We promised you Traditional Marketing Is NOT Dead; furthermore, the fusion of traditional advertising and social media into one integrated or hybrid marketing campaign, is the key to success.  One company doing just that (and doing it extremely well) according to this NY TImes article, is Chobani Greek Yogurt.  In the booming Greek yogurt business, Chobani is already #1 in sales; in fact, sales are up 225.9 % from the same period a year ago and nearly double that of their closest competitor, Fage.

So how did Chobani get where they are today? By using the consumers they’ve gained via social media in their traditional advertising of course! According to Peter McGuiness, chairman and chief executive of Gotham – the company responsible for the ad campaign, “We did not want a ‘corporate-out’ campaign, we wanted a ‘consumer-up’ campaign, to tap into and extend the ‘Chobani love’ that is rapidly spreading across the country.”  By advertising their tweeps on billboards and TV ads, as well as their website, Chobani makes “spreading the love” easy.

Personally, I love this campaign almost as much as I love Greek yogurt (though, admittedly I was a YoGreek fan until recently;-)  The price tag on this campaign is a hefty $13 million but with Greek culture popping up on grocery shelves across the nation, I have a feeling it’s a small price to pay!

What do you think about Chobani’s blend?

When planning out a social media strategy, it is just as important to determine what you expect from social media as it is to determine which tools will work the best. Our social media strategy almost always starts with training. This includes both why social media is important and how it can be used. Many clients believe that social media is just twitter and facebook – and it just requires setting up a profile and you;re done. We teach our clients that there is more to social media than those two tools – and we explain the time commitment it takes to get the results that they want. We need the client to understand expectations. In order to do so, we always start with these 3 questions:

1. What is the #1 result you want to see with social media: Increased traffic to the site, more conversation about your brand or increased profits. Of course, most clients tell us that they want all three, but we require that they narrow it down to the number one. This answers gives us some insight on what they expect from social media and whether or not we need some training on how social media works and what is realistic before continuing with a proposal.
2. How much time do you expect to spend on your social media strategy? The answer to this question varies widely – some understand right away that they will need someone constantly monitoring their brand and the conversation, as well as interacting, sharing content and providing a resource. For those that answer this question with “just a few hours a week” tend to need more training. They need to see the level it takes to participate with their community before they can jump into the world.
3. Where do the majority of your clients spend their time online? This question is rarely answerable right away – and often we answer it with the research that we have done ahead of time on the client. But, sometimes the client already knows. Either way, once the main sites have been determined where their clients spend time, we can determine the best of those to begin to create a strategy around. There is no point in being on twitter if your clients aren’t – just like it would be silly to ignore forums if that is where their discussions lie.

Once we have clarified more about the client, their needs, their level of commitment and understanding of social media, we can move onto the actual strategy for social media. In order to do this, we look at what they want to focus on.

If the client wants:

• Better conversation between the consumers and the company, we suggest blogging.
• Listen, monitor, converse and respond to the consumers, we suggest twitter.
• Turn users of their products into fans of the product and reward them, we suggest facebook.
• Ask questions of the users and get feedback in a community, we suggest forums.
• Share how to’s, create viral content and share videos, we suggest youtube.
• Want people to come into their physical store and provide incentives, we suggest whrrl/foursquare.

The actual process is more complex than these simple questions – but this gives you an idea of where we start. These questions capture the main detail of each tool and then we can combine them together to create a complete strategy. We also have other sites that we suggest on rare occasions – when the client need arises.

How did you plan your social media strategy?

Yesterday, we revealed 5 tips on Facebook. Today, we’re covering Twitter (again, if you aren’t on this yet, sign up and then come back and read the rest of the post):

Give more than you take: If every time people turn around, you’re asking for something and never give anything back, they won’t be willing to help for long. When you join a social media site, you have to gain a reputation as someone who shares, participates and reciprocates. In order to prove that you are part of the site, you must always give more than you take out.

Add Value to Twitter: Value isn’t added by continually retweeting the same links that everyone else sends. It also doesn’t mean sending out link after link to promote yourself. Value comes from contributing new and interesting ideas.

Cheaters never prosper: There are no shortcuts to twitter success. You can’t get 1,000 followers by clicking that link, and you certainly can’t build a business in like that way. Instead of looking for shortcuts, look for better conversations. Real people, real focus and real conversations are the secret to any social channel.

Build quality first: Do you really want 10,000 followers if none of them are willing to retweet your links or start a conversation? People are more willing to help those who they really know – and you can really get to know someone on twitter. By building quality relationships with other users, you’ll always have someone in your corner to back you up. Remember, relationships require the participation of both parties.; soSo, always be a good participant in your social media relationship.

Stop bugging people: This is more than just “giving more than you take”, this is about leaving your agenda on the floor and bringing your personality and conversation to the table. Every time you think about of talking about your business, make sure you are phrasing it in a way that is beneficial to them, not just to you.

What other advice do you have for Twitter?

Are you on Facebook? 250 million people are, and you should be too. If you aren’t, get signed up now…and then come back and read the rest of this blog. Already on Facebook? Read on:

Use a current profile picture
You can have as many photos as you want on Facebook – in your albums and that you are tagged in. But, you only get one profile picture. So, your profile picture should be professional, match the rest of your social media icons and be a clear picture of your face. You want people to be able to find you easily and recognize you when they see you. Oh and while the funny meme’s and changing your picture to fit the mood of the masses can seem fun, it makes it difficult to find you if you are constantly changing your picture. And, unless you plan on keeping your profile 100% private, do not use a photo that is inappropriate for business.

Make your interests honest
Do you adore Voltaire and volunteer to save dogs, elderly and plants in your off time? No? Then don’t put that in your interests! You need to be honest in your interests if they are going to work well and give people a true view of who you are. Remember, this can be changed, so if you grow, learn or add new interests, you can update it here.

Write on the Walls
Sharing conversations on Facebook is one of the easiest ways to build stronger relationships, and writing on walls is a fast way to get these conversations started. People like feeling special and involved, and leaving your friends and business contacts quick notes is a great way to provide this feeling. But, if you plan on sharing personal information (phone numbers, addresses, inappropriate discussions), you should reserve those for messages or email.

Update your status
There is no perfect rule for when or how to update your status, but you should try to update it at least once a day (assuming you aren’t just updating it for the sake of updating it). We all have something to say, ask or discuss…say it, ask it, or discuss it here! But one note of warning, please do not tell us your every detail or be assured we will tell you how little we care.

Access Facebook from your phone
Working without a computer? Doesn’t mean you can’t check facebook, respond to comments and send messages. Just like Twitter and other applications, you can have Facebook on your phone too. Make sure you do, and know how to use it. If you can’t find an application, you can still access the more phone friendly Facebook through their mobile site at m.facebook.com.

What other tips do you have to add for Facebook? Tomorrow, we will cover 5 tips for Twitter!

One of the blogs that I read regularly is IncSlingers, they usually have great posts and their topics hit home. The post today discussed the true cost of social media and asked that companies start to consider how they are using these tools. The point to the article was to consider the methods that you choose to deploy when using social media – and that you should avoid the ‘silo’ approach of just forcing out content without thinking about the end user. While the overall point was good, I think he missed a very important piece of the puzzle – the actual cost associated with social media management.

He included one line about the true cost: “The truth is, good Social Media, like any other form of Marketing Communication is not free, nor is it particularly cheap”. And while this point was right on, I didn’t think the article expanded on it enough, and I wanted to add some of my own thoughts on the matter.

I would start by changing that line to:

“The truth is, good Social Media, is among the most expensive form of Marketing Communications, and incorrect usage can cost your company more than any other medium”.

And then add on:

“While things like mailings, commercials and print advertisements can all be supremely expensive, the likelihood of one of them being passed around as much as a tweet or a blog post is slim. People share content that is easy to share. Which means if a company were to fail to represent itself well through a tweet, or worse, say something inappropriate in a tweet, that would travel much faster than a poorly done print ad.

Secondly, with mediums like twitter and blogging, once you hit tweet or publish, it’s there for the world to see. There is no reviewing, no drafts, no back and forth with copywriters, designers and print teams. There is so much more of a margin for error with social media, and devaluing it’s power is extremely dangerous. I can not count the number of companies who hire young kids with no idea about branding and strategy to manage a twitter account – and then don’t understand why it isn’t successful. Social Media is entirely about branding, and you should be hiring (and paying) someone who understands the proper way to relate to customers while creating a brand. Risking the brand you’ve built to a fresh faced kid with no concern for what happens in the long run? Dangerous any way you look at it. The person you entrust your brand to in social media needs to be experienced, trained and will be expensive.”

What do you think? Is the expense of social media overlooked? Do companies give enough time, credit and money to the tools or are they selling their brand short?

If you haven’t heard of Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies, where have you been hiding? Written by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, it has been one of the most influential books I have read on social media/networking and business.

If I could, I would pull out all of my favorite quotes and thoughts to share, but unfortunately, there are about 200 that I have made note of in the 241 page book (yes, I made note of almost a quote per page). So, I have decided to share the top 10 thoughts from the book – and leave them open for discussion. These were quotes that made me think, jot down notes, and dig deeper into my brain to think about them.

The number in italics at the end of each quote is the page number, just in case you want to grab the book and find out more details.

1. …people on the Internet showed they were in charge. Any individual can be stopped, co-opted, bought off or sued. But the Internet allows people to draw strength from each other. 6
2. Concentrate on the relationships, not the technologies. 18
3. Take a step back and ask yourself, ‘What are my customers ready for?’ and then ‘What are my objectives?’ Once you know that, then you can start planning. 67
4. Marketers tell us they define and manage their brand…Bull…Your brand is whatever your customers say it is. 78
5. With so many products trying to gets people’s attention, shouting at them isn’t nearly as effective as it used to be. 102
6. The key to succeeding in social networks is to help people spread your message and to measure results. 106
7. A community is a like a marriage; it requires constant adjustment to grow and become more rewarding. And if you’re not in it for the long haul, well, maybe you should think about the ugly endings you’ve seen to marriages that lacked the long-term effort. 149
8. Product developement is hard. Why not let your customers help you with it? 181
9. Like a diet plan built on quick weight loss, quick hits and wins can evaporate rapidly if groundswell thinking doesn’t become a regular part of a company’s process. 199
10. Within a few years, a company that doesn’t engage in this sort of activity will look dated. What would you think of a company who had one static graphic and no links on its home page? In 1995, that was typical – now it’s laughable. And in the same way, companies that aren’t wired into the groundswell in 2012 will look very 20th century – which is to say, out of touch. 238

Share your thoughts on any of the quotes above, or if you’ve read the book as well, did I miss one of your favorites?