“I use the word engagement as the new metric, as opposed to viewing.”

Albie Hecht, CEO of Worldwide Biggies Company, a digital entertainment studio that creates content for young adults (think Naked Brothers Band on Nickelodeon), is quoted as saying the above in the new book, Googled: The End of the World as We Know It, by Ken Auletta.

For months now I’ve been struggling with social media. No, not how to use it or how to derive value from it but how to measure it.

Simply gunning for more followers or page views or click-throughs wasn’t cutting it for me as this type of measurement is based on the old rules of passive viewing of traditional media (reading print ads, watching TV, listening to the radio).

I’ve been asking myself, “how do I measure the value of social media and how do I show this value to my clients dynamically as opposed to presenting meaningless numbers in flat reports?”

I mean, really, just what does “one thousand Twitter followers” mean to anyone and are these 1,000 followers any better than 100 followers?

Some days it seems that social media, with its emphasis on numbers of followers and friends and RTs and page views, is just high school all over again.

Hecht, however, nails it. In the same conversation in which he’s quoted, he talks about the Web as a platform where people can tell their own stories. He goes on to say:

If we can move someone so they love this character, and they’re moved through a story, and they’re playing a game, and they’re collecting objects in that, and at the end of this experience they have created their own video of this experience, we’ll have moved them into a different type of storytelling.

Brilliant.

Throughout the Googled book, the point is hammered home repeatedly that we, the people, are now in control of the story. As David Meerman Scott has repeatedly said, companies no longer control their stories (i.e. messages), we the people are doing for them via social media.

What does this mean for marketers?

It means that instead of coming up with new stories and devising campaigns around them, marketers (myself included) need to figure out how to compel people to interact with our companies / products / services and then tell their stories about this interaction.

Waters Corporation figured this out with their Customer Testimonial video campaign, to name just one example.

Engagement versus page views is a new way of thinking about marketing, one that requires a complete mind shift. But I really believe that if you want to bring value to your clients or your company, it’s a shift you have to make — like now.

Do you agree or disagree?

B2B email marketing seems to be a hot topic these days judging by the number of articles and reports I’ve been reading.

In its cover story for November 2009, E-Mail Marketing’s Future . . . Right Now, Website Magazine editor-in-chief Peter Prestipino and Senior Editor Mike Phillips report that:

“According to a June 2009 Marketing Trends Survey by StrongMail Systems, 42% of nearly 1,000 global business leaders polled plan to increase their marketing budgets in 2009. Of those, 81% intend to increase their e-mail marketing spend.

“Spending on email marketing . . . shows no signs of slowing down, even as social networks and search engines continue to dominate the marketing headlines.”

Exact Target, in its new white paper, Is Email Marketing Endangered?, reports that according to Forrester Research, investments in email marketing will grow from $1.2 billion in 2009 to $2 billion billion by 2014.

In the same report, Exact Target also notes that the DMA reports that email marketing’s return on investment is greater than $43 for every dollar spent.

Wow! That’s some ROI!

Reasons why email usage is growing

You would think that due to social media, texting, and email inbox overload, people would use email less. I certainly find it easier to connect with people quickly through Twitter, for example. And my son, who has multiple email accounts and a phone, texts me versus calling or emailing me.

I also find texting much easier now that I have an iPhone.

However, it is precisely due to smart phones and social media that email use is up.

Exact Target reports that those who own a smart phone “are significantly more likely to increase email usage than those who don’t,” with 43% of BlackBerry owners using email more often and 41% of iPhone users increasing their email usage.

This is mostly likely because it’s so dang easy to get email on your smart phone versus having to log into a computer.

And all types of organizations and businesses are using email more. Based on my own personal experience, I now get email from my bank, my temple, my gym, and my son’s school. Plus, I get all my regular business email.

On top of that, improved email technology is adding to email’s increased use. Exact Target reports that due to Gmail’s rapid innovations, Gmail users are increasing their use of email by a ratio of 6:1 — versus 2:1 for Yahoo, which has innovated at a much slower rate.

Thanks to Gmail’s integration of its Task application, for example, I can now create a task based on something I receive via email — and connect that email to the task. This means I can clean out my email box faster and not have a bunch of “pending” emails hanging around.

Even better, I added Google’s Task app to my iPhone, making it super easy to keep track of things at literally the press of a button. (No more paper sticky notes!)

Relevant messages still king

Although email appears in our inboxes and we read it, email is not a passive medium — or at least it shouldn’t be.

To be effective, email must engage readers . . . and to this end, it’s really important that email marketers think long and hard about their opt-in policies, campaign frequency, and content.

I realized this truth last week when I spent over three hours cleaning out my Gmail inbox — and unsubscribing from tons of email marketing messages that I’m not sure I ever asked to receive and that I had been simply deleting without reading for months.

Email marketing is so *not* about developing massive email lists (to which many of the people on the list didn’t exactly opt-in) and then sending out *stuff* and hoping something sticks.

Email marketing should be about giving people content they need to positively interact with your brand company and its employees (yes, real people).

And, given that many people like me are on total email overwhelm, ensuring that your messages get read is going take much more effort and strategic thinking than developing some lukewarm content and hitting “send.”

What do you think? Do you agree that email is still a “killer app”? Do you have a case study or story you’d like to share about how you’ve used email marketing to connect with customers? If so, please leave a comment below or send me email at “info@dhcommunications.com” with “email marketing” in the subject line.

photo credit: www.istockphoto.com/Gewitterkind

So I just walked into a United Red Carpet lounge and watched while a gentleman next me handed the customer service representative his Member card.

She took one look at it and said, “Sorry, we’re not accepting these cards.”

The gentleman said, “But US Airways said it was good after October 31.”

“Sorry, sir,” was her reply. “US Airways mailed those cards out prematurely. Next!”

The gentleman said, “You guys really need to get your act together,” and stomped out.

Can’t say I blame him.

I had a similar experience yesterday when I tried to check in online. United conveniently allowed me to upgrade my seats (how nice of them!), so I dutifully entered my credit card info — only to receive a screen that read, “Sorry. We can’t process your request for this type of upgrade.” What?

When I tried to get back in to download my boarding pass, the United system said it couldn’t “find me.” Argh!

According to Kenneth J. Weiss, who wrote the new book, Slightware: The Next Great Threat to Brands, it’s this kind of technological snafu that really ticks people off — and that ruins your brand.

It doesn’t matter that US Airways mailed their member cards prematurely.

Instead of rudely turning customers away, US Airways should work with United and other carriers who honor these cards to graciously accept them — and thank customers for their business.

And United can easily fix its online check-in snafus by hiring IT people who understand how to simplify the online check-in process.

Hint: if I were the IT/marketing person at United, I’d study the Southwest e-ticket check-in process and make United’s work the same way. Just how hard can that be? Apparently, too hard.

While giving a presentation on social media at Margie Dana’s (@margiedana) 4th Annual Print Buyers Conference, I stressed the importance of asking for Recommendations via LinkedIn. One gentleman raised his hand to ask, “Aren’t Recommendations artificial?”

He based his assumption on the fact that sales people from other companies were asking for his personal Recommendation — and he felt uncomfortable giving it because he didn’t think they deserved a Recommendation.

He brought up a good question — one that we in room spent a few minutes talking about, with the consensus being that like testimonials, Recommendations go far in building credibility.

So what are the “rules” when asking for LinkedIn Recommendations? And, if you work in corporate, can or should you ask for Recommendations from co-workers and others?

Yes, you can ask for Recommendations no matter what your job. What follows are a few simple rules regarding asking for – and giving – LinkedIn Recommendations:

1. Don’t be afraid to ask!

The beauty of LinkedIn is that it has become perfectly acceptable to ask for Recommendations. In fact, I find it easier to ask for a Recommendation than I ever did asking for a testimonial. (Now I simply cut and paste Recommendations from LinkedIn to my Website’s testimonial page.)

2. Ask for a Recommendation anytime you finish a project

If you’re in corporate, ask your co-workers, vendors, and customers (if applicable) for Recommendations when you complete external and internal projects. Also consider asking former co-workers and supervisors for Recommendations, too.

The same advice applies to small business owners, consultants and freelancers. I will often connect with people on LinkedIn once they become a client. When the project is finished, I’ll contact the person via LinkedIn in order to ask for a Recommendation.

If you volunteer, don’t forget to ask board or committee members for their Recommendations -– and if you speak, ask conference managers (or whoever hired you) to give you a Recommendation. I even had a workshop attendee give me an unsolicited Recommendation!

3. Offer to Recommend others

If someone provides you with wonderful service or completes a project that exceeds your expectations, write a glowing Recommendation for this person. One, this person will be eternally grateful to you, and two, you’ll spread goodwill, which will return to you at some later time.

4. Ask for Recommendations regularly

Instead of waiting until you’re laid off to build out your LinkedIn Profile, do it now –- by asking for Recommendations. I’ve heard too many hiring managers say that one of the first things they do is look at people’s Profiles when perusing resumes. Having solid Recommendations placed on your Profile over time (versus all in same time period) shows you’re a team player, an active networker –- and someone who “gets” social media.

5. Don’t be afraid to say “no”

As I stated in my Print Buyers presentation, it’s ok to say “no” to requests for Recommendations, especially if you feel the person doesn’t merit a Recommendation or if you and the person doing the asking have a weak connection. You can simply write back, “I don’t feel comfortable giving you a Recommendation at this time.”

Whether you work for a company or for yourself, Recommendations are a great way to build credibility and trust with others. If you have other tips about LinkedIn Recommendations, be sure to add them in the comments section below!

Other articles about LinkedIn:

Using LinkedIn’s Groups to Build Community

Seven Tips for Getting More Out of LinkedIn

How to Be a LinkedIn Superstar by Larry Weintraub

If you’re a Twitter user, you either love or hate Auto DMs — those messages that people automatically send to new followers.

Sometimes people use Auto DMs to greet new followers or to say something along the lines of, “I’m looking forward to reading your insights.”

Other times people use them to promote their products or services.

Whether you love or hate Auto DMs, I’d like to know what you think. Please take my very fast (and simple) Twitter Auto DM Survey.

If you use Twitter Auto DMs, I’d like to know if you’ve found them to be an effective part of your social media marketing strategy.

If you don’t use them, I’d like to know why.

Please retweet this blog post and get the word out — I’d love to get some real data!

Thank you!

In the past few months, I’ve had more than one client insist that I remove all contractions from the Web copy I’ve written for them.

I use contractions because I had read somewhere (long ago) that contractions make copy — especially Web copy — easier to read. Contractions make copy flow better, and they make copy sound natural.

After going through yet another project and removing contractions, I did a bit of research to determine why some clients were so adverse to them.

According to Jennifer Alvey at the Word Solutions blog, Baby Boomers and Gen Xers were trained to use contractions only in “casual” writing.

This makes sense to me. I’ve had more than one client over the years come back to me with, “My daughter in college proofread your copy and made the following changes . . . .”

The changes always entail rendering my zippy marketing copy into stuffy, dull, awkward prose that adheres to the rules of standard college English. UGH.

According Roy Jacobsen, in his article, “Contractions and How Not to Abuse Them,” eliminating contractions is a huge mistake for this very reason.

Jacobsen, quoting William Zinsser, author of Writing Well, gives a number of guidelines on when to use contractions. Bottom line: consider your audience, your tone and what you’re writing.

For us marketing types, using contractions is A-ok — especially because we’re usually compelling people to take some sort of action. As Zinsser points out, because we tend to skim content (especially online), we often miss the second word when a contraction is spelled out — i.e. we read “would not” as “would.”

Hence, contractions improve reader comprehension, which in turn increases conversions.

Well-written, grammatically correct copy never goes out of style. Formal academic English, however, has no place in marketing copy.

Do you agree or disagree? And, do you push back when clients ask that you remove contractions?

Edited to add that Copyblogger also has a great article relating to this topic: 7 Bad Writing Habits You Learned in School.

The founders of HubSpot, Inc., Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah, last week announced the publication of their new book, Inbound Marketing: Getting Found Using Google, Social Media and Blogs (Wiley).

Full disclosure: I edited this book, so this post isn’t a book review nor was I paid (or even asked) to write it.

. . .

The one reason I really like Inbound Marketing is because Brian and Dharmesh talk about viewing one’s Website as a city or hub. You can have a Website that’s a small town, like Bath, New Hampshire (pop: 893), which has one road in and out — like this:

Or, you can have a Website that’s New York City where all roads, trains, buses, and planes lead to it — like this:

Because a small town Website has only one road to it, it has little in the way of visitors.

A large city Website has hundreds of ways to visit due to links from blogs, industry portals, other Websites, social media, and search engines — hence it gets loads of traffic all day every day.

If you want your Website to be an asset, you must view it as a thriving metropolis, and as Brian stated at HubSpot’s book launch party on Friday, October 16, you have to use all of the tools currently available to encourage people to visit it.

The more roads or paths you create, the more traffic you drive to your site, and the more leads / conversions / sales you get.

That in a nutshell is the basis of inbound marketing (a term coined by Brian and Dharmesh).

Brian and Dharmesh wrote Inbound Marketing because they wanted to share what they’ve learned as the founders of HubSpot and why marketing is changing. In it you’ll find their explanation for why inbound marketing works, and why it’s really important that you “get” the concept of inbound, as well as hundreds of practical tips for creating your own inbound marketing hub.

Although I consider myself a fairly sophisticated Web marketer, I learned quite a bit while editing Inbound Marketing. The book is an easy and interesting read, it’s geared toward small business owners, and it’s full of “real world” case studies on companies, from Zappos.com to Whole Foods Market, using inbound marketing tactics to reach customers and prospects.

So be sure to pick up your copy of Inbound Marketing — and be sure to download HubSpot’s new e-book: Hiring in the DARC Ages: Are the Right People on Your Marketing Team?

The e-book is a chapter from the Inbound Marketing book and it’s really fabulous as Brian and Dharmesh explain how to hire people who understand social media and inbound marketing — and how to apply it. After reading it, I realized I bring far more value to my clients than I knew.

Brian and Dharmesh, thank you again for the opportunity to work with you, and congratulations on your book and business success.

You hear the bell tolling every day regarding the death of print . . .

People no longer read print newspapers or books — with both industries in serious decline.

Companies have ditched their printed marcom materials and have moved online to e-newsletters, blogs, and PDF documents.

Our mail boxes are empty as direct marketers pull back on printing catalogs and mailers due to the high production and mailing costs.

The print industry is reeling as printing companies shutter their businesses, newspapers file for bankruptcy, and the post office continues to raise postage costs to offset its revenue loss.

Yes, the print industry is dying . . . or is it?

I’ve been thinking about this question for a few weeks now, especially since I’m giving a presentation on social media at Margie Dana’s 4th Annual Print Buyers Conference.

Like most everyone else, I’ve calmly accepted the fact that yes, print communication as we know it *has* changed. And like many people, I do get much of my information online.

However, once I started really thinking about it, I realized the print industry isn’t dying . . . it’s really undergoing a huge (and yes, painful) shift.

And most important, many of us still need and purchase print services, it’s just that we have so many options today than we did before.

Take me and my business, for example. In the last three months alone I’ve needed the following items printed:

1. Mailers — I send out articles and such to my in-house list as a way of keeping in touch and need to have these mailers designed, printed, and mailed.

2. Postcards — One of my clients is holding an event and thus needed postcards designed and printed.

3. Letterhead — I moved my office and needed new business cards and letterhead printed.

4. Marketing collateral — One of my clients developed an e-book and wanted hard copies printed in order to hand them out at a tradeshow.

On top of that, I continue to purchase books, newspapers, magazines, and other printed material. I continue to receive catalogs and mailers in my own mailbox from vendors and those companies trying to attract my business.

And, everywhere I go, from the doctor’s office to the car dealership where I have my car serviced, I see and read printed material.

(Not to mention that my son has figured out that while I won’t buy him video games, I’ll easily drop $20 or $30 on books and magazines for him — something he takes advantage of on a regular basis.)

Yes, the print industry is changing . . . but it’s far from dead.

And that’s why it’s really important that if you deal in any way with print and/or order print services for your business (large or small), that you attend Margie Dana’s Print Buyers Conference November 3 – 5, 2009 in Westford, MA.

It’s at this conference that you’ll learn the new trends happening in the print industry and how to use them in your business . . . green printing (which is HUGE), the online content explosion and the opportunities available in print, the changing dynamics of ad agencies — and a whole lot more.

Margie (@margiedana) has pulled out all the stops for this conference. She’s brought in some really smart speakers and has developed sessions that focus on the change print is currently reeling from and how to deal with it (versus sitting around complaining about it).

Even better, she’s priced this conference to make it easy to attend — no matter what your budget.

So take a minute and mosey on over to her Print Buyers Conference Website, poke around, and if you like what you see, REGISTER TO ATTEND.

I think you’ll be glad you did.

Adding a forum to your Website is one way to build community within your industry. (For a good example of an industry forum, see Jill Whalen’s High Rankings Forum.)

As the forum owner, you learn what others in your industry are talking about and their day-to-day issues. You keep abreast of news and most importantly, you can answer people’s questions and thus show your expertise.

However, managing a forum can take a great deal of time, plus you have to consider the expense of getting one up and running. (Do-it-yourself forum packages exist, but if you’re not tech-savvy, you’ll most likely need help implementing one.) And, in the beginning, you’ll spend lots of time marketing your forum in order to get traffic to it.

It’s due to these “start-up” costs that I love LinkedIn’s Groups feature. A LinkedIn Group is basically a forum and best of all, anyone can start a Group in literally minutes and at little to no cost.

(You might have to pay a designer to develop your Group logo, or if you’re like HubSpot, who owns the popular Inbound Marketers Group, you might consider “advanced” Group marketing tactics such as developing an entire Website for your Group.)

As with a forum, managing a LinkedIn Group does take some time and know-how. I started the B2B Social Media Group in January 2009 and in the ensuing months have learned a few things. Here then my tips for would-be Group owners:

1. Set ground rules early on — Unfortunately, LinkedIn Groups have become rife with spam. If you want your Group to flourish, take a hard line on spam postings and don’t be afraid to use the “delete” function.

One rule I’ve set, which I did struggle with, is not letting people post links or news releases to events in the “Discussion” area of my Group. One, too many people were posting events that had no bearing on B2B social media, and two, I had started the Group because I and others wanted to learn more about social media. If the Discussion area was filled with news releases about upcoming webinars (typically promoted by marketing vendors), then were was the discussion?

Hence, I now delete all events if they’re posted in the Discussion area.

2. Don’t be an absentee owner — Judging from the comments on my own Group and visiting other Groups, many Group owners don’t monitor their Group on a regular basis. As a Group owner, it is your responsibility to start new discussions, add to existing discussions, and delete spam comments / posts as necessary.

Being an involved owner does take some time, so you’ll want to consider this aspect before starting a Group. You can promote Group members to “manager” status which allows them to delete spam posts/comments and post “featured” discussions as well as approve new members.

3. Get to know Group members — The whole reason to start a Group is to network, so it really pays to get to know your regular posters. Some nice things you can do is to thank people publicly for posting questions, send them messages through LinkedIn, follow them on Twitter, etc. You can then add them to your network as you get to know them better.

4. Keep self-promotion to a minimum — It’s my belief (and you may disagree) that as a Group owner you should keep your own self-promotion to a minimum. This means you don’t post press releases about your company’s new products or services or use your answers as thinly-disguised promo opportunities. If people want to get to know you or your company better, they can read your profile and contact you directly or visit your Website / blog.

5. Keep abreast of industry news — As the Group owner, it’s your responsibility to keep discussions moving and to post new discussion topics. This means that you’ll need to read industry publications and blogs and follow trends.

It also helps to encourage people to post their questions — no matter how “basic” they seem. Based on my anecdotal evidence, some people do join Groups because they want to learn something new.

Being the owner of a LinkedIn Group has been a real learning experience — and a fun one, too. Because I’ve derived so much value from it — and see its potential — it’s why I now recommend LinkedIn Groups to my clients — either as an industry resource or as a means to build community.

What are your thoughts about Groups? Have you started a Group and what has been your experience? Do you have additional tips to share?

The DailyFinance posted an article by Anthony Massucci about how social media may be making us less social — as in, we’re afraid to do or say anything that might end up on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.

In some cases, Massucci is correct.

If you cause trouble in your neighborhood, your bad behavior could end up on RottenNeighbor.com — your neighbor can film video of you and post it to this site. Yikes!

Or, a customer can record a customer service call that puts your company in a bad light and post it to the Internet — as AOL learned much to its chagrin.

Or even worse, your “off the cuff” (re: off the record) comment can become the shot heard ’round the world — as President Obama learned when he called Kayne West a jackass.

As Massucci points out, our behaviors can easily be recorded by others and posted for all to see/hear. So it pays to follow some common sense behaviors when it comes to social media:

1. THINK before you post — Platforms like Twitter and Facebook let you express yourself (and easily become addictive). You really don’t want to post that you’re leaving for vacation. Nor do you want to post that snarky comment about a customer.

In fact, I make it a policy to never post anything about customers unless I have their express permission to do so.

You’ll also want to keep TMI (too much information) posts to a minimum — as this information can come back to haunt you in terms of lost contracts and/or lost jobs.

2. Limit phone use in public — I’m rather amazed at how much *business* information I overhear from people talking on their mobile phones in public.

Because we can become so absorbed in the conversation, we don’t “see” the people around us (nor do we know them usually). So we gab away, and in the process we let out confidential information that by-standers can easily pick up — and use against us.

True story: my lawyer friend’s firm won a negotiation because one of the partners overhead the lawyer for the other side talking about the deal on his cell phone on the train. Her firm now has a policy that no one is allowed to discuss client cases on the phone in public.

3. Practice good old fashioned manners — I do think that social media and the Internet have made us all a little more rude. Graciousness seems to have been fallen by the wayside. Where we used to send lovely hand-written thank you notes, we can now SMS — “Thanks for dinner!”

Bad manners includes yelling at sales clerks, screaming at people while driving, and posting nasty comments to blogs under assumed names.

One thing I’ve committed to of late is being nice — to everyone. I tell the front desk people at the gym “thank you,” and “have a nice day.” I let drivers go ahead of me. I wait patiently while sales clerks wait on those ahead of me. I compliment other business owners on their marketing.

The benefit of this good cheer is that it makes me feel better — and people respond in kind.

It also means my bad behavior doesn’t end up on a social media site somewhere.

What do you think? Has social media made us more rude? Do we need to be more careful about how we present ourselves in public? Do you worry that your behavior at a party will end up on someone’s Facebook page?

Let me know!

(Hat tip to Dr. Helaine Smith (client) who sent me the DailyFinance article.)