Quite an interesting question indeed. With Social Media being a super hyped little pair of buzz words, every agency, self-promoting fameball, or major brand who follows trendy little buzz words has jumped on the tweeting, wall-posting, super-poking bandwagon.

While they are most definitely right to be on the wagon, the deployment of a Social Media initiative is not something one embarks upon without any planning or experience. It is one thing to be a celebrity building your own online brand, but even then you have to be wary. The room for interpretation on the context of your tweets, blog posts, or status updates is a pretty big room and the elephant in it is that whether you are a brand or Demi Moore, the online world of snark just wants to see you stumble.  Just like that photograph of you on Page Six in your unflattering sweats or that consumer complaint about an experience with your brand or one of your employees that now has 50,000 views on Consumerist, dipping your toes into Social Media has to be done clearly and with purpose.

Even without the fear or risk of negative backlash, in order to make a lasting impression that positively supports your brand and that has a trajectory for growth and “viral” legs, one must have a firm foundation based on knowledge and experience, on what works and what doesn’t.

Which is why, as with every other marketing tactic or medium, having a strategy is important.  Your Social Media initiatives should be integrated with your overall brand strategy, whether you are trying to peddle a product, fameball, celebrity, or brand.  There should be goals, objectives, benchmarks, and a thought out approach that makes sense for what it is that you want to communicate and how you wish to communicate it.

In this Marketing Sherpa study, they concluded that ” Two-thirds of marketers who work for organizations that have not used any form of social media marketing or PR consider themselves “very knowledgeable” or “somewhat knowledgeable” about this emerging strategy. Their overconfidence in unproven ability can doom social media initiatives to failure.”

It is a mistake to believe that if you build it, they will come.

To believe that you can set up a YouTube channel, upload a few videos, and boom, there you have viral video is about as logical as believing that people with a video camera can create a Super Bowl commercial. Although in some cases, the former does happen, more often than not  it doesn’t and won’t.

In the same manner, it is foolish to believe that just because you create a Facebook or iPhone application and put it out in the universe, people will use it. The application directory on Facebook is flooded with applications, most of which (the most recent stat I heard was 99%) are basically inactive. Even the top Facebook applications that were previously deemed “successful” have seen a decrease in usage that averages between 15-24% with the new Facebook redesign.

While I do believe that it is possible for some brands to embark upon a Social Media plan “in house”, it is increasingly important to do so with someone taking the reigns who has Social Media experience and expertise. If you want to cut through the clutter, ward off any potential viral embarrassment, and most importantly, have a successful initiative having someone on board who knows the space – not as a user, but as a marketer, is key.

As an employee of an agency that dipped its own toes into Social Media before it was so totally trendy and part of a majority of Fortune 1000 marketing budgets, I can say that the overzealous nature of marketers to believe they fully understand Social Media is partially exciting. It is nice to have these mediums & tactics that we believe (and have for quite some time) to be viable be recognized and appreciated by the more traditional marketers.

I just urge you to remember that just like other traditional and existing non-traditional tactics, strategy is key. While a rogue effort by someone with no experience could prove to be successful, lightning rarely strikes in the same place twice.

It is best to consult with, hire, or bring to the team, someone(s) with a true passion for and expertise and experience in Social Media.

These two buzz words are best buzzed about by someone who knows how to properly buzz them.

1. VirginAmerica “Hashtag” - Allow consumers to tweet things they’ve never done but always wanted to do… that is, they are “virgins” of (for example: I’ve always wanted to skydive #VirginAmerica).  Within means, Virgin will pick winners randomly and fly them to a destination where they get to do whatever is they’ve never tried.

2. HFWIF? (How far will it fly) - Tweet a HFWIF message once per week containing some nugget of insight into Virgin’s ‘spectacular’ service. Every Twitter user who retweets is entered to win Elevate miles.  So the tweet ‘flies’ through the twittersphere… if that’s even possible to measure Then DM some code to redeem the miles.

3. TweetSeat! – Tweet your flight/seat # and locate your to-be in-flight neighbors via Twitter

4. VirginAmerica Word Association Game – Play a fun word association game for new followers (say a VA tag word – new follower can @ reply with what it first conjures in their mind) x # of people who play win something

5. Virgin = _____  - have people fill in the blank @ virgin america, give out elevate miles or free drinks for creative answers

6. New Twitter Geo-tag - What if there’s some new kind of tag for location like:

Having lunch in [Paris, France] with @myfriend

Then you can geocode it. Create a mashup like TwitterVision, but only take locations from tweets (versus users’ profile location)

7. Where in the world is…? - have people do some Where’s Waldo type of search based off of clues Virgin puts out about ‘where they are’ that day

8. Elevate Your Followers - Randomly give out Elevate miles for every x # of new followers

9. RED-commendations – Have people nominate songs and then vote for additions to the RED system

10. Conversation Starters - Have fun hypothetical seat chat sessions (playing off their in-flight conversation starters) – give away Elevate miles

To our friends at Virgin America, we’ll assume that our check is in the mail? Or at least how about some Twitter love!

You can follow us on Twitter at @Affinitive, or go to www.twitter.com/affinitive (you can follow me at @BobTroia. Thanks to @sarahashley, @patrickcourtney, and @tomkincaid!)

eMarketer released some big numbers last week on the growth of user-generated content creators and consumers.  The report estimates that by 2013 the number of UGC creators will reach 115 million (just over half of all internet users), up from 83 million in 2008.  That’s significant, and indicative of the growing popularity of user-generated content (specifically video) as a platform for fluent self-expression.  And as the quantity of content increases, so too does the audience.  An estimated 70% of all internet users, roughly 155 million, will be consuming some form of UGC by 2013.

The study goes on to suggest that the growth in UGC may be unprofitable if the advertising climate for user-generated media remains stagnant, citing ‘unpredictability of UGC’ and ‘absence of ad standards’ (among others) as the culprits for these conditions.  While these issues pose a concern for a company like Google who are still seeking to profit on YouTube after its acquisition in 2006, marketers are presented with an amazing opportunity to reach their audience in an organic and credible way.

Marketing Vox covered an Ad-ology survey last week on the influence of video game selection.  The survey, called Fall 2008 Median Influence on Consumer Choice, reported that of consumers between the ages of 18-24 nearly 65% were influenced by online video.

“‘Gamers want to see new releases in action before they buy, and online video is an effective way to show actual game play,’ said C. Lee Smith, president and CEO of Ad-ology Research.”

This significant level of influence of online video on video game purchases presents an opportunity for leveraging the growing number of UGC creators and consumers.  At Affinitive, we integrate online video, official or user-generated, into the majority of our programs when it makes sense, and have experienced a great deal of success in most cases.

For example, we recently executed a user-generated video contest for the release of an RPG-style video game.  The contest was set up to encourage those who bought the game to upload their best game play videos (see an example here), with the winner earning a gift certificate and autographed merchandise.  By the end of the contest (roughly two weeks after the game’s release,) the contest had received over 50 entries totaling 300,000+ views.

That’s not to say that every marketing campaign needs online video, rather I’m simply pointing out that the audience and creators are increasing, and the influence is there.  It is a growing opportunity that should be considered when developing an online marketing strategy.

Social capital can be best defined as an “investment in social relations with expected returns in marketplace.” It deals with the value of an individual’s social network/connections.

For example, let’s say you have a great new product that you’d love to have Oprah talk about on her show (who wouldn’t!). It’s safe to say that Oprah’s social capital is much more valuable than yours or mine – she has a worldwide audience of millions and is one of the wealthiest people in the US with connections to a who’s who of celebrities, business leaders and politicians – so it would be extremely difficult to gain access to her connections/spheres of influence.

Social currency is a term used to describe the value of exchange of information. In a nutshell, social currency acts as an “icebreaker” and is ammunition for conversation. It can come in many forms such as a funny joke, a stock tip, a funny viral video, or juicy gossip, i.e., “I know something you don’t know” – it makes someone look good in a social context and buys respect and admiration. Oprah would happily mention your great new product on her show if she felt the social currency it provided would be of value to her audience and make her look “in the know.” “Water cooler” TV shows work because those who watch them are “in the know” while others feel left out.

Remember the first time someone sent you a link to Subservient Chicken? You probably felt special, like you were privy to something no one else knew about. You quickly emailed the link out to your friends, family and co-workers. Then the mainstream media picked up on it, and soon your inbox was flooded with “check this out” emails! The value of the social currency dropped significantly since it had become old news.

So, how does this all relate to word of mouth and your company, product or service? When developing a word of mouth strategy you need to factor in the social capital of those you are trying to engage/reach (are you trying to reach hip, cool Gen Y-ers, or simply trying to reach people looking for free stuff to try out?) as well as the value of the social currency you can offer them (is your brand/product/service itself remarkable?), or can you provide some level of inside access/content/information which would be of value to your most passionate, outspoken customers and/or potential ones?

1. Category – Best Viral Promotion, Games & Gaming Category (Silver W3): Ubisoft’s ‘1191AD: Brotherhood of Assassins’ Campaign for Assassin’s Creed
2. Category – Best Site, Social Networking Category (Silver W3): Hey! Nielsen for The Nielsen Company
3. Category – Best Site, Branding Category (Silver W3): Hey! Nielsen for the Nielsen Company
   
4. Category – Best Site, Entertainment Category (Silver W3): Hey! Nielsen for the Nielsen Company
   

The 2008 W3 Awards received over 3,000 entries from around the globe this year, we’re honored to be on their list of excellent work.

A summary of his points:

• Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘Mavens’ are flaky, focus on the ‘Connectors’
• Successful WOM programs must have both advocacy & amplification
• Don’t get duped into measuring viral marketing exclusively on reach, factor in conversion to sale as well
• Focus on the right message and understand that the message that travels is the one that is created by the consumer, not the brand

His point about finding the right message is one that all WOM agencies can learn from. Over the last few years the industry has been consumed with addressing:

• WHO should participate?
• HOW do I engage and motivate
• HOW do I measure results

It’s time to add a new question to the formation of a successful WOM program:

• WHAT are the messages people will spread?

This is the wrong attitude. The expectation is small spend, huge results (often in a short amount of time). With traditional marketing channels, there is a linear relationship between spend and return (i.e., if I know that I get a x% response rate on a direct mail piece, I can simply set my budget accordingly to hit my total response goal; each $1M in additional advertising generates a x% lift in sales, etc.). With WOM or viral marketing, the relationship ideally resembles more of an S-curve (not a J-curve, as you might be led to believe) – fairly linear until a certain point, then takes on a more exponential shape until flattening out again (or falling off entirely). How you get to steep part of the curve is a factor of time (i.e., bigger spend gets you there faster). It’s “organic” versus “amplified” WOM.

Most marketers want to first dip their toes in the WOM waters so they piece together a small budget to try something out, which is understandable. But if their budget is set too low, time frame is too short and expectations are too high, they are doomed to fail (they never hit the exponential part of the curve) and are left with a bad WOM taste in their mouths.

There’s tons of research out there showing that Word-of-Mouth is the most impactful and trusted form of marketing around. But to really see its benefits, marketers need to spend more, not less.

WOM should be treated as being “effective” rather than “cheap”!

Enlisting the help of friends, she was able to put together a DIY crew to film, direct, act, play extras, edit the video, provide music, and secure a location for the shoot.

As Jean puts it:

What you see in the trailer you call follow along in the book as pages 5-10 of No Good Girls are the first 5 pages of the original screenplay. For people who are not used to reading screenplays, I thought filming it would be a wonderful compliment to the book as it would act like a bonus feature much the same way interviews are bonus features to DVDs. But the scene itself, which may seem like an introduction to the characters is really a foreshadowing tool for the story. Meaning, pay close attention to what each character says as you might see it happen in the book.

You can check out the finished trailer below (look closely for yours truly who makes a “cameo” around :25 into it!):

Congratulations to Jean (as well as another good friend of mine, Mark Kaufmann, who directed and edited the video). Now buy the book!

Related Links:
No Good Girls Website
No Good Girls (Amazon.com)
No Good Girls Book Trailer (YouTube)
No Good Girls Book and Trailer – The Making-Of