take on the KIA spirit, as a source of constant reinvention and challenges for our brand.”

Myung-Seob Kim, Digital Strategy Team

General Manager at Kia Motors Corporation

Borrel Associates estimates automotive advertising to reach $31 billion by the end of 2012, a 14% increase from 2011.  Digital marketing will account for almost 90% of this increase as companies invest more in online consumer touch points such as video commercials, targeted social media advertising and mobile marketing. By year end, it is forecasted that approximately 40% of automotive advertising dollars will be spent on digital media.

McKinsey & Company discusses eight trends shaping digital marketing in the auto industry and a recent article in Mashable Business discusses what we can learn about online marketing from automotive brands.

Key insights include:

1. Select advertising themes thoughtfully and continue with what resonates with consumers
2. Integrate online and offline strategies to ensure consistent messaging and branding across communication channels.
3. Leverage consumer profiling and segmentation to create better targeted advertisements based on communication objectives.
4. Be intentional with online advertisements to ensure consumer engagement and value creation.
5. Effective use of online videos through social channels to encourage participation and engagement

Today, car purchasers use online touch points as a comparison shopping tool and an informational source to aid in decision making. It is apparent, however, that the internet is more than another information source or tool for customers. It has changed consumer behaviour and the car purchasing process.  Understanding online behaviours and the influence of customer purchasing decisions will allow companies to better segment customers, tailoring its messaging and marketing channels to offer the optimal integration of online and offline communication strategies.

The internet and social media offers ample opportunity for companies to interact and engage with its consumers. The automotive industry recognizes the importance of this and is effectively investing in and utilizing online platforms for advertising. The ability to translate these initiatives to enhance the consumer experience and purchasing decision is integral.

How many companies are leveraging online channels to pay attention to what their customers are saying and hear their conversations? How many companies are utilizing insights from mass dialogue and translating it into an actionable plans to better understand the consumer and develop the customer experience?

What ways are you listening to your customers? Is it working?

If you have access to the Internet, a television, or radio, chances are you have seen the Kony 2012 video or at least heard of the Kony 2012 social media campaign this spring.  Crafted by the non-profit organization Invisible Children, Kony 2012 is a 30-minute documentary about Joseph Kony, the leader of the Ugandan guerilla group Lord’s Resistance Army, who has been torturing and kidnapping children to be used as soldiers and committing war crimes for over two decades. An instant viral phenomenon, more than 100 million people had seen Kony 2012 and over 5.4 million people tweeted about the video in the week it went live.

Through social media, Invisible Children’s Kony 2012 campaign had made Joseph Kony famous overnight. The viral video not only compelled viewers to share the video, it had a strong call to action, encouraging supporters to appeal to 20 “culturemakers” like George Clooney, Mark Zuckerberg and Lady Gaga and 20 “policy makers” like Bill Clinton, Mitt Romney and Condoleeza Rice. With all its successes and attention also came increased scrutiny and criticism to the organization including oversimplification and misrepresentation of the situation in Africa and misuse of funds from the organization. To increase matters further, Invisible Children co-founder and Kony 2012 filmmaker Jason Russell experienced a very public breakdown drawing more negative attention to the organization.

Regardless of whether you are a supporter or critic of Invisible Children’s Kony 2012 campaign, it cannot be denied that it accomplished its goals of effecting change and raising awareness of Joseph Kony, striking the emotional chords with millions worldwide. The social media campaign not only influenced millions of people around the globe to act, but also resulted in a resolution in the U.S. Senate to heighten U.S. and regional forces, and efforts to pursue and remove Joseph Kony.

From a marketing and branding perspective, there are also a lot of lessons we can learn from Kony 2012. 

1. Know your audience and where they are online: Invisible Children targeted young people savvy on social mediums.
2. Use key influential to carry your brand message: Invisible Children called millions to target change makers, culture makers and policy makers identified.
3. Get your audience moving: A clear call to action and interactive social media campaign kept people engaged and momentum going.
4. Beware of the pitfalls: It can be difficult to project the success of a campaign. Have a contingency plan and ensure that your team can adapt quickly and flexibly.

In my opinion, the campaign’s ability to impact and mobilize people through social media to effect change towards a shared goal has never been achieved to this capacity before.  The viral hit also demonstrated the impact of a well-crafted story and the importance of storytelling. This is exactly what Invisible Children did in its quest to bring attention to the crimes of Joseph Kony and influence change makers to fight harder for his capture.

If what you’r’e doing matters, then I hope you’ll take the time to tell a story. A story that resonates and a story that can become true.                                                – Seth Godin

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