In the past, brands needed to be much more careful with their image and reputation, but in the age of the internet, getting ads banned is not always a bad thing. It can mean even more exposure and profit. And when it comes to lucrative banned advertisements, banned Super Bowl ads are king. Ads like Bud Light's commercial featuring skinny-dippers in 2007, or the slew of steamy Go Daddy ads featuring "Go Daddy Girls" like Danica Patrick profited heavily from being leaked online. The banned status itself is a great way to grab consumer attention.

Stay informed. Looking for the latest digital strategies about connected televisual entertainment? Attend the iMedia Video Summit, Mar. 25-28. Request your invitation today.

Many companies submit an over-the-top commercial for review with no real expectation of it being accepted. Then, companies can jumpstart a fast and affordable publicity campaign around "the commercial the TV networks don't want you to see!" Many see the tactic as cheap or overdone. In 2011 Advertising Age declared a moratorium on coverage of banned Super Bowl ads. "It's an annual tradition that companies, who likely don't even have the money to spend on an actual Super Bowl spot, find willing suckers in the media who give them some free PR," Ad Age wrote. "Not going to happen here."

But the fact is, when it comes to Super Bowl ads, it can make much more economic sense to create a Super Bowl ad that doesn't actually run. Running an ad for the Super Bowl can cost up to $3 million, while a banned Super Bowl ad can get enough press to be even more popular than the televised ads. In fact, creating ads that are "too hot for TV" has become an established marketing tactic. Banned ads are all over YouTube, and even Hulu has a hub called "Banned Ad Zone." So, as long as you aren't afraid of a little scrutiny, there are great opportunities when it comes to banned advertising.

Advocacy groups often attempt to take advantage of the Super Bowl to get attention. In 2009, a Catholic group called Fidelis pushed an ad showing a fetus that, because it was not aborted, grew up to be President Obama, and NBC axed it. Focus on the Family, another anti-abortion group, actually made it on-air with a commercial showing Tim Tebow's mother talking about her difficulties while pregnant with the college football star. CBS accepted the ad, which was vague but directed viewers to a website with an anti-abortion message. And then there is the infamous "Veggie Love" from PETA, featuring women engaging in steamy foreplay with vegetables and declaring that vegetarians have better sex.

More than any other brand, Go Daddy has "too hot for TV" advertising figured out. The brand's banned ad for "Super Bowl 2008" broke records with 2 million hits to the site. Go Daddy now releases tame versions of its ads to run on television, with a message telling viewers to see the uncut ad that was "too hot for TV" on Go Daddy's website. The site features a video hub with all of the Go Daddy ads, both tame and uncut. Each ad is labeled as either a TV version or internet-only, some with a flame icon signifying a super-steamy video.

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The current proliferation of media -- and devices on which to consume these media -- is great for advertisers. Reach has exploded as new and affordable consumer-facing technologies hit the market, from inexpensive smartphones to reasonably priced tablets. However, with added exposure comes the risk of saturation, which leads to a more competitive media marketplace.

Stay informed. Looking for the latest digital strategies about connected televisual entertainment? Attend the iMedia Video Summit, Mar. 25-28. Request your invitation today.

Media brands need to make connections with consumers across several platforms, not just one. Marketers looking to make the biggest impact need to ask themselves if their research plans include efforts to expand the value of the brand, strengthen or retain its foothold in the hearts of media users, and deepen its pool of ad dollars.

Great media brands do not appear overnight. Ideally, they are carefully crafted through one consumer experience after another, each forming a building block. Here are the key building blocks for making an impact across the web.

Brand resonance

When consumers feel an affinity with almost anything -- a coffee type, skin care product, or TV network -- we say that the brand resonates. By measuring the resonance of media elements, such as personalities, programs, and brand names, companies can confirm the connection between engagement and advertising, as well as ad recall and reactions to advertising. To do this, marketers should evaluate numerous statements to enable analysis at a detailed level, uncovering brand opportunities and challenges.

Additionally, by analyzing responses to combined statements, marketers can gain a quick view into brand strengths and weaknesses in four key areas: loyalty, attachment, engagement, and community.

Here are example statements for each key area:

• Loyalty: "I consider myself loyal to this network."
• Attachment: "I would really miss this network if it went away." 
• Engagement: "I identify with others who watch this network."
• Community: "I would go out of my way to watch this network." 

Wantedness

Once a brand has determined resonance, it's best to implement a four-part measurement to understand the importance that consumers attach to media brands. Do they see a brand as indispensable or simply "nice to have," and what makes the difference? These are the aspects of "wantedness:"

• Value -- defined as worth, usefulness, or importance
• Necessity -- something that is essential, indispensable
• Effort -- the amount of work put into viewing a program
• Persistence -- repeated viewing, endurance

Again, wantedness is derived from numerous statements, and the following statements apply to each of the key aspects listed above:

• Value: "The time I spend watching this network is time well spent."
• Necessity: "I would pay extra to be sure I continued to have access to this network."
• Effort: "I plan in advance to watch one or more programs on this network."
• Persistence: "I watch programs on this network from start to finish."

By evaluating the findings from resonance and wantedness, both separately and together, the brand gets a clear sense of the value it holds for consumers.

Competitive benchmarking

The process of competitive benchmarking serves as a logical extension of resonance and wantedness, and can help assess a brand's relative strengths and weaknesses. This worthwhile analysis informs both tactical (marketing) and strategic (brand development) decisions to improve the performance of a brand.

Taking the first step

While today's multi-platform environment can have a powerful effect on media brands, the core elements of equity -- including resonance and wantedness -- still apply. Having a clear sense of the value that your brand holds for consumers can also reveal whether they are likely to be involved in the advertising that supports it. This knowledge translates into the opportunity for brands to redefine themselves, enhancing their value for advertisers and consumers alike. Taking charge of your brand's standing begins with knowledge of how consumers perceive you within the competitive landscape in relation to their expectations and needs.

Kimberly Ficarra is VP of the media team at Knowledge Networks.

On Twitter? Follow iMedia Connection at @iMediaTweet.

Feature art sourced from rintakumpu. 

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33Across announced it has acquired Tynt Multimedia. 33Across now has the largest social and interest graph in the world, reaching over 1.25 billion users.

90octane has hired Mary Harpin as storyteller, Trevor Nelson as account manager, and Jake Lanier and Dale Walker as account coordinators.

Stay informed. Looking for the latest digital strategies about connected televisual entertainment? Attend the iMedia Video Summit, Mar. 25-28. Request your invitation today.

Adara Media has secured $12.4 million in funding from venture capital firm August Capital.

AMP Agency announced the hiring of Joel Breen as digital account director.

Blitz named Gail Whitcomb vice president, director of strategic communications.

Buddy Media announced in the past year the company has added more than 300 new customers, doubled employee headcount to more than 225 globally, and opened three new offices in London, San Francisco, and Singapore.

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is now accepting entries across all 15 categories for its 2012 awards which will be judged and awarded by the dedicated juries in Cannes, France, in June. Entry forms can be completed online.

Digitas and Walgreens launched the game "Play Cupid" on Walgreens' Facebook page.

The Dubai International Advertising Festival is proud to announce that Raja Trad, CEO of Leo Burnett Group MENA and member of the Leo Burnett Wordwide Global Leadership Council (GLC), will be presented with the prestigious Dubai Lynx Advertising Person 2012 Award.

eXelate and Nielsen Catalina Solutions are joining forces to help CPG marketers reach consumers with more relevant digital advertising that is based on actual in-store purchasing behavior.

Horn Group announced the promotion of Ben Billingsley to partner.

Knotice and Gigya announced a strategic partnership that will transform the way marketers can leverage permission-based Facebook data across addressable, direct digital marketing channels.

Local Corporation announced an updated and optimized mobile-enabled version of its flagship local search site, Local.com.

RadiantBrands completed development of a new website for Western Technology Investment.

Red Door Interactive announced that Jeannie Fratoni will judge the 2012 IAB Rising Stars Mobile Ad Format Competition.

Tribal Fusion is the world's second largest source of display advertising, according to comScore’s December 2011 rankings of leading global display networks.

True Action Network announced the appointment of Billy Seabrook as chief creative officer for True Action Network, North America.

Yahoo's marketing solutions leadership team appointed MaryBeth Malcolm as senior director of Yahoo category development and marketing solutions, Debbie Menin as category lead for entertainment and travel, and Karina Montgomery as category lead for CPG/FMCG and health.

YuMe announced the results of a joint study with Nielsen, which quantifies the impact of a $500,000 online video ad buy when combined with a $2.6 million TV advertising campaign for a major CPG brand.

Editor's note: We list the companies and people alphabetically. Our bimonthly column is always looking for announcements, so please email them to chloe@imediaconnection.com.

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OneXOne (pronounced One on One) is a non-profit foundation committed to improving the lives of children around the world, with a focus on water, hunger, healthcare, education, and play. The organization has done an impressive job enlisting big-name ambassadors like Matt Damon and the cast of Entourage.

Last year OneXOne asked media agency Engageia to help them execute a unique campaign: shaving QR codes into the backs of the heads of their "hope" agents--high school and college students. Scanning the codes allowed supporters to donate $5 by text message or credit card.

Stay informed. Looking for the latest digital strategies about connected televisual entertainment? Attend the iMedia Video Summit, Mar. 25-28. Request your invitation today.

We asked Engageia's Kent Speakman how the QR code haircuts worked.

 

For more information about OneXOne, visit the foundation's Facebook page or follow the hashtag #ScanYYC on Twitter.

 

While we had him in the interview studio, we also asked Kent about a new mobile video app Engageia is working on.

 

As a bonus, here's a clip of Matt Damon directing Adrian Grenier in a PSA shoot. And click here to see videos with the cast of Entourage.

 

Kent Speakman is president and managing partner of Engageia. On Twitter? Follow Kent at @kentspeakman. Follow iMedia at @iMediaTweet.

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By the time this article is published, the application period for new generic top-level domains, or gTLDs, will have been open for a matter of a few weeks and will run until April 12, 2012. Top-level domains are the extensions that appear at the end of domain names, after the "dot." There are currently 22 generic top-level domains (gTLDs) like .com, .net, and .org, and over 200 country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs) like .JP, .MX, and .UK. Shortly after the close of the application period, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the organization behind the New gTLD Program, will publish a list of all the applications for these new extensions; by some estimates, there could be close to 1,000.

Stay informed. Looking for the latest digital strategies about connected televisual entertainment? Attend the iMedia Video Summit, Mar. 25-28. Request your invitation today.

Over the next year or two, we will begin seeing web addresses that end with terms like .shop, .restaurant, .music, and even .company, .product, and .brand extensions. This newly expanded naming system will significantly change how web addresses look, and what internet users expect when navigating online. If Coca-Cola, for example, acquires .Coke and begins advertising domains like Diet.Coke and Drink.Coke, consumers will eventually expect to find similar content for Pepsi at .Pepsi addresses.

But a new understanding of what web addresses will look like is not the only change that new gTLDs will bring about for the internet as we -- both businesses and internet users -- understand it today. While some companies may decide to apply for and operate their own gTLD or gTLDs, it will not be practical (or even feasible) for all companies to do so. However, they will still need to adapt their digital strategies to the new name space and how Internet users react to that new space. In this article, I will explore some of the additional changes that businesses will be aware of once new gTLDs become part of the domain name space.

Adaptation 1: Defensive registrations in other new gTLDs
One major cause of anxiety that businesses have felt around the impending onslaught of new gTLDs is the fear that they will have to spend exorbitant amounts of money defensively registering domain names across all new gTLDs in order to protect their brands and trademarks from being cybersquatted, as they had to with past launches of new gTLDs for extensions like .info and .biz.

But there's good news: First of all, I predict that approximately two-thirds of the estimated 1,000 applications for new gTLDs will come from businesses applying for their .company, .product, or .brand extensions. The majority of these companies will not sell second-level domains to third parties, so the risk of cybersquatting in these gTLDs is basically zero.

Second, this time around, ICANN has put into place at least some safeguards that will save businesses from having to defensively register their domains in every single new gTLD. These systems are not perfect, nor are they particularly cheap, but they can help businesses protect their trademarked names and will, to an extent, help prevent a complete digital free-for-all where cybersquatters scoop up your brand name before you have a chance to register it.

However, there will be certain cases where it will be wise to register, not simply block, your second-level domains in new gTLDs. I'm referring specifically to category or geographical-term gTLDs here. A major retailer like Nordstrom will likely find it beneficial to register Nordstrom.shop as well as other domains like Nordstrom.NYC, to use as dedicated sites for those local stores, or to redirect them to Nordstrom.com. As new gTLD registries begin developing new and innovative technologies on these platforms, businesses may find it beneficial to have a presence in those spaces. Of course, it will not be necessary for a company like Nordstrom to register domains like Nordstrom.auto or Nordstrom.scuba, because there is a very low likelihood that consumers will navigate to those domains expecting to find the familiar high-end apparel and accessories retailer. Instead, the company might wish to block use of its name in those extensions. What companies should do, once ICANN publishes the list of applied-for new gTLDs in earlu May, is determine which are applicable to their business and develop a strategy for which domains to register in each, as well as how to use them.

Adaptation 2: Get personalized
Companies that acquire a new gTLD will have the ability to provide personalized domain names to customers to use as customized portals, if they so desire. Consider Lowe's, which recently launched its new "My Lowe's" application that allows homeowners to store information about what brand and color of paint they used on the exterior of their house, or the type of tile they used in their bathroom. If the company acquired a .Lowes gTLD, Lowe's could give John Doe the domain name JohnDoe.Lowes, where he could have direct access to all of his stored "My Lowe's" information without having to navigate through the Lowes.com homepage in order to log in. Lowe's could even send John information about upcoming sales or reminders about when to plant bulbs for the following spring through a personalized John@JohnDoe.Lowes email address.

Of course, businesses that do not acquire their own gTLD will not have this same capability. But we could begin to see an uptick of personalization in web browsing activity across the board. Consumers may begin to expect the websites they frequent to display information that is most relevant to them, whether it be a sports site that leads with information about their favorite teams or a shopping site that displays items in the styles and sizes they typically purchase. Even businesses that cannot offer their customers personal domain names may be expected to step up and provide a more customized, personal experience in the future.

Adaptation 3: A new era in search?
A major question from all businesses, across industries and regardless of whether or not they plan to acquire their own new gTLD, is what impact these new extensions will have on search engine rankings. Some, like Forrester's Jeff Ernst, have made a "self-fulfilling prophecy" argument, saying that because search engines strive to deliver the most relevant and authoritative results, if companies acquire new gTLDs, then search engines will have to adjust their rankings and will, as a result, give authority to these new gTLD domains. Others argue that domain names are not a big enough piece in the puzzle of search engine rankings to significantly tip the scales in one direction or another.

The fact is, search engines keep their algorithms close to the vest, so there is no way of knowing how, or even whether, they will adjust them to account for new gTLDs. Established brands that have worked hard to achieve the high search engine rankings they currently enjoy should, at least initially, employ a conservative strategy of redirecting new gTLD domains to their existing sites. Alternatively, they could begin by using new gTLD domains to host microsites for specific marketing campaigns until it becomes clear how search engines will adjust their rankings to these new domains.

Businesses that do not acquire new gTLDs should do their best to keep up with any shifts or alterations in ranking algorithms, and adapt their Search Engine Optimization strategies accordingly. This is also another place where owning domains in key category or geographical-term gTLDs can be beneficial: If search engines do start to show preference for new gTLD domains, then having a presence in other new gTLDs could provide companies a boost in the rankings, provided they create unique content for these domains and treat them as microsites.

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As marketers, we all know how important it is to make sure that our email and other direct marketing efforts are relevant to our customers. We also understand that customers are taking more control of their relationships with us and are demanding that we engage with them in ways that work. Doing this effectively requires a marketing strategy that integrates efforts across channels, while allowing for us to continuously "listen" to our customers and adjust tactics based on what we "hear" from them.

As we enter 2012, here are a few of the main themes that our analysis shows will be on every email subscriber's wish list, as well as ways to engage with them and give them what they really want.

Stay informed. Looking for the latest digital strategies about connected televisual entertainment? Attend the iMedia Video Summit, Mar. 25-28. Request your invitation today. To belong

Everyone wants to feel like they are part of something. Utilizing "welcome" programs to initiate a sense of belonging -- letting subscribers know more about your brand and your email, social, and mobile programs and their benefits -- is a great way to make them feel part of your community.

This year, consider taking your welcome emails a step further and deploy a welcome series. Strategically crafted creative elements, calls to action, and messaging in each treatment of the series can enable continuous subscriber engagement and optimize results with double the open and click rates and three times the transaction rates of promotional mailings.

Integrating your digital programs can also create a sense of belonging and increase engagement. For example, leveraging Facebook to optimize email performance and acquisition by including email sign-up on your Facebook page can bring your digital programs together and make your subscribers feel connected.

A recent Experian CheetahMail study indicated that only 25 percent of brands have email sign-up on their Facebook page. What are you waiting for? Make 2012 the year you add it to yours.

To be known

As customers increasingly take control of the relationships they have with you, it is vital to treat them like individuals. Use what you know about your audience to personalize content as much as you can. This step can be as simple as using a subscriber's first name. On average, subject lines with a subscriber's first or last name have 58 percent higher unique open rates than those without.

Here are some great examples of subject lines we have seen recently:

• Be our guest [first name]. Enjoy a free photobook.
• Real vacation deals just for you, [first name].
• Winter is here, [first name]. Time to plan!
• Hey [first name] -- Meet our Facebook favorites!

Keep in mind, however, that a best practice is to use this tactic occasionally so that subscribers do not tire of it.

Here is another option that is even more effective: Showing products that subscribers are interested in can double transaction rates. For example, images of products left in abandoned shopping carts visually remind customers of the items they wanted and often make them more likely to purchase. This tactic can pay off just as much when it comes to ratings and reviews, as well as product recommendations in order and shipping confirmations.

What do you know about your email subscribers? This year start taking what you know and use it to personalize your customer communications.

To feel special

Along with demanding more personalized interaction comes a desire to "feel special." Customers want to be rewarded for their loyalty and continued engagement with your brand. Consider "friends and family" emails or loyalty points and rewards communications. These types of email marketing initiatives are personalized and create a unique experience for each individual driving continued engagement and loyalty. Also, make sure to use language that evokes this sort of special feeling. Did you know that the word "exclusive" in subject lines provides a 14 percent lift in unique open rates?

Have you identified your best customers? Are you rewarding them? In 2012, make your subscriber feel special by launching a loyalty program.

To be treated well

You know that feeling you get when you're walking around a store and can't find any associates to ask for help? Emails, especially transactional emails, without "help" or "customer service" links can leave customers with that same feeling. Treat your customers the way you want to be treated -- or better.

Also, remember your manners and say "thank you" to your customers. Shipping confirmations that thank customers have 60 percent or higher click and transaction rates than those without a "thank you" included.

To belong + to be known + to feel special + to be treated well = what they really want

As much as we marketers like to believe that we know what our customers want, we have to recognize that their desires and needs change rapidly. Therefore, it's important to have testing, an analysis of subscriber behaviors, and a collection of subscriber feedback (via surveys, research, social media tools, etc.) as part of standard daily business practices.

Remember, recognizing and acting on what your subscribers want not only makes them feel special and produces happy customers, but will also increase their engagement and improve your program performance.

Regina Gray is vice president of strategic services, Experian CheetahMail.

On Twitter? Follow iMedia Connection at @iMediaTweet.

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For decades, traditional research practices have informed marketing strategy for major brands. While this has proven indispensable in crafting marketing communications, this type of research lacks the dimension required to paint the full picture of a consumer's mindset, especially in a new era of discovery where a marked shift in consumer behavior has exponentially accelerated change in the world around us.

People today are equipped with the tools and means that allow them to function as real-time sharers, creators, and curators of content. This democratization of media makes it ever-important for brands to understand what people are saying, who is doing the talking, and how and where the conversations are taking place.

Online listening, also known as "buzz monitoring" or "social media monitoring" can do all of this and it can do so in near-real time. Through mining public conversations across a range of digital platforms, marketers can analyze this information to glean actionable insights about their brand, their category, their audience and the greater cultural context of their business.

Here are six powerful things that online listening can do for brands.

Discover how people perceive and engage with your brand in an organic context

The nature of traditional focus groups places a narrow lens on the types of insights that can be derived. Participants are generally aware of their role in the process, placed in an unnatural setting, and asked to answer a restricted field of questions. Online listening functions without such limitations, as brands can learn what people are saying in candid conversations occurring in natural environments. This means you can uncover sentiments and trends that may have gone unnoticed through traditional research.

It's not about waiting for answers; it's about learning in real time

Traditional research often operates on a multi-month delay given the time and resources needed to plan, conduct, and collect data, and consequently, brands conduct this type of research less frequently.

Marketers who rely solely on traditional research risk acting on stale insights. So much can change within your audience's mindset, your category, and the broader culture in the blink of an eye. Online listening can keep pace with the fast and furious nature of today's marketing landscape thanks to sophisticated tools that leave more time for human-powered analysis.

Listening can monitor within a larger context

Individual brands exist within larger ecosystems of competing products and companies clamoring for attention. Online listening can paint a picture of the broader environment and determine how specific brands fit within it.
 
The average person encounters more than 5,000 brand messages a day. Beyond competing with rivals in your category, you also compete with a broader range of brands vying for attention in a crowded space. A packaged goods company, for example, may today consider consumer electronics companies, automotive manufacturers, etc. as viable competitors -- beyond similar CPG companies in their category. Listening can also introduce you to new opportunities for strategic partnerships with brands you might not have previously considered.

Envision your audience as people, not just consumers

Marketers can take a closer look at public conversations to develop personas or identify tribes. Who is your audience apart from being "consumers?" How do they describe themselves? What are their hobbies, interests and passions?

By gathering publically available information from sources such as Facebook and Twitter bio pages, as well as connecting blogs, Tumblr feeds, etc. of individual authors, marketers can paint a fuller picture of an individual's daily life. By cross-referencing this data, you can build profiles to be grouped into behavioral or psychographic "tribes." For instance, if a focus group finds that a brand particularly resonates with a certain demographic (e.g. 18 to 34 year-old women), online listening might also reveal that the brand is specifically popular among music fans and foodies. This kind of analysis helps tap deeper into consumer psyche and generates ideas for how best to engage the relevant tribe.

Spot emerging trends in consumer behavior

Social media sits at the crossroads of culture and people. It's never been easier to understand shifts in consumer behavior (think cultural trends or emerging media platforms, for example) at scale and in near-real time.

The most direct way to spot shifts in behavior is to listen to what topics of conversation a particular segment is talking about, and where they are having those conversations across the web. While bottom-up trendspotting is good for forecasting cultural insight early on, understanding how those with online authority are leading culture is another way to track trends that already appeal to wider audiences.

Works alongside more traditional research methodologies to further hone in on the why and how once new trends are uncovered

Given the popularity of short-form status updates (e.g. Twitter), it can be challenging for marketers to determine why people feel a certain way about a product, or why they chose to purchase a specific brand. For example, an individual might say "I love brand X", but unfortunately they don't often provide more detail as to why.

There are several ways to supplement online listening and gain deeper insights on emotional connection and a consumer's path to purchase. One is to simply ask them, either through an opt-in survey or a more in-depth qualitative interview. Another is through ethnographic research, or any type of investigation in which you observe first-hand how people engage with your brand in their everyday lives.

New technology has empowered marketers to more easily collect public conversations -- but, as the volume of information available to brands increases, an approach based on human-powered analysis becomes critical to piece together the deeper meanings behind the outpour of real-time data.

Online listening has emerged as a critical tool for brands to gather insights about people and culture in unprecedented ways. These insights -- deeper and more holistic than traditional findings -- can shape marketing strategies in ways that allow you to provide better experiences to people, within your advertising and beyond.

Sarah Hofstetter is president of 360i.

On Twitter? Follow iMedia Connection at @iMediaTweet.

Feature art sourced from ex_magician and cheetah100.

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Most companies have accepted the fact that by now they ought to be engaging in social media activities in one form or another. Those who are late to the party, however, are often from highly-regulated industries such as financial services or pharmaceuticals. Despite the promise of genuine, real-time communications with customers that could greatly benefit marketing and public relations efforts, social media can present quite the challenge with regard to regulatory compliance. Organizations need to engage in social media in an intelligent way that complies with relevant industry regulations -- without completely stifling the creative, genuine nature of the medium. This can be a difficult balance to strike, but it can definitely be achieved.

Stay informed. Looking for the latest digital strategies about connected televisual entertainment? Attend the iMedia Video Summit, Mar. 25-28. Request your invitation today. Social media compliance challenges

For years, instead of leveraging social media, companies in heavily-regulated industries have either avoided it altogether or have been extremely conservative with their use of it. Instead of having a sound plan, far too many organizations are simply winging it and handling issues on a case-by-case basis. This doesn't work for even the smallest of businesses, and is therefore especially risky for those trying to maintain organizational compliance.

Why can social media be such a headache when it comes to regulatory compliance? First of all, the very nature of social media is real-time, unfiltered conversations -- an online stream of consciousness. Whether it's your employees or your customers, the idea of real-time can be terrifying for anyone concerned with adhering to internal or industry policies. For example, brokerage firms dealing with FINRA regulations need to be concerned about whether any responses their employees provide to customers in social media communities are adhering to rules about suitability and investment product recommendations. Likewise, pharmaceutical companies engaging in social media must ensure that any conversations about a product, whether they are on Facebook or Twitter, feature the FDA required safety information. And, any public company needs to be on top of every tweet to monitor whether it complies with the SEC's public disclosure requirements. With all of this to consider, how can a company enter this world safely? Two words: policy and education.

Social media policy and training

Every company, even those without regulations to contend with, must have a well thought-out social media policy in place that deals with both employee and customer use. What should this policy include?

Your internal social media policy should make it clear to your employees what they can and cannot do or say, and how anything they disclose in a social media community has an impact on the company. Be clear and concise to avoid overwhelming them with complex details that could be misconstrued. Your policy -- which should be documented -- should clarify who has the authority to speak on the company's behalf on social networks and the consequences that exist if any of these rules are broken.

Beyond the written component for employees, your policy needs to include embedded processes and workflows that ensure compliant social media communications. One necessary process is content moderation. For example, put controls in place that automatically review any outbound content for policy violations. Having a process like this ensures that communication can still be published in a timely manner without exposing the company to unnecessary risk.

Speaking of risk, it is also prudent to make sure your policy leverages a method to limit the number of employees who are granted admin rights to social media accounts. While you want to grant employees access to your communities, you also want a simple way to take this access away if they leave the company. Ensuring that only a select few have admin rights makes this possible. Imagine the potential for regulatory violation (and impact on your company's reputation) if a disgruntled employee accesses your corporate Twitter account.

Any company facing regulatory controls could also face an audit at any moment. Your social media policy should account for this reality by implementing technology that archives all content in a way that could quickly and adequately prepare you for an audit.

Another critical component of your policy is how it deals with participation from external stakeholders, such as vendors or customers. You need to let your communities know your company's social media policy and how you will handle responses. You must make them aware of what will and won't be tolerated on your social media pages, especially since you have regulatory requirements to consider with every comment and response. It might, therefore, take more time for your team to respond to inquiries depending on the review process and you should set expectations accordingly.

One of the best social media moves is to be transparent. This will help to build trust within your communities and comply with regulations. If a customer blogs on your behalf, you must disclose if they are being paid, getting free products, or being given special treatment of any kind. For companies dealing with multiple regulations, posting disclaimers for all social media activity is a sound practice. This protects your company and minimizes potential confusion on what is a personal statement versus corporate. 

Now that you have created a fool-proof policy, how do you make sure your employees adhere to it without having to threaten them on a regular basis? Employee education and training is the best way to uphold policies, meet regulatory requirements, and mitigate risk. Make it part of your process to regularly educate employees about current social media policies, new programs or networks, and best practices. You can also hold regular "lunch and learn" events and launch a social media certification program that grants graduates new levels of privileges in your social communities.

Despite the fact that regulatory compliance is a constant consideration for your business, social media does not have to be the enemy or hinder your compliance efforts. With a strong understanding of the risks involved, a well thought-out social media policy and effective employee training program, you too can harness the power of social media and improve your business through the building of communities.

Scott Oppliger is founder and CEO of SocialVolt.

On Twitter? Follow iMedia Connection at @iMediaTweet.

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Introduction

The Super Bowl is the loudest shout of old media -- it is the opportunity to connect with more than half the nation in one afternoon with a message that's guaranteed to be watched, discussed, and scrutinized. Plus, if your ad is really good (or a total piece of junk) there's always the chance that you'll be featured on the front page of newspapers coast to coast.

But Super Bowl advertising is a lot more than that -- it's also a brilliant beacon within new media. People love to talk about experiences, and the Super Bowl is something that we all experience. It is an incredible opportunity for savvy (and well-heeled) brands to drive thousands of friends and follows in one short afternoon. It's an opportunity to mesmerize bloggers from coast to coast, and to motivate their typing and embedding fingers.

The Super Bowl is the perfect media storm. And if your ad actually makes the product compelling, it's the opportunity to sell loads of stuff lickety-split.

That being said, let's relive some of the wins and fails of last year's Super Bowl!

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GroupM is the media investment manager that aggregates WPP's clients' budgets. The group reported annual worldwide billings of $73.5 billion, and has a marketshare of 32.7 percent, with nearest competitor Publicis at 23.1 percent.

Sarah Fay spoke with GroupM COO John Montgomery about the shift to digital TV, including Apple's Genius TV and Microsoft's Kinect, and how the evolution will create a new model for ad buying. Will TV buying look more like audience buying? How will automation drive the planning process?

John also talked about about whether or not GroupM is competing with media buyers, and whether or not agencies have fully embraced mobile. See the full interview below.

"It's a fantastic win/win for media owners. Sell us your inventory, you'll get more from us than you will from the ad exchanges, because we can…integrate it with our brand strategy."

"90 percent of all data was created in the last 24 months. From an advertising/tech point of view…we're learning a lot about consumer behavior from the [data]."

Conversation highlights

0:00 - GroupM aggregates WPP's clients' budgets
0:50 - Are you competing with media sellers?
1:45 - We've attracted the attention of the FCC
2:28 - Educating consumers about choice-based ads
3:30 - Learning about consumers through automated ad planning/buying
5:20 - Running cookies on smart TVs and voice/gesture-based interactions
6:18 - Clients have fully engaged with mobile
7:55 - Taking TV into the social space
8:50 - An evangelist for industry shifts
10:07 - What's coming...

Run time is 10:59

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GroupM is WPP's consolidated media investment management operation, serving as the parent company to agencies including Maxus, MEC, MediaCom, Mindshare, Catalyst and Xaxis. GroupM is the global number one media investment management group (RECMA 2010). Our primary purpose is to maximize the performance of WPP's media communications agencies on behalf of our clients, our stakeholders and our people by operating as a parent and collaborator in performance-enhancing activities such as trading, content creation, digital, finance, proprietary tool development and other business-critical capabilities. The agencies that comprise GroupM are all global operations in their own right with leading market positions. The focus of GroupM is the intelligent application of physical and intellectual scale to benefit trading, innovation, and new communication services, to bring competitive advantage to our clients and our companies.

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Social media isn't inexpensive, it's just different expensive. To do it well requires a tremendous time commitment, and regardless of what your life and lifestyle entails, the time you spend on social comes with an opportunity cost price tag. Thus, one of the characteristics that sets adept practitioners of social media apart from less successful adherents is wise use of time.

Using your limited social media time wisely is all about going beyond the obvious activities. If you're doing the exact same things everyone else is doing in social, I can guarantee you will not have an advantage. But, if you do some things differently, you may find activities where the reward is disproportionate to the effort. These nine efficiencies -- hacks -- are what you need to embrace right now.

Stay informed. Looking for the latest digital strategies about connected televisual entertainment? Attend the iMedia Video Summit, Mar. 25-28. Request your invitation today.

Listen to podcasts
Sure, they've been overcome by newer and sexier social flavors du jour but podcasts are still the best way to spend time when you're not in front of a screen. Driving to work? Listen to Mitch Joel's Six Pixels of Separation or MarketingProfs' Marketing Smarts with Matthew Grant. Working out? Put on the earbuds and embrace John Jantsch's Duct Tape Marketing, or Chris Penn's Marketing Over Coffee.

Take and curate photographs
I'm not certain if a picture is worth a thousand words, but it's definitely worth 140 characters. This is the year that photos challenge writing as the lingua franca of the social web: Instagram; Pinterest; Path; Google + using large thumbnails in the news feed; face recognition technology. All trend lines point toward photography. If you're not taking and posting pictures to dedicated photo networks and cross-posting (when appropriate) to Twitter and Facebook, you're missing out on a huge opportunity to grow your network and see the world through the eyes (or cell phone cameras) of thousands of new friends.

Read LinkedIn today
It's pretty safe to say that most people keep their LinkedIn shrubbery more closely pruned than their Facebook or Twitter trees. Thus, when content is shared in LinkedIn, it often has a better chance to have been shared by people you trust, or at least people with a modicum of business sense. That's why when I'm looking for a summarized source of what's happening in the categories I care about, I turn to Linkedin Today.

Buffer your links
One of the most insidious time sucks in all of social media -- especially for content curators -- is the "Oh, I found something cool. I should share this on a social network or four!" keyboard fire that spontaneously erupts a few times a day. This kills your focus and productivity. The better approach is to set aside a chunk of time first thing each morning to find the handful of truly interesting content bon mots that are worthy, and use Buffer http://bufferapp.com/ to automatically share them across your chosen social networks at pre-determined, optimized times. While you're at it, add the Buffer button http://bufferapp.com/goodies/button to your blog too.

Use "If This, Then That" recipes
If This, Then That (IFTTT) is the best social tool nobody ever mentions. It's like a virtual assistant social media robot, where you can create an almost infinite array of conditionally-defined, time-saving tasks. Create an account and hook up all of your social profiles, blogs, cell phone numbers, etc. Then sift through the mountain of existing recipes to find processes that will save you effort.

For example, want your Twitter profile photo to change automatically when you update your Facebook profile photo? Done. Want to have your favorited tweets automatically emailed to you? Done. Want to automatically store your Instagram photos in a Dropbox account? Done. Want to automatically post to your Pinterest board any link you add to Facebook? Done.

The opportunities are nearly endless at IFTTT.com.

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In a recent survey by MarketingSherpa, the majority of marketers named their biggest marketing challenge as generating high quality leads. Tight budgets and a need to show quick ROI certainly add to the quandary.

Stay informed. Looking for the latest digital strategies about connected televisual entertainment? Attend the iMedia Video Summit, Mar. 25-28. Request your invitation today.

Why is lead generation so problematic? A couple of factors come to mind.

• Technological advances -- your potential customers can block out any offers they don't wish to receive
• Poor website experience -- if your site content is not properly aligned to your prospect's life cycle, you lose out
• Ineffective use of internal marketing database -- segmentation is key in tailoring your messages. Keeping contacts up-to-date is basic, yet often overlooked
• Sticking with traditional marketing methods -- it's so easy to stay with what's worked in the past even if it's no longer working well

Google campaigns alone may fall into the last category. Despite the fact that costs can be astronomical and the competition is fierce, some marketers still believe if you're not on Google, you don't exist.

In a tough economy ROI is critical; it makes sense to widen your horizons. Opt-in email targeting, alternative pay-per-click (PPC) networks, and social media marketing are worth a closer look.

Opt-in email targeting

Google recently introduced Interest Category Targeting for AdWords. Typically an ad in Google's display network only appears if it's relevant to content on the page. With the "Interests" feature, advertisers can target users on other sites based on their behavior and overall interests.

Opt-in email is similar. Advertisers have the ability to reach people who've "raised their hands" to see ads based on their overall interests. Many people actually want to see ads that align with their passions. Email publishers can offer high-performing, high qualified customer lists. With opt-in email, your future customer has been highly qualified and is a red hot lead.

In a recent survey we conducted, lead generation professionals responded that third party opt-in email is considered the most underutilized platform for lead generation. Sixty-four percent noted that they had not yet utilized such campaigns.

For lead generation professionals seeking the best tools that deliver results, third party opt-in email is a must to consider. Since the consumers previously opted in to receive updates from publishers, these email campaigns usually perform extremely well. In our experience with clients, the average conversion rate is 9 to13 percent. According to the Direct Marketing Association (Q4 2010 email trends and benchmark report), the industry average conversion rate is a dismal 2.9 percent.

Alternative PPC networks

Diversifying your traffic from Google results allows you to monetize alternate traffic sources at a lower cost-per-click, ultimately delivering a potentially higher ROI.

Search marketers have the opportunity to work with alternative PPC providers. Many alternative networks are made up of smaller and niche websites that do not receive Google ads, so they bring an audience unsaturated by your competitors. That allows for a greater return on your investment.

These PPC ad networks find success in numbers by aggregating traffic from across their network of search and content publishers, serving paid links when a user searches for a relevant term. Taking your ads beyond Google and Bing is a win-win as it provides a lower cost-per-click and allows marketers to pay less while ranking higher in search results.

Challenges in lead generation surely will continue to result in new methods for marketers who are scratching their heads. While participants in our survey highlighted the effectiveness of PPC as a great way to target and qualify leads, there are multiple networks that can be effective. Regardless of the platform you choose, set measurable goals, then track your campaigns. Conducting limited testing coupled with measurement will get you headed in the right direction.

Social media marketing

A whopping 93 percent of brands are doing some type of social media marketing, according to a recent BtoB Magazine study. Perhaps not surprisingly, most are focused on the most popular channels including LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

Tips for getting started with lead generation in the social arena include pushing out a steady stream of useful content coupled with clear calls to action. Content creation can be time consuming (hence a challenge for some resource-strapped departments), but the attention you can attract is worth it. A call to action that you can track ("join this LinkedIn Group") is essential for understanding your progress.

It's important for marketers to regularly remind themselves that there are always fresh and effective new solutions that must be explored. It's just a matter of stepping outside of your comfort zone. The best way to do this is to allocate a certain amount of your ad spend on testing new lead generation sources. You never know what works until you try it.

Daniel Yomtobian is the founder and CEO of Advertise.com.

On Twitter? Follow iMedia Connection at @iMediaTweet.

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It's been a big year of growth for social media as an industry, and, as it shows no signs of stopping any time soon, here are five things to keep an eye on.. After all, we are a bunch of geeky social media enthusiasts who just can't keep our traps shut on the topic.

Social media is going to gain more attention and spend

No brainer, right? Companies are paying a lot more attention to the value of social media, and it has become increasingly obvious that social media marketing has moved beyond pushing funny tweets and begging unsuspecting networks for friends to please, please, please "like" a company's new Facebook page. This is the year for social media to rise above fun marketing fluff, and into the ranks of hard marketing campaigns. A joint study from Booz Allen and social platform developer Buddy Media, showed that 57 percent of businesses surveyed plan to increase social media spending, while 38 percent of CEOs label social as a high priority. As people start to take social media marketing more seriously, hopefully the industry will become better defined with more standardized practices across the board.

Search and social will become synonymous

Of all the predictions, the most common theme I discovered (and have been loudly championing for some months now) from social media gurus across the web is that the lines between search and social are becoming increasingly blurred. Google+ is definitely going to be a game changer in this arena. It will be interesting to see if it really challenges Facebook, as many people initially predicted, or if it will just quietly create the ultimate social search engine and melt our faces off in awe. Google+ will find its balance, integrate with other platforms, and undercut Facebook on advertising. Hopefully, Google will buy a social media management system that will have hooks into Google Analytics, Webmaster tools, and Google +, which other platforms will cower behind.

Social influence will affect SEO rankings more than ever

Influence is no stranger in the world of search. As search marketers, we are well aware that Google has long been the well-respected professor rewarding good influence with higher grades in the form of single digit rankings. We have been watching Google for years to determine just how its algorithms determine what is well optimized, influential, and worthy of being found in search results. The same goes for social media influence. With social media content already manipulating search engine results pages (SERPs), it begs the question of which content will have the most influence. I see Klout, a platform whose algorithm gives your influence a weighted number, and similar companies gaining momentum in the coming year, as what's shareable is going to become as important as what's searchable. I could really use a Venn diagram right about now…

Social sharing will become standard on every website

In the same vein as social search and influence is social sharing. What is social, if not a giant shared space of individuals' ideas, opinions, media, whereabouts, and status updates? One of the first industries to really capitalize on this was online publishing, as popular sites began adding sharing options to content, which ultimately led to more page views and higher rankings in SERPs. So, what's going to happen next year in terms of social sharing? The actions will start being monetized with ecommerce and web transactions. As more and more companies realize that users may not understand that something is worth sharing until they are given the option, these companies will allow a user to share a product or review with their networks without ever leaving the site. (Hmm…maybe someone in my Facebook network would be interested in learning more about the fancy cheese grater I just ordered from Amazon.com?)

Social media marketers will move beyond measuring fans to real revenue related metrics

What's in a name? For the past few years, as social media has continued its steady ascent into domination, the focus has been on fans, followers, and "likes." These real people, with real names and attempted clever handles, have actively pledged their allegiances to their favorite brands. Unfortunately, a company saying they have 5,000 names of people who love their brand is worth as much as Monopoly money. Yes, brand awareness has incredible value and influence, but that's a hard sell to clients without solid ROI numbers attached. This year will bring better metrics platforms, with the ability to attach real revenue numbers with each social media brand champion. Ultimately, these improved metrics will provide marketers a better view of data which will lead to better content and campaigns.

So, there you have it, my crystal ball full of tweets, shares, and status updates for this year. Even if I really was some sort of mystical social media shaman, it wouldn't make a difference. This industry is moving faster than news of celebrity splits, and keeping up with social media trends is harder than keeping up with the Kardashians.

Heather Sundell is creative editor at The Search Agency.

On Twitter? Follow iMedia Connection at @iMediaTweet.

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Google. Facebook. Apple. Amazon. Four major companies that are defining the current social/device/tech landscape. Consider recent headlines: "Facebook Floods Timeline with Oversharing Apps." "Amazon sells the Kindle Fire at a loss because it makes so much money on media." "Google+ now lets you start a conversation from search results." "Apple brings textbooks to iPad."

But there's no coasting, even for a giant. The popularity and success of these companies are dependent on consumer habits and consumer trust. We asked the always-candid Molly Wood what the big four need to do this year to stay on top. (Note: This interview was recorded in late 2011. A few business developments have occurred since taping.)

Let's start with Google: maker of Android, Google+, and much more.

Here's what Molly thinks Google should work on. (0:55)

 

Next, the ever-evolving Facebook.

 

Here's Molly's advice for Facebook as the company navigates the fine line between consumer trust and advertising revenue. (1:39)

 

What about the church of Apple?

Admittedly, Apple is in a strong position. But Molly thinks Tim Cook has a big opportunity, and thinks the company needs to be careful about something. (1:48)

 

And understated Amazon.

Many consumers still think of Amazon as an online shopping storefront. But as digital marketers know, the company has become so much more. Here's Molly's advice as the company continues to move into new areas including devices, business tools, and entertainment. (0:45)

 

A major industry insider, we had to ask Molly what technology or service she's most excited about. Here are two she has her eye on. (1:02)

 

Molly Wood is an executive editor and on-camera video host for CNET.com and CBS Interactive. She is the host of the Buzz Report, a weekly show about the latest in technology industry news, co-host of the incredibly popular Buzz Out Loud technology news podcast, and author of the Molly Rants blog at CNET News.com. Molly's expertise and passion for the world of technology make her an informed analyst who uses wit, humor and, sometimes, brutal honesty to explain the business of tech and the latest in consumer electronics. Molly’s expertise is frequently sought out by major media including CBS, CNBC, MSNBC, CNN, NPR, as well as major local television affiliates throughout the country.

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There's no denying the power Facebook has had on businesses. You've probably recognized the increased use of that unmistakable Facebook icon on company websites, print ads and commercials, as well as the rise in custom-designed Facebook pages. But with the push to gain fans, many businesses are finding themselves unprepared to handle the "engagement" that comes from asking people to '"like" a business page.

Stay informed. Looking for the latest digital strategies about connected televisual entertainment? Attend the iMedia Video Summit, Mar. 25-28. Request your invitation today.

Facebook is becoming the Borg -- you had better embrace the collective and make the best of it, or it will find your brand and build its community. Companies need to apply the same business sense, crisis management, and strategic planning they would to any brand messaging, marketing campaign, or customer-service protocol. Perhaps even more forethought is needed when it comes to social media, as customers will "talk back" and companies need to be prepared.

This is especially true when it comes to customers posting their ideas, suggestions, concerns, or problems on your wall. If your business is primarily communicating with customers via wall posts and you have a large fan base, you run the risk of coming across as unresponsive, or worse, not listening if a response is not timely.

One other missed opportunity I've been noticing is the high number of businesses not using Facebook to leverage their corporate brand. Here's a perfect medium for communicating with present and future customers that what you have to offer is worth purchasing, and too many companies don't seem to know how to use this social-media tool to their advantage.

To illustrate this further, I've selected three companies who I think are failing when it comes to marketing on Facebook: Tesla Motors, Netflix, and Goldman Sachs.

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Super Bowl Sunday is a day unlike any other. It's the day we gather to watch titans compete. But, amidst the combat on the field, another contest is taking place all over the country. It's not one of strength or field position. It's a battle of ads.

Super Bowl ads don't really seem like ads at all. We experience them as content because we choose to watch them, and we choose to watch them because the content is awesome. It's why we talk about them long after the game, and why many like them more than the game itself.

Sadly, as Monday comes along, we hate ads again. The reason is simple: Our everyday ads seem determined to hate us back, so we choose not to watch them. And now, more than at any other point in advertising history, consumers have the power to choose what they watch. Additionally, as consumers' ability to choose increases, it's harder and harder to acquire their attention by interrupting them.    

So, let's not interrupt them, but draw them to us by creating content that people want and choose to watch, giving them a reason to share. Let's make every day the Super Bowl. 

There's a Super Bowl-sized audience online everyday just waiting to watch and share great content, making it a lasting part of our culture. Here are five reasons why every day can be the Super Bowl:

Choice

Super Bowl Sunday is no longer the one day a year that people will choose to watch ads.  Millions of people now choose to watch and share brand videos online every day. Additionally, marketers no longer need to rely solely on interruptive advertising delivery models. Social video distribution platforms offer the ability to deliver brand videos across the web solely in choice-based placements.

Creativity

The reason why people choose to watch Super Bowl ads is that they are highly creative. We expect them to be entertaining. Likewise, the growing level of creativity and imagination in online video advertising is bringing that same level of consistent interest among consumers to watch brand videos throughout the year.

We are consistently seeing new forms of branded content, such as Dermablend's "Go Beyond the Cover" series, which are changing the way we think about advertising. It's no longer about the one-hit wonder viral phenomena. Brands are now creating new characters and experiences through online video that people want to keep around in their lives because of their originality and entertainment value.

Sharing

Brands get enormous lift from the word of mouth generated from their Super Bowl ads. Now, sharing via social media has become so engrained in our culture that brands get their creative videos shared every day. This is why videos like Lululemon's "Sh!+ Yogi's Say" can generate hundreds of thousands of shares in fewer than two weeks.

Because of the increasingly central role of social media in our identities, we can now say "we are what we share." As a result, brands have the opportunity to continually produce content that consumers will share with their personal networks if they identify or emotionally connect with it.

Reach

The Super Bowl still boasts the largest reach for a live event, but popular brand online videos are now approaching and even exceeding those viewership numbers in a short amount of time. A quick look at YouTube's most watched ads of 2011, shows that a broad array of brand videos racked up tens of millions of views last year. The speed with which these videos are able to get up to millions of views has also increased, as with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's "The Vet & The nOOb," which quickly eclipsed 20 million views. Expect these numbers only to grow in the years ahead.

Not just for big brands

With genuinely creative content and a smart social distribution strategy, even smaller companies and brands can create a Super Bowl-worthy video, and get it in front of huge audiences for a fraction of the cost. Blendtec continually reinforces this point with their massively popular "Will it Blend?" series, which has now generated over 185 million views to their YouTube channel.

eMarketer recently noted that "68 percent of companies said they were shifting from traditional forms of marketing to more emphasis on branded content," another clear indicator that a wide variety of brands are embracing the content opportunity.

Dan Greenberg is co-founder and CEO of Sharethrough.

On Twitter? Follow iMedia Connection at @iMediaTweet.

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The concept of paid, owned, and earned media has evolved. What were once separate notions of media can be integrated in new ways to better serve brands and consumers, and disrupt the traditional online marketing landscape.

As a result, smart marketers are re-evaluating the ability of paid media to serve as a vehicle to amplify the impact of earned and owned media rather than viewing each media channel as a separate and totally disconnected effort.

Stay informed. Looking for the latest digital strategies about connected televisual entertainment? Attend the iMedia Video Summit, Mar. 25-28. Request your invitation today.

How are marketers building successful digital marketing campaigns that take advantage of the synergy in a combined paid, owned, and earned media strategy? Based on successful campaigns we've seen conducted by some of today's leading technology brands, there are some important steps to achieving success.

Understanding what it means to integrate paid, owned, and earned media

For years, marketers have viewed paid, owned, and earned as separate strategies: paid (i.e., ad buys) to blast their messages, owned (i.e., branded social media pages, blog, website) to showcase their own marketing messages, and earned (i.e., articles, social media commentary, and engagement) to provide third-party validation about their products.

As paid, owned, and earned media evolved, marketers learned how to break down the walls to get these three distinct disciplines to work as a team. Many of today's digital and social media campaigns strive to take advantage of the intersection of these media channels.

Earned media is the most coveted because it offers outside validation that a brand is delivering value through its products or services. Whether it comes through as a positive review, a tweet, a Facebook update, or a blog comment, marketers and brands rejoice. The objective is to integrate positive comments, posts, and feeds from earned media into the paid and owned strategy in order to amplify the message.

To illustrate, brands can use paid media (i.e., display, text, or search ads) to broadcast earned media in a scalable and targeted way to reach broader audiences. Likewise, by integrating earned media into owned media properties (website, blog, branded Facebook and Twitter pages), marketers and brands are educating the rest of the community on what resonated with their most engaged and passionate users.

However, if you're going to spend the time, money, and energy building a strategy around paid, owned, and earned media, the earned media that you integrate should be as influential as possible.

The importance of influencers

The term "influencers" is used a lot today in discussion of the impact of social media, but what constitutes an influencer? What is the influencer's role in shaping opinion about a brand?

When it comes to considered purchases that require research before commitment, such as an automobile, mobile device, or expensive appliance, consumers are increasingly using the internet to seek out the independent opinions of professional bloggers and influential experts to help guide their purchase decisions.

Integrating paid media with earned media and measuring results

When considering an integrated paid, owned, and earned media strategy, it is important to recognize that paid media, or advertising, can be useful to consumers who are making a considered purchase, especially if it leverages independent influencer content that they are actively seeking to inform or support their decisions.

Consider: If you are in the market for a new television set, which of these two ads would increase your level of consideration or likelihood of purchase: a generic banner ad flashing a picture, message, and price for one brand of television, or an interactive ad unit that showcases articles and social feedback from trusted experts in the television arena?

As a marketer, imagine having the ability to tie your messaging to objective editorial content that an independent expert has written about your brand, and to then use your paid media spend to amplify that message, along with the validating content, across sites that your consumers visit to make their decisions. This approach is unique because it offers relevant and helpful information and allows for a heightened level of engagement to socially drive consideration for a brand's product.

Furthermore, because marketing online allows for tracking and measurements, brands can learn whether or not an integrated paid, owned, and earned media strategy has succeeded. Today, analytics software can track how brands are viewed compared to competitors and can even identify and measure the influential content that is consumed and shared about a brand.

Of course, one size does not fit all. An integrated strategy that leverages influential content is best utilized in considered purchase categories like technology, automotive, and other big-ticket items. This is because considered purchases are ones in which consumers do research and seek out the advice before buying. It is not as well suited for everyday commodities like paperclips, napkins, or light bulbs.

Conclusion

As the digital marketing landscape has evolved, so have the strategies. Changes in the structure and definition of media have broken apart the silos of paid, owned, and earned media and have spurred marketers to re-examine how paid, owned, and earned media can be integrated for greater success. In doing so, marketers have realized better ways to engage audiences by offering relevant information that informs and helps the consumer make better purchase decisions, rather than a one-size-fits-all message that is simply blasted where consumers happen to be. Integrating paid, owned, and earned media means that marketers are now viewing paid media as a means to amplify the impact of earned and owned media. It also means marketers are putting increased emphasis on the value to the consumer rather than treating each media channel as a separate and totally disconnected effort.

Peyman Nilforoush is CEO and co-Founder of NetShelter.

On Twitter? Follow Nilforoush at @netshelter_ceo. Follow iMedia Connection at @iMediaTweet.

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If you want to find new customers -- and really, what business isn't in the business of finding new customers? -- running a daily deal can be a great way to dramatically increase your organization's visibility within targeted communities. According to a comScore study, 47 percent of consumers subscribe to at least one daily deal website. Subscribers are young, affluent, tech-savvy, and more than 75 percent female.

On the flip side, daily deals can be unprofitable. If a deal is poorly planned, it can turn a business opportunity into a business nightmare. One of the most persistent failings of a daily deal is its uncertainty in finding repeat customers. If you want to increase your odds of repeat foot traffic, you'll want to develop execution and retention strategies in advance of running your deal.

Stay informed. Looking for the latest digital strategies about connected televisual entertainment? Attend the iMedia Video Summit, Mar. 25-28. Request your invitation today.

On the most basic and integral level, successful execution hinges on your business having the capacity to serve both new and existing customers. If you've already determined that you have excess capacity and are prepared to staff appropriately for the deal...congratulations! With these two variables covered, your business can make sure that your new daily deal customer's first visit is a positive one.

To take your promotion to the first-class, box seats, home-run level, create a customer experience that is not only positive but also memorable, and not only manageable but also successful. These four tactics will send you on your way.

Pre-promote your daily deal

While it would be a logistical nightmare to staff and plan for 500 redemptions and receive 5,000, it would be equally nightmarish to staff and plan for 500 redemptions and only get 50. That's why it's important to use your email lists and social media channels to pre-promote the deal. This step is especially important if you're using a lesser-known provider with a smaller subscriber base.

Capture deal seekers' information

For tracking purposes, you'll want to capture three pieces of information: the coupon usage itself, whether the user was a first-time customer, and the total amount spent in addition to the coupon. Capture the first two pieces at the point of sale and the third piece through your sales records.

For marketing and engagement purposes, capturing information like email addresses and phone numbers can be your chance to cement relationships with new daily deal customers. It isn't enough to place an email newsletter sign-up sheet by the register. You need to tell your customers about the value of that newsletter. For example, mention that subscribers receive exclusive coupons or industry-specific tips.

Engage your staff ahead of time to get their opinions and buy-in for information-capturing tactics. Your staff is your frontline when it comes to gathering information, so train them well, and get them excited to help.

Reward repeat customers

Consider offering in-person rewards or additional coupons to encourage repeat business. Develop special add-ons and up-sells for customers who redeem your coupon. When possible, waive initial membership or set-up fees.

After the initial sale, use that buyer information you captured to build lasting relationships with your daily deal customers. These customers are used to communicating through email, which makes it the perfect platform for follow-up messages. Create a new group for your daily deal users, and send them a special welcome email.

You can also segment and test this group to weed out those who aren't likely to pay full price later as return customers. How? Just send the group a value-based message, and track your results. Those who open and engage with the message may have been attracted to your business by the discount, but they're interested in your brand as well.

Further test the non-responders by sending that group a 10 or 15 percent off email coupon. Those who respond are likely customers who appreciate value, but are also interested in your business and will visit again. These customers have the potential to be weaned off discounts.

Non-responders to both the value and discount emails are likely deal seekers who have no intention of visiting your business without a deep discount, or customers who don't want to be reached by your brand through email. Either way, they're not your ideal customers. If they remain unresponsive to your emails for six months, remove them from your list.

Leverage social media

Some customers may be more comfortable interacting with your business via social channels, so develop a plan to promote your deal through these channels as well. Design special signage or nifty takeaway cards with your business' Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare contact information, and encourage customers to like you, follow you, and check in. Consider offering exclusive updates and rewards through your favorite social networks.

With variables that are innumerable and often hard to quantify, creating a successful daily deal can be overwhelming and confusing. It can be daunting to not only reach a larger pool of customers who need an extra push into your business, but also to retain these customers once the deal is spent.

A survey from The About Group found that 68 percent of deal seekers returned without a second discount. Fifty-three percent of these went on to become regular customers. By using these tactics, you can propel your business into the upper percentile.

Grey Garner is market strategist for Emma, Inc.

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With today's advanced technology, the best online display ads are rich with website-like capabilities, making ads personalized and allowing customers to have an interactive experience without ever leaving the page they're viewing. A recent Adobe study revealed that consumers who were exposed to interactive ads had stronger engagement, message involvement, and purchase intent than those who saw static ads. What's more, advances in consumer tracking technology have enabled ad creators to feature tailored content that matches each individual's shopping/browsing behavior -- giving consumers a more personalized ad (and brand) experience than any other advertising medium.

Combined, these innovative features not only make ads more noticeable and inviting to consumers, but they also empower them to engage with advertisements without committing to a click. Engagement ranges from scrolling through featured products to searching catalogue inventory to watching a video. Because all this can be done within the ad, it extends the unique experience of visiting a brand site to properties throughout the web.

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The dynamic features of this new generation of online display ads have made them increasingly influential in the conversion process, and more capable than ever of attracting shoppers that wouldn't have otherwise returned to make a purchase. However, as is the case with view-through conversions, the value of dynamic display advertising would be completely lost without the ability to track engagement and, more importantly, its influence on user behavior.

The great news is that this capability exists.

Revolutionizing campaign measurement with engagement

The interactive nature of dynamic online display ads creates a unique opportunity when backed with intelligent tracking technology -- it's possible to connect logged conversions to consumers who engage with ads. This post-engagement attribution enables advertisers to fill the gaps left by impressions, post-impression conversions, and clicks, and allows advertisers to see that:

• The ad was placed in viewable inventory.
• The user saw the ad.
• Subsequent behavior is directly attributable to the corresponding campaign.

It's clear that there's value in targeting engagers versus clickers. Empirical data supports the contention that no metric will give you more confidence in the value of your display ad campaign than post-engagement.

In October 2011, mediaFORGE compiled data from 14 participating advertisers, and analyzed more than 180,000 purchases resulting from our display media campaigns. In an effort to evaluate whether engagement was a competitive indicator of purchase intent, mediaFORGE analyzed the average number of delay hours between an in-ad action and a purchase/conversion to assess whether there was a significant difference between clicks and other types of ad engagement. The results revealed that in-ad interaction proved to be an equally direct indication of purchase intent. In fact, in many cases, engagers will convert faster than clickers and will frequently spend more.

On average, those who engage with dynamic interactive display ads return and convert 44 percent faster than those who click-through. This significant improvement suggests that, although a click-through is a demonstration of interest, it's not the most convincing indication of purchase intent. mediaFORGE click-through rate (CTR) ranges from .08 percent to 1 percent, while engagement rates range from 10 percent to 20 percent -- an indication that users are more comfortable interacting with shoppable ads than clicking through to another website. In the case of retargeting, it's unreasonably assumptive to think that users are immediately ready to return to a site from which they recently abandoned.

Interestingly enough, those that do interact with dynamic banner ads also spend more on average than clickers. For instance, 60 percent of campaigns studied had a 5 percent higher post-engagement average order value than post-click.

So, if more people engage with banner ads than click, and engagers purchase more rapidly and spend more on average than clickers, then why would anyone choose to optimize/pay for clicks? Clearly, they shouldn't.

Performance oriented display media often becomes the responsibility of paid search managers. While paid search can and should be rigidly measured by cost-per-click and CTR (mostly because users are more willing to click on text links), display media should be treated differently because it's clear that consumers do not click on banner ads.

Forging the era of value-driven performance metrics

There is no doubt that engagement is the most defensible metric for measuring the influence of an online ad campaign on actual conversions. As advertisers continue to advance the call for higher quality performance analytics, post-engagement should be considered the new standard for metrics that instill a higher level of confidence in return on ad spend. Gone are the days when advertisers were cornered into accepting the gaps created by archaic metrics like CTR and view-through attribution. Engagement is forging a new era of performance metrics that better utilize today's intelligent technology and better engage a generation of increasingly savvy consumers.

Tony Zito is CEO of mediaFORGE Inc.

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With just 45 employees, and $30 million in new funding, Klout is a unique player in the social media landscape.

Klout founder and CEO Joe Fernandez (Klout score at time of publication: 69/100) says, "It's simple -- if you create interesting content that your network interacts with and shares, you will have a high Klout score." Fernandez noted that the average score is about 20. Most consider a score above 30 to be reputable and a score above 50 to be elite.

But people have mixed feelings about Klout scores. For example, an algorithm change in late 2011 left users asking questions.

Klout says the algorithm change affected ratings in the following ways: allowing users to be measured on more than one primary network, filtering out bots and spam, and using a 90-day average instead of a 30-day average to calculate scores. But most scores went down. User feedback included site posts like: "Very unhappy with this change. My score went from 73 down to 53. 20 point drop. I've been working for months to increase my Klout score. Please fix this."

Despite the bumps, Klout's user base continues to increase. The company has assigned scores to more than 100 million people and brands. Klout analyzes 2.7 billion pieces of content and connections per day, receives more than 8 billion API calls per month and has worked with more than 5,000 partners and developers.

So...will future employers check your Klout score? Depending on the company, yes. Klout's Garth Holsinger (current Klout score: 38/100) describes current Klout score use to Questus' Joey Dumont. (1:15)

 

How do you increase your score? Here's what Garth recommends. See below for additional pointers. (0:45)

 

What's coming next? Will hotels give you incentives if your Klout score is high? And what if you're big on YouTube, but not on Twitter? (0:53)

 

Garth says despite initial outcry from users, the algorithm change had some positive results. (0:42)

 

Want more advice about increasing your Klout score? Mark Schaefer, author of "Return On Influence: The Revolutionary Power of Klout, Social Scoring, and Influence Marketing" gives these pointers:

1. Build a network. The key to increasing a Klout score is similar to finding success on the social web in general: Build a targeted, engaged network of people who would be legitimately interested in you and your content.

2. Create meaningful content. Adopt a strategy to create or aggregate meaningful content that your network loves to share with others. Provide links!

3. Engage. Actively engage with others in a helpful and authentic way. Ask questions, answer questions and create a dialogue with your followers.

4. Don't scheme. Any gaming behaviors that fall outside the basic strategies will eventually catch up to you. For example, specifically targeting conversations with high Klout influencers will probably be more annoying than successful. If you keep focused on your network strategy and your content strategy, you'll succeed.

5. Interact with everyone. Don't be afraid to interact with Klout users with lower scores -- it won’t hurt your own score. In fact, it helps build their score and in turn makes you more of an influencer.

6. Publish. Remember, you don't have to make a movie or be elected to office to have power now. All you need to do is publish. Access to free publishing tools such as blogs, video and Twitter have provided users with an opportunity to have a real voice, so take advantage of these many platforms.

7. Keep at it. Don't be discouraged by your score. It’s more important to just enjoy your social media experience and let the chips fall where they may.

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