On the same day that a special prosecutor charged George Zimmerman with second degree murder for the shooting of Trayvon Martin, a sub-head on popular news Website, Drudge Report, read Race War.  It remains up for debate whether or not the United States is in the middle of an actual race war. What cannot be debated is that marketers, working in the spare time, used social media tactics that led to the arrest of a person who had originally been released from police custody without charges. As evidence, let me offer a brief timeline of the events surrounding the case:

February 26^th – Martin, a 17 year old African American male is shot and killed by a Caucasian neighborhood watch captain. Zimmerman claims he acted in self-defense, and is released under Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law, which states that a person may use force in self-defense when there is reasonable belief of a threat, without obligation to retreat first.

March 8^th – Kevin Cunningham, a social media coordinator, reads the story on a Howard University fraternity e-mail list, and creates the “Prosecute the killer of our son, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin” petition on change.org. He shares the petition with other members, who then post to their social networks. Within a few days, over 10,000 signatures are collected and Cunningham transfers administrative rights to the Martin family, who have begun to make media appearances.

March 9^th – Attorney Benjamin Crump files a suit on behalf of the Martin Family in order to obtain public records for the case.

March 13^th – Florida State Attorney takes over the investigation from local Sanford police department, who are still refusing to release 911 calls made by witnesses and neighbors just prior to the incident.

March 14^th – Petition gains 100,000 signatures after major celebrities, including Talib Kweli, Spike Lee, Deepak Chopra and Mia Furrow, ask their Twitter followers to sign. GlobalGrind.com, a Website created by Hip Hop entrepreneur Russell Simmons, creates the “Justice for Trayvon Martin” Facebook page, which reaches over 143,000 fans in two weeks.

March 16^th – Police release 911 tapes revealing Zimmerman making a call about a suspicious looking teen in a hoodie just prior to the incident. Zimmerman confirms he is following the teen, to which the 911 operator replies, “We do not need you to do that.”

March 17^th – #Trayvon trends for the first time on Twitter, and over 300,000 signatures are collected on Change.org.

March 19^th – Michael Skolnik, Co-President of GlobalGrind.com releases, “White People, You Will Never Look Suspicious,” an article describing his perspective as a white male, and what he believes is a privilege of never looking suspicious. The article goes viral, leading to numerous interviews addressing the current state of race relations. The FBI and Department of Justice announce their investigations into the killing.

March 20^th – Daniel Maree, a digital marketing strategist in New York City, create the Million Hoodie March to help the petition reach one million signatures. They ask followers to post pictures of themselves in hoodies, and organize a march to United Nations (UN) headquarters for the UN International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. While they only garner 9,700 new fans on Facebook, the march makes headline news and is covered by all major media outlets, then resulting in over 1 million signatures. The Martin family receives 418 media requests in one day.

March 22^nd – Sanford police chief steps down temporarily after a City Council vote of no-confidence. The Million Hoodie March makes the front page on the New York Times. #MillionHoodies begins trending on Twitter for the first time.

March 23^rd – President Obama speaks out about the case stating, “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon,” while LeBron James tweets a picture of the Miami Heat in Hoodies and the hashtags #WeAreTrayvonMartin #Hoodies #Stereotyped #WeWantJustice  Florida Gov. Rick Scott appoints state attorney Angela Corey as a special prosecutor to look into the case. He also creates a task force to look into the state’s Stand Your Ground Law, which has come under fire nationwide. Roughly 50 schools in Florida stage walkout protests, while the petition surpasses 1.5 million signatures.

March 26^th – Less than 20 days after the creation of the petition and only 5 days after the Million Hoodie march, Trayvon’s family delivers two million petitions to Sanford Authorities asking for the arrest of Zimmerman. Media begin to release Trayvon’s school records, focusing on his suspensions, while some begin to release Twitter and Facebook information painting him as a thug.

March 27^th – News outlets confirm that the lead homicide detective did not believe Zimmerman’s testimony, and suggested in an affidavit that he be arrested for manslaughter. The state attorney’s office instructed him not to press charges because they did not believe there was sufficient evidence to lead to a conviction.

April 2^nd – News outlets enhance previously distributed video of Zimmerman being taken in for questioning.

April  10^th – Zimmerman’s legal team announce they would no longer represent Zimmerman because they have lost contact with him, and do not believe he is mentally stable. Six shots are fired into an empty police cruiser, and Sanford Mayor Jeff Triplett says that the town has become a “kindling box” because of the case.

April 11^th – Florida special prosecutor Angela Corey announces that George Zimmerman will be charged with second degree murder in the shooting death of an unarmed teen. Zimmerman turns himself in and remains in police custody.

I couldn’t help but laugh when I heard the special prosecutor say, ”We don’t prosecute by public pressure or petition. We prosecute cases on the relevant facts of each case and on the laws of the state of Florida.”  When in fact, that is exactly what has happened in this case. For 45 days following the incident, no charges were brought against Zimmerman. If you trace the story back to the beginning, what you see are the two separate efforts of marketing professionals funneling their passions. Utilizing their knowledge and resources, they coordinated a national discussion to furthermore increase brewing racial tensions surrounding the case. Yes, celebrities and tastemakers helped generate buzz, but it was the skills of OUR industry that led to Zimmerman’s arrests and not that of Joseph Kony…remember him?

Kevin Cunningham is a social media coordinator inspired by the death of Khaled Said, an Egyptian youth who was killed at the hands of police. He says, “I decided to take my skills and apply them to the situation, and see how well it would work out, and it just went crazy on me. What I’ve learned is that in social media, you don’t have to go through institutions anymore. Any individual with any idea can make it work if they have (a) connection to the Internet. ” The result of his work has been the most viral petition in the history of this country. It was only after this coordination that the State of Florida immediately decided to assign a special prosecutor to the case. And, without a petition, celebrities would not have the rallying call they needed. Cunningham doesn’t take credit for its success, but he does state, “I feel like I did kick the stone that turned into the snowball that caused the avalanche.”

Daniel Maree is a digital strategist whose desire to raise awareness of Trayvon’s murder came from his own personal experiences of feeling targeted for walking down the street wearing a hoodie. Advertising Age covered the story, and quoted McCann North America President Hank Summy saying, “As the campaign viralized, a group of Daniel’s friends, including Kandace Hudspeth, Director of McCann Social Central, and Daniel’s Social Central colleagues, used their free time and their skills to support Daniel, and thus build a campaign. The team, experts in all areas of social — brand storytelling, content strategy and simplification, event activation, PR, creative and technology — created the Twitter hashtag #millionhoodies to spread the word, and also a gorgeous poster that was distributed online and printed for the rally as well. The rally attracted a peaceful, passionate and diverse crowd, estimated at about 5,000 people. If that isn’t enough, the Facebook petition surpassed one million signatures. This is an extraordinary story and a brilliant example of how one person’s idea, combined with the power of social media, and built by collaboration, can literally change the world. Congratulations to Daniel Maree and everyone else on the Social Central team – Kandace, Sharon Panelo, Michael Nguyen and Tiphaine Murat.”

During an NPR interview, Michael Skolnik, co-president GlobalGrind.com, when asked why he wrote this piece stated, “I wrote this piece because, two weeks ago, there was an incredible movement to bring much needed attention to stopping and capturing Joseph Kony in Uganda. And what I saw during that movement was all of my white friends and all of my white colleagues tweeting about it and putting it on Facebook and talking about it, becoming this trending topic in a matter of minutes. And when a young black man was killed in our country, Trayvon Martin, my white friends were quiet, eerily quiet. Nobody was talking about it. I saw Charles Blow’s op-ed in the New York Times on Saturday, and I saw an op-ed in Washington Post by another great black writer, and I saw Melissa Perry-Harris’ piece on MSNBC; and it was all black people talking about a black kid who was killed. I felt, as a white person, I will never – as I said in the piece – I will never look suspicious to you.”

It took 11 days for Kevin Cunningham to create a petition, 16 days for the state of Florida to assign a special prosecutor, 23 days for Daniel Maree to create the Million Hoodie March and 45 days for George Zimmerman to be arrested. Our country has seen protests, petitions and intense national media coverage surrounding an investigation, not an actual court case. For some, the case symbolized racial injustice — Trayvon was black; Zimmerman is a white Hispanic — for others it is a case study in social media’s ability to crowd source national stories. To me, the case is a clear cut example of the power our industry has to raise awareness about societal issues. It doesn’t matter whether Zimmerman is convicted or not because, much like O.J. Simpson or Casey Anthony, our nation and our ever-present pundits will argue the merits of a case outside of the courtroom.

Throughout the investigation, Geraldo Rivera has apologized for his statement alleging that the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death as George Zimmerman was. Spike Lee had to financially settle with a family whose address he tweeted, believing it was Zimmerman’s residence. The ABC Network has stepped back from a claim that Zimmerman was not injured when they released the police tape of him being taken into custody. The NBC Network had to apologize after media watchdogs learned that the 911 call they released had been edited.

Through all of this, passionate marketers used their intuitiveness and skills to push forth an issue. The media and celebrities brought it to the masses, stumbled at times, and left our judicial system in the wake of what will either be a new conversation about race in this country, or the same historical fight we have been having. Who knows. Maybe it’s time marketers take on that case.

Blog post written by Christian Yazdanpanah.

References:

http://adage.com/article/agency-news/mccann-staffer-million-hoodie-march/233694/

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/29/10907662-how-one-man-helped-spark-online-protest-in-trayvon-martin-case

http://globalgrind.com/news/michael-skolnik-trayvon-martin-george-zimmerman-race-sanford-florida-photos-pictures

http://theweek.com/article/index/226354/the-trayvon-martin-case-4-things-the-media-got-wrong

Tiffani Thiessen presents at the Shorty Awards.

This was my first Shorty’s experience, and I hope it won’t be my last. I wanted to come away from the event with some killer video content. Mission accomplished. I captured Tiffani Thiessen talking about how she leverages the power of social media to connect with other moms and grow her business, PetitNest, to The Daily Show’s Aasif Mandvi on how he uses his social media following for inspiration, and yes, even footage of Miss USA Alyssa Campanella talking about how social media has connected her with her favorite team, the Vancouver Canucks.

The Shorty Awards recognition surpasses revenue-yielding people and organizations. But, the ones that really stuck with me were those that recognized social media campaigns that truly made a difference in people’s lives. For this handful of winners, social media has served a purpose beyond generating revenue and self-promotion. The #Weather Shorty was given in memorial of Andy Gabrielson, @FindTheTornado, who was killed on the job while working to provide his followers with the most up-to-the-minute severe weather safety information. Random Acts, @therandomactorg, was awarded the #Charity Shorty, an organization whose mission is to change the world one random act of kindness at a time. And finally, the #LifeSavingHero award went to the Fire Department, City of New York, @FDNY, for their dedication to protecting the lives of New York City residents. Social media has provided an opportunity to these organizations that, many of which do not have the means to have a voice otherwise. It was moving to be in a room filled with these individuals who were so humbled and honored by their award.

FDNY accepts the award for #LifeSavingHero Shorty.

The nomination categories covered everything from social fitness, to photography. From finance to gaming.  Typically, these industries have little to do with one another. But, through the magic that is social media, they are all connected. It is amazing to see how connections are made and relationships are built by utilizing the infinite and vast power of social media, and how its possibilities really are #endless.


Go here for a full list of Shorty Awards winners.

Contributed by imc²’er, Jordan Barnes.

On April 3, Ian Wolfman, Tim Rumpler and Brady Walcott will head out west for the Ad:Tech San Francisco conference. Follow them on Twitter @imwolfman, @imc2tim and @BradyWalcott.








At this year’s DTC National, imc² health & wellness will have an article presented on the challenges and opportunities marketers face with LOE. Join imc2, April 10-12 in Washington D.C. to learn about understanding the legislative climate and coming challenges.

imc² health & wellness members will also be in Washington D.C. April 10-13 for this year’s TEDMED conference. Follow @tedmed for up to the minute news and information.








Tim Rumpler heads to the Big Apple on April 17 for this year’s AdAge Digital conference. Follow @imc2tim to get updates on emerging media and technologies, platforms and digital tools.








imc² will have a large presence at the Forrester Marketing Leadership Forum held in Los Angeles April 16-18. At this year’s forum, attendees will hear case studies from industry leaders and see demonstrations from leading and innovative companies that will show you what works on the path from cool to mission-critical.








On April 20, Ian Wolfman will be in Orlando, FL for this year’s iMoms Summit, where when it comes to all things digital, mother knows best.








The CMO Club New York welcomes imc² for this year’s CMO Club Innovation Summit. From April 25-27, Ian Wolfman will be on hand capturing video and content to share.








ExL Digital Marketing for Medical Devices, held in Sand Diego from April 30-May 2 will share with conference attendees how to embrace the new era of digital communications. Follow @bradywalcott for updates.

I find it ironic that some of the most technical things I have done in my career, like designing an open-graph site or an ecommerce mobile app, have all started on one of the least technical formats: a pen and paper or a dry-erase marker and a whiteboard. It is far easier to squeak something complex out on a whiteboard than it is to write a long dissertation in Microsoft Word. This is a simple testament to the fact that very complex thoughts and ideas can be simplified into primitive, hand-drawn images.

During SXSW, I caught a great panel on, of all things, doodling. I was moved by Dan Roam′s example of Arthur Laffer’s famous napkin doodle. As the story goes, it was 1974 and Laffer met the advisor to President Gerald Ford over some beers to discuss the economy, taxes, and what to do about the recession at the time. Laffer scribbled his thoughts on taxes on a cocktail napkin. That cocktail napkin doodle — which showed how increased taxation would result in decreased revenue for the government — is now known as the Laffer Curve. And that little doodle on a napkin over a beer became the basis for President Reagan’s “trickle-down” economics.

If the government can work off a simple napkin doodle, so can the rest of us.

Now there’s an entire movement focused on doodling and visual literacy spearheaded by its doodle pixie, Sunni Brown, called The Doodle Revolution. And this is not all artsy-fartsy, hippie talk, either. Statistics show that doodling promotes concentration and increases information retention by up to 29%. Also, we are neurologically wired with an overwhelmingly visual sensory ability. We see pictures more than words.

You don’t have to have an art degree to be an experienced doodler. Perfection is not the goal; improved thinking is. Stick figures work just fine for explaining a concept. The result is that you, as the doodler, will retain more and likely be more creative. Doodling also allows you to experience from an exploratory perspective which can be very valuable when ideating. Dan Roam has a formula to help you organize your thoughts into visuals called Vivid Grammar (see inset picture.) Simply doodle out the answers to the following questions: What? How much? Where? When? Why? and How? to tell your story. Give it a try during your next brainstorm and watch what happens.

As you begin to put doodling into action, you will no doubt amass some great ideas. I strongly suggest joining all the other geek-artists out there by using a Moleskine. These notebooks are made with quality archiving paper and are a great way to catalog your ideas.

If you are intrigued by the thought of being more visual when ideating or explaining a concept, I recommend the following books: Blah Blah Blah: What To Do When Words Don’t Work by Dan Roam.

The Back of the Napkin (Expanded Edition): Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures by Dan Roam.

Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers by Sunni Brown, Dave Gray and James Macanufo.

If the cavemen could do it, you can, too. So grab your Sharpies and your Moleskines, and start creating.

Contributed by Scott Lindsey, group creative director at imc².

Brite 12′ Conference: Ian Wolfman will be sitting on a panel Tuesday, March 6 where he will provide his insight on understanding purpose and the role it plays in building sustainable relationships with consumers. Follow him on Twitter for updates from the conference @Imwolfman.

SXSW 2012: imc² heads to hear about cutting-edge technologies and attend compelling presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology, showcasing the best new websites, video games and startup ideas the community has to offer.

ANA Global:  Vice president of consumer marketing, Tim Rumpler heads to NYC on March 14 to hear big brands such as Anheuser Busch, The Coca-Cola Company and L’Oreal speak about global brand building.

4A’s Transformation LA: imc² heads to Los Angeles on March 26-28 to share ideas on gaming, advertising, technology and creativity. Follow the conference on Twitter @4As.

Following my blog post outlining my interaction with the Four Seasons, I reached out to Four Seasons locally via their Twitter handle, @FSAustin, to start a conversation around my recent experience.  Shortly after, the brand responded to my tweet with:@imwolfman Thanks for reaching out. Christine, our Dir. of Reservations, would love to speak w/ you. Pls call her directly at 512-685-8049.

Nerd alert: this got my adrenaline pumping — 1. Because they actually responded through a social media channel and 2. Because I was going to get to speak with an actual person to see if we could discuss the relationship and not just the transaction.

But let’s back it up and quickly revisit where my current reservation stood. My executive assistant called the Austin Four Seasons late January to rectify this situation, but was only able to get me on the waiting list. No personal communication with me to explain the situation or communicate directly with me on whether they place any level of importance on our relationship. This left me feeling like just another transaction for the Four Seasons. So, you can see why I was feeling slightly optimistic and even excited to place this call – maybe they did care about me!

Christine and my executive assistant drudged out the facts of what happened on both sides and tried to come to some sort of a conclusion (or common ground) as to how this mishap occurred. Christine was undoubtedly concerned with the matter and expressed that she wanted to do everything she could to help make this right.

Could it be that this brand was exhibiting some of the Relationship Era principles? Let’s see…

• Credibility? Check. And they are the Four Seasons and almost always deliver on their word.
• Care? I’ll give them a half check. After all, they didn’t want to speak to me directly until I shared my story with the blogosphere.
• Congruence? We’ll leave this one blank. They never concretely mentioned values or what they stand for. They did do a nice job of handling it like a customer service problem once it was surfaced, but how much more powerful would it have been to deal with the situation through a lens of exposed values? “At the Four Seasons, we believe in dealing with others as we would have them deal with us, which is why I’m calling you today to work through this misunderstanding.”

You might be asking what they could have done differently. First, the transaction was being handled by my executive assistant, but the relationship is primarily with me. So what? So, insist on speaking with me to ensure the relationship is sustained. That would have added to the trust I place with the brand versus detracting from it. And having this conversation might have helped me better understand the values that the Four Seasons espouses. As a result, I felt like their primary focus was to merely solve a problem and avoid being mis-characterized, or to avoid getting a “raw deal” write-up.

Have a different perspective on this? Would love to connect. Reach me on Twitter @imwolfman.

Last March, as I made the trek north on Interstate 35 following another successful SXSW week, I called my assistant and asked her to make a reservation at the downtown Austin Four Seasons Hotel for the following year. She made the reservation for the same week and without mention of SXSW, since 2012 dates had not yet been announced. I decided to book with the Four Seasons because it’s, well, the Four Seasons, and all week I’d found myself in and out of meetings there. I knew that’s where my home base needed to be for next year’s event. So, with my reservation secured, I could rest easy.

Fast forward 11 months…

As SXSW approached, I’d started to finalize details for this year’s event. I asked my assistant to call the hotel to see if I had a single or double room. The Austin Four Seasons representative told her that “due to a new reservation system, the old reservation had been lost” and, since it was SXSW week, they would not be able to accommodate me. After speaking with the local manager and employing several additional attempts to resolve this issue with the hotel, the answer remained.

Sitting there I was dumbfounded, then frustrated, then pensive about the whole situation. What should the Austin Four Seasons have done to help rectify this mishap? Comp me a room? No, that’s not what I want. Give me a gift certificate for a free two-night stay (continental breakfast AND mini bar key included)? While tempting, that’s not really it either. I want something different. As a consumer, I’m a shared stakeholder in the Four Seasons brand. As a marketer, I’m championing this notion of consumers and stakeholders being co-creators of brands. So, what I’m looking for is the acknowledgement and understanding that this issue has impacted me. It has diminished my level of trust with the brand. I want them to care, I want them to treat me as if I’m in an actual relationship with them.  The Four Seasons, deservedly so, boasts a brand equity that is through the roof. They offer unrivaled customer experience and (usually) impeccable service. This brand has many passionate and loyal fans, and yes, I am one of those.

You see, I work for an agency that believes in the power of relationships, especially authentic ones built between brands and consumers. Brands can no longer market to people like they did in the Consumer Era – pushing messages onto consumers to simply drive desired behavior. Brands also need to be concerned with creating value and enhancing trust in the in their consumer relationships, so they can attain both high transactions AND high trust. imc² defines this as a ‘sustainable brand relationship.’ Transactionally, this mishap won’t impact the Four Seasons immediately or in their near-term financials. However, when it comes to trust and  long-term impact, I’m one of their brand ambassadors. But that can change.

We’ve now entered the Relationship Era, where brands need to be engaging and authentic with people and follow the golden rule of treating others as you would want to be treated.  In fact, Four Seasons marketers proudly display this philosophy under their Service Culture on their website. It’s with this mentality and the hotel’s response, or lack thereof, that inspired me to launch the following experiment.

Over the next three weeks, I am going to again attempt to reach out to the Austin Four Seasons and corporate using multiple channels of communication (Facebook, Twitter, email, etc.) to see if I can elicit a response beyond, “sorry we can’t do anything.” The purpose of my experiment isn’t to complain. Rather, it is to see if this brand that has such clout and respect with its consumers can embrace some of the Relationship Era principles to keep (or heck, maybe even build) the relationship with this one fan.

Follow my experiment via @imwolfman, and through regular blog postings here at RelationshipEra.com.

Contribution by Ian Wolfman, imc² Chief Marketing Officer.

Cause marketing is simple and seductive.  Who doesn’t want to see the eradication of poverty and cancer?  So, when an amazing brand builder like Komen steps before a corporation’s board to pitch a partnership, it seems like a no-brainer.  Komen gets critical funding to further their purpose to end breast cancer forever, and the newly partnered corporation gets the halo effect of supporting such a worthy cause.  It’s a win-win, right?  Not always.  The key is identifying the company’s true intention of the partnership, and outlining how it fits into their purpose for existing.

The NFL, for example, may be participating in the most visible cause marketing relationship in the country right now. Every year the NFL partners with Komen to promote breast cancer awareness by allowing players and coaches to wear pink sporting equipment. The goal is to try and better appeal to the growing female fan base.  But after the controversy of the past week, should the NFL continue this marketing activation?  Probably not.  Now, the Komen pink brand is something very different from what it was just a few short weeks ago. No matter which side of the controversy you fall, it’s hard to deny that Komen will continue to alienate many of their former supporters and partners.  This isn’t a controversy the NFL, the private sector, or anyone else will want to weigh in on with their budgets or marketing dollars.  Both sides lose in this situation simply because this partnership, regardless of intent, was just a marketing tactic at the end of the day. The NFL’s purpose isn’t to end breast cancer forever, so continuing to dabble in the cause may look cynical to those they were trying to persuade.

Just think how powerful it would be if a company the size of the NFL had the audacity to say, “We exist to end breast cancer, and we do so by guaranteeing a certain percentage of our profit goes directly to the fight.” Having a strong, singular purpose would simplify the selection of cause partnerships because they would only align with those with shared values.  It would also help them to diversify around different charities focused on the same goal.  In the face of this Komen PR incident, it would make sense why this partner would stand by Komen and continue to align themselves with the best-in-class fighters of breast cancer, sans politics.  Finding solutions for a purpose of this magnitude will require casting a wider net, so supporting multiple organizations—each with different ideologies— should be expected and accepted from the reasonable public at large.  By focusing on a clear purpose, the NFL will undoubtedly be able to deliver more funds directly to organizations with the same charge, thus lessening the need for major partnerships that have bridge organizations like Komen.

This is the promise of moving from cause marketing to purpose-driven marketing.  By defining a clear purpose, classic cause marketing becomes obsolete.  It doesn’t mean that partnerships will go away.  It means that more meaningful relationships can be forged that lead to better outcomes for both sides.  A true win-win.

Social media engagement is no different than building any relationship – you must actively work to keep up the momentum after the exciting “first date.” As the relationship develops, it’s vital to proactively fan the flames to ensure the likelihood of having a healthy relationship. Regardless of your end goal, the key to success is to show your commitment to keeping the relationship fresh and interesting. Here are four ways to increase your likelihood for a proverbial second date.

• Get to know your date: Gain a clearer understanding of who your followers are and how they describe themselves by using a tool such as Research.ly. The output could be simple or something as sophisticated as an Interest Graph. Having this information can influence your content strategy, align communication objectives, and round out your understanding of your audience and their needs.

• Be a mind reader:  Use a content curation tool like News.me or Scoop.it to better understand what people are actively sharing. Use this information to inspire future posts, populate your editorial calendar, and gain a broad picture of what your audience is actively sharing.
• Keep your date guessing:  A recent eMarketer study shows that multimedia content such as photos, videos and links are more likely to drive engagement. Also, keep the message interesting by leveraging assets from local events, marketing/PR campaigns, cross channel media from other social sites like YouTube, or any other content you have at your disposal. Consider asking followers what they think by creating polls or (if your regulatory team will allow it) fill-in-the-blank questions that offer an opportunity for feedback.

• Be supportive and attentive: Return calls, texts and messages, but ensure you’re attentive and authentic when you do. In social media, make it a priority and be consistent.  Be mindful to balance your postings with your responses. For example, if you post an average of three times per week, be prepared to respond as often, especially if a particular post generates tons of buzz.

Whether you repurpose content, re-tweet third-party info, or provide unique or exclusive access to your brand, remember to communicate with purpose. Say thank you, show appreciation, and reward fans for engaging. Doing so will yield dividends to reaching your target engagement goals, whether that’s talking you up to friends or saying “I love you, too.”

Contribution by Matt Noe, imc² health & wellness’s strategy director and social media expert.

imc²’s Secret Mean Stinks has been recognized by several industry-leading organizations. Read more about the success of this campaign in the below articles:

• Forrester’s Groundswell Awards: Secret Mean Stinks
• AdvertisingAge:  “How Secret Found Inspiration to Perspiration”
• AdvertisingAge: “Secret’s Anti-bullying Campaign Appears to Get Facebook Fans Engaged”