The problem isn't "too many clicks" — it's "too many wrong clicks".

On the cartoon show The Jetsons, Jane Jetson is a full-time housewife (although the show was set in the future, it was written in the ’60s). She would push a button, and a robot vacuum cleaner would pop out to clean the rug or mechanical arms would place a fully cooked meal onto the table. That is until, in one episode, she gets “buttonitis” — stress from pushing too many buttons. Ridiculous — or is it?

Why does Amazon.com have “one-click” shopping? Because they know that every click needed is one more chance for a consumer not to make the purchase. I almost always use specialized apps on my smart phone instead of going to the full website on the browser. Why? Because it saves me a click or two. In fact, with my phone’s new notification feature, I can get the weather, sports scores and emails with one swipe. I can’t be bothered with an extra click or two!

Which brings us to the Three Clicks Rule, a longstanding and often unquestioned website design rule that says users become frustrated and often leave a site if they can’t find their content in three clicks. But now there are usability tests that show this isn’t true. In fact, there was little difference in user satisfaction or retention between three clicks and 12 clicks. So, does the number of clicks matter or not? When we delve deeper into the data, it becomes clear that it’s the quality of clicks that affects user satisfaction the most. The frustration comes from clicks that lead to wrong paths or dead ends. This often gets translated as “too many clicks” when, in reality, it’s “too many wrong clicks.”

As website designers and marketers, we drive consumers on a path to a specific action. Success comes when the path is short, clearly defined and free from obstacles. That’s why we rarely direct consumers to a website’s homepage anymore. There are usually too many choices, too many opportunities for confusion and too many potentially wrong paths. More often, we recommend creating landing pages, microsites or mobile apps for each marketing campaign. Unique URLs enable us to track the success and ROI of the individual campaigns. And users instantly get exactly what they are looking for, which leads to higher user satisfaction and extraordinary success rates.

Like most so-called “laws” of marketing and design, the Three Clicks Rule just doesn’t work, yet is invaluable in its intent. Its worth lives on and will only become more important in this smart phone and tablet era, where instant online gratification is demanded. Besides, who needs a bad case of “buttonitis?”

There are huge advantages to using a CMS, but some of these features also bring disadvantages.

As a Technical Director at AB&C, I'm mainly involved in the technical production for our web projects — from landing pages for specific campaigns to websites for hospital systems. For the last few years, we’ve been doing much of this production in a content management system (CMS), a web-based application that enables us to give our clients design templates that they can fill in with text and pictures.

There are huge advantages to using a CMS, such as out-of-the-box features like page/document management, search indexing, etc. But these features also bring downsides into play:

1.    Designing and building a site in a CMS requires a lot of overhead, which we accept because of the benefits down the line. For example, a CMS makes adding new pages easier and faster.

2.    While a CMS makes it easy to do things like add pages and edit text, it can make it difficult to modify designs or change how the site functions.

3.    Many of our clients aren’t comfortable editing their sites and either ask us to help or turn the whole thing back over to us. When we end up making the updates, we find ourselves wishing the CMS wasn’t there so we could just “make the changes directly” instead of spending time getting the CMS to do what we want.

4.    Pages created within a CMS using basic text and pictures tend to be boring and poorly formatted when viewed on a mobile device.

For large sites that are content-heavy and require multiple users to make changes, a CMS is a necessity and the costs are worth it. For sites that don’t have those requirements, a CMS can be a burden.

Performance

Due to the nature of the CMS, it can be difficult or impossible to do certain optimizations that affect the speed of the website.

Speed is important because search engines like Google ranks fast sites over slow sites. Google is all about making the web faster (the faster you browse, the more searching you’ll do; the more searching you do, the more ads they can sell — have you ever wondered why Google has its own browser?). So if all other factors were equal between website A and website B, the faster of the two is likely to receive a higher Page Rank. Website speed also affects consumer behavior. Even a slightly slower site can result in fewer conversions and higher abandon rates.

It also turns out that much of the real and perceived speed of a website doesn’t have to do with how fast the Internet connection or the servers are, which version of the latest browser you’re using, or even how fast your CMS is, but with how the web pages themselves are constructed.

There are some trivial and not-so-trivial techniques that ensure web pages load as quickly as possible, and working around a CMS can put some of these out of reach.

So what?

Because of the four downsides mentioned above as well as the performance aspect, we’ve been choosing more frequently not to use a CMS. It’s often overkill for the website at hand, and without it we can make changes to the site more quickly and further optimize some of the technical components that help pages load faster. We can respond more quickly to change requests from our clients, it’s faster to make basic edits to the text, and the faster page load speed is appreciated by visitors and search engines alike.

An example

We recently built a website for an international commercial truck manufacturer. It seemed like a good candidate for a CMS: it is mostly a set of pages, it needed to be available in multiple languages and it had regularly changing content (press releases).

We chose to build the site without a CMS and bolt in basic CMS-like functionality for some key areas like press releases. The end product was a hybrid: content editors can manage press releases and dealer information, but the landing pages and other marketing content stays with the designers.

We addressed the four downsides:

1.    Overhead and costs are lower.

2.    It’s easy to adjust designs and functionality.

3.    Content can be changed quickly.

4.    Content is presented in more compelling way across all devices.

And the site is super-quick with sub-second page loads, pages and content optimized for search engines and every other trick we could find to make the site as fast as possible.

What does this mean for you?

For your next web project or website update, consider whether or not you really need a CMS. Maybe you should let your web/marketing team or agency handle that for you. I know — it’s tough to let go of that control. But the solution will probably be more portable and easier to change, the costs will likely be the same (or lower), and your website will be faster and present its content in a more compelling way. Most important, you’ll be able to focus less on making edits and more on your core business.

Everyone "likes" a good deed

Barb and I spent an amazing weekend in New York last month. We saw a lot of shows, including one at Carnegie Hall. Later, while enjoying dinner across the street, we realized our camera had slipped out of Barb’s purse while we were watching the show. We called Carnegie Hall and they told us they’d keep an eye out for it. We called again the next morning, but no luck. So we told ourselves, eh, it was an old camera and we wanted a new one anyway.

Cut to several days later. I receive a message on Facebook from someone I don’t recognize: “…my husband works at Carnegie Hall and recently found a camera. While scrolling through the photos I noticed that there were photos from a baptism. As luck would have it someone took a photo of the certificate listing the parents’ names and Godparents’ names. That is where you come in, you are the Godfather at this baptism.”

Now, I may appear to be a crusty old curmudgeon on the surface, but most people know I’m pretty mushy underneath. It blew my mind that someone would go to the trouble of reaching out to a stranger to return an item she could’ve easily kept. And how cool is it that she found me on Facebook? Finally, social media has been put to good use! I replied that Barb and I were incredibly grateful for her honesty and generosity and wanted to compensate her for the postage. I’m holding the note she enclosed with the camera: “No need to reimburse me. I am just happy to return it to its rightful owner. You can pay it forward...do something nice for a stranger! Enjoy your holidays!”

So Facebook has redeemed itself in this grump’s eyes for having some social value. More important, the human race may have some hope after all.

MINI introduces new technology

Clear concise data visualization can truly be a game-changer. The difficulty comes in finding the best way to present your KPIs in a way that is quickly and easily digested.

To celebrate 50 years of motoring mayhem, MINI has introduced Mission Control as part of its limited-edition Camden package. In their words: “By bringing the engine, HVAC and central systems to life via three distinct personalities, Mission Control sets the stage for the future of motoring.” Yes, they have moved the dashboard from eye-level to ear-level, letting you keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel.

Mission Control is MINI’s first stab at a useful (while still somewhat cute and quirky) voice-based presentation of car functions by either providing new information or duplicating operating information from the physical dashboard via three unique voices within the car; one personality for the engine, one for the HVAC and one for the central systems. And just like in real life, the three do interact with each other.

This is approach is almost like a mash-up of the Corvette HUD and a standard voice-based GPS system:  audio-only, but represents operating data in a way that lets you keep your eyes on the road in front of you.

The future of Mission Control? MINI has stated that this is only round one of the technology, with voices and personalities easily updated. So can we expect Mike Rowe telling you that you’re nuts for attempting that grade in your F-150 Raptor? Only time will tell.

Traditional marketing tactics may be like your old mix tapes.

It seems like only yesterday. I wanted to catch the attention of that special person and I knew the perfect way to go about doing it — the mix tape! A combination of all those songs that would tell her exactly how I felt and why she should want my company as much as I wanted hers.

Times have certainly changed. Now you wouldn’t make a mix tape, or even a mix CD. Now it’s all about the playlist.

Are business relationships really any different?

Looking at it from a marketing perspective, traditional tactics are like that mix tape—time consuming, more expensive and once they are recorded they are unchanging.  Today’s nontraditional marketing tactics have a lot in common with the playlist. Messages can be shared quickly; you can ask friends and colleagues to share their opinions; and if the message you want is no longer being spread, it can be changed on the fly.

How do you communicate for your business? If you’re focused only on traditional marketing tactics, it’s as if you’re trying to reach your target with a mix tape. There’s a segment of the audience that appreciates the effort, and the medium, but the biggest part of your target has moved on.

It’s time to embrace new media, to realize that the Internet is not going away, that more and more people use it to do everything from shopping to getting medical advice. It’s time to realize that smart mobile phone use is not going to decrease. That within the next couple of years it won’t be enough to have a good-looking website — you’ll need a mobile-enabled, good-looking website. It’s time to think about how your company is going to tell those special people why they should want your company.

Cue up Lloyd Dobler with his boombox playing “In Your Eyes.”

I still miss those tapes  — the awkward “flip” after side A was done, the feeling of writing a title on the label — but I would miss my iPod even more.

Creating a customized online risk assessment

So how do you get a cardiovascular campaign to stand out above the clutter when there are more than 50 hospitals flooding the market with similar messages? How do you engage consumers to come to your website and sign up for your marketing materials? How do you get people to realize that they’re at risk for heart disease and proactively seek out a cardiologist in your health system?

These are all questions we were asked by The Chester County Hospital (TCCH) marketing team and questions we asked ourselves as we developed marketing recommendations for their cardiovascular service line.  Our answer was to develop an online risk assessment that would determine an individual’s risk level for heart disease.

But this assessment needed to be different from the templated ones that could be bought from other companies. It needed to be customized and reflect the TCCH brand.  It needed to have evidence-based questions and it needed to promote and link to the system’s monthly screenings and community outreach programs. It also needed a personal component that offered a resource to individuals at high risk.

After several planning sessions and a month of programming, Heart Tracks emerged. This customized online heart risk assessment was built with the marketing and Cardiovascular teams at TCCH, and provides a custom report that links the individual’s risk factors to TCCH programs and services. Those who are at high risk can request a personal consult with the TCCH cardiac nurse navigator and if necessary, have an appointment immediately scheduled with a TCCH cardiologist.

Backed by a comprehensive advertising campaign, this initiative has been hugely successful with more than 1,500 people completing the assessment, 300 people signing up for TCCH marketing materials, 20 scheduled appointments with a TCCH cardiologist and an appearance on the cover of a leading health care marketing publication. All of this in less than three months!

Can mobile media compete with the jumbotron?

These days, it seems like everyone is asking whether something is about to kill something else: "Will html5 kill flash?" "Will the iPad kill Kindle?"

So, with tongue firmly in cheek, I thought, "I gotta get in on this killing spree."

In my daily romp through my normal news sites, I stumbled upon an article about a guy named Fred Ehrhart who is taking advantage of online marketing's incredible targeting capabilities to ask a question usually reserved for jumbotrons, billboards and banners being towed behind airplanes: "Will you marry me?" The ads are all long gone, but they directed his potential bride and anyone else who clicked to this landing page.

He asked visitors to "Please post to your Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and anything else you can with the Hash tag #SayYesD and tell your friends to do the same. Link back to this page and show people my list so they can understand how much I love Dalila. We are going to aggregate all your messages and show Dalila how many people think she should say yes."

To answer my own question in the headline, I doubt that mobile devices can ever compete with the thrill of seeing yourself on the big screen at a ball game. So, don't be afraid of these technologies. They're not killers, they're facilitators of true love.

Spoiler alert: she said yes.

On a side note, his approach was also a lot safer than this. Ouch.

Finding the right social media tool.

My husband is a carpenter, so he’s into tools. As a social media guru, so am I. Whenever we come up with a project, we immediately start thinking about what tools we have and what we may need to buy. We’ll scour yard sales, flea markets and the Internet to find just the right compound miter saw or three-phase plasma cutter — often to the detriment of the job itself.

Though perhaps not as exotic as a four-foot finger brake or Pittsburgh lock-seam hammer, the most exciting social media tool is video. Healthcare professionals are learning to take advantage of video along with everything else in their toolbox, as this online marketing blog explains. Surgeons have used Twitter, for example, to tweet out live procedures from the O.R. — the first being a surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from someone’s kidney. Universities such as Stanford are using video on Facebook for question-and-answer sessions between professors and students. Mainstream media is now plugging into social media for obvious reasons — mainly because they know their audiences are plugged in.

Roughly nine out of ten patients who get information online learn from watching videos, which enable them to ask their doctors more insightful questions about procedures. And while you can find a video on Twitter, clicking on it redirects you to a new page. TwitVid is a new service created by Twitter for just this purpose. As with YouTube, TwitVid allows you to create and post your own videos, but this service is so new that you may end up watching hours of footage showcasing little Billy’s puppy and the new tricks he learned this morning.

While videos are used on Facebook to teach medical professionals and students, they also reach consumers. Of course, you may be redirected from Facebook to YouTube, which is riding a huge wave of credibility. Facebook enables you to network with just a click and little effort. You can truly be a people-watcher, and still gain a massive amount of information in a passive manner.

So now when I sit down at my computer every morning, I can share with all my healthcare clients all the new tools available to them — the most important being video. The transparency that video offers can deliver an enlightened, interactive and highly engaged audience. And while it’s no Pittsburgh lock-seam hammer, video can carry us into the future of social media.

Do you care to watch them...24/7?

Remember the premise of what was arguably the grandaddy of all reality TV shows? “This is the true story... of seven strangers... picked to live in a house...work together and have their lives taped... to find out what happens... when people stop being polite... and start getting real...The Real World.”

New web reality series If I Can Dream (from American Idol creator Simon Fuller), which launched on Tuesday, March 2, takes that premise even further. It follows five aspiring artists live 24/7 on ificandream.com and in a weekly recap on Hulu.

The five hopefuls live together in a spacious Los Angeles home outfitted with 60 cameras following their every move. Viewers can engage with the cast members and the show in real time via Twitter, MySpace and blogs, and can select which camera feed they’d like to view. The contestants can even log on to their own computers and spy on their roommates down the hall.

As part of the series, celebrity mentors will come in to help the hopefuls in their quest for the Hollywood dream. Once they land a job and exit the house, a new aspiring artist will be chosen by viewers via MySpace auditions. What do you think? Worth checking out or a waste of time?

Even Barbie uses social media.

The 50-plus doll was once limited to traditionally “feminine” career choices such as ballerina, model, teacher or nurse. As times changed and women threw off their shackles (did Barbie ever even have a bra to burn?), her options expanded: paratrooper, paleontologist, pilot and even President of the United States.

Now, for the first time ever, loyal Barbie fans were asked to help her choose her 125th career for the “I Can Be” doll series by voting on the following: architect, computer engineer, environmentalist, news anchor or surgeon. Twitter followers and fans on Facebook voted for News Anchor Barbie — she’ll be available this fall. The social media campaign was such a success that fans insisted on choosing Barbie’s 126th career, computer engineer, coming in winter.

Barbie used her Twitter account (@BarbieStyle) to keep the conversation going with her followers.

Barbie: Secret agent? Publicist? Electrical engineer? Heartin’ your suggestions, dolls! @marielcisneros @sticktomyguns @rocquel74

This helped validate the suggestions people offered and kept the hype up about her next career. Barbie also sent out announcements through Facebook:

Barbie: I can’t believe it’s only one more week ’til I get my new dream job! Gosh, I better hit the beach and soak up the fun while I can…

Even with her new careers determined, The Barbster is still engaging with consumers and fans:

Barbie: This just in: I’m still deciding on a perfectly doll-tastic nightly news sign off…Suggestions?

Looks like Barbie is going to have a busy year. But not to worry — she’ll make time to keep in touch with her fans through Twitter and Facebook between reporting the news and developing the next big technology for computers.

Radio's impact on brand browsing.

Good news for our clients who utilize radio. A new RAB survey shows that radio advertising grows online brand browsing by 52%.

Twenty-three brand campaigns were measured in the research. Not only were 52% of respondents more likely to include that brand name in their browsing, but 58% of all browsing stimulated by radio took place within 24 hours.

Radio. It's fast, efficient and a great way to drive people to your website.

A paid search campaign for Greater Wilmington Convention & Visitors Bureau

This is the second in a series of case studies for those who read our blog. I think it's a nice opportunity to share examples of our work.

Promoting Corporate Event Planning in Wilmington, DE

Client: Greater Wilmington Convention & Visitors Bureau (GWCVB)

Situation
For the first half of 2009, the GWCVB asked AB&C to promote its B2B efforts by increasing awareness of its meetings program. The GWCVB had traditionally promoted events planning in a 300-mile radius, their primary and secondary target geographies.

Strategy
Event planning has traditionally been a secondary focus of the GWCVB, and its marketing allocation reflects this. We wanted to maximize marketing budget while satisfying the demand of professionals already reading about and researching places to hold corporate events.

Execution
AB&C managed a paid search campaign utilizing keywords focused around the concerns of business meeting planners. We targeted the ads to appear only to an audience within 150 miles of Wilmington, Delaware, their primary target geography, which remains close enough to make an in-person trip to view facilities and weigh the wealth of options that Wilmington presents.

Results
By focusing on active planners within a tighter geography, we were able to stretch our resources while having a bigger splash with our select audiences. During the campaign, 41% of all visits came courtesy of the web media campaign. The campaign also reversed a trend of declining visitors, bringing in 30% more visits than First Half 2008 and a staggering 72% more visits than Second Half 2008. Unfortunately, with the end of the program at the wrap of First Half 2009, the downward trend returned, with a dramatic 40% drop in visits for Second Half 2009.

A paid search campaign for Southern Delaware Tourism

Below is the first in a series of case studies that we wanted to share with those of you who read our blog. We think it's a great opportunity to share examples of our work and capabilities. The case study below, for our client Southern Delaware Tourism, showcases our online media capabilities, specifically paid search campaigns.

An Introduction of the Southern Delaware Culinary Coast

Client: Southern Delaware Tourism (SDT)

Situation
From July 15 through August 31, 2009, SDT asked AB&C to promote its Culinary Coast concept, touting its collection of restaurants and tourism destinations. Of the total media budget, 30% was earmarked for web media.

Strategy
Our first concern was awareness. Faced with limited resources and a sharp decline in recreational travel, we developed a targeted audience-focused solution. The audiences selected were foodies, the LGBT community, beer and wine fans and the staycation set. Our second concern was buy-in from local businesses, with the intention of co-branding the advertising for the 2010 summer season.

Execution
AB&C managed a paid search campaign utilizing keywords focused around the travel concerns of our specific target audiences, layering on direct buys with The Washington Blade (LGBT), Food Network (foodies & beer and wine fans) and The Washington Post travel section (staycation). We also targeted the ads to appear only to an audience within 150 miles of southern Delaware, close enough to make a weekend out of their trip.Concerning future co-branding, we constructed the plan with enough flexibility to easily incorporate a larger media buy and additional audience segments.

Results
Using these targeting methods allowed us to stretch our limited resources to have a bigger splash with our select audiences. During the campaign, 88% of all visits came courtesy of the web media campaign. 30% of the media resulted in 88% of the traffic.

My goal: be a better blogger.

So I am beginning to get it—this whole social media thing. I threatened to quit Facebook earlier this year…but didn’t. It’s still too intriguing to me. And yes, it is fun to connect with old friends and business associates…even some distant relatives have touched base.

So here is my commitment to myself and my company and many acquaintances—I will become a better (meaning simply a more involved and more active) blogger in 2010. Alright, this is my promise to all of you…I’ll start thinking about why you read blogs and what’s important to you. Why did you stop here? Curious about the agency? Our work? Our clients? Our staff? Or are you really that interested in me? I doubt that it’s all about me. My posts will be about what would interest you…not just what interests me. And hopefully that keeps you coming back to read new content.

Domino's - an example of social media success

If you missed the first part, check it out here.

Now for the good: a coworker in our PR department had an experience in which FedEx missed a next-day delivery. She decided to voice her frustration by tweeting, “FedEx really expletive deleted on me today.” Within 30 minutes, she got a retweet from FedexAl asking if he could help. This small effort from FedEx customer service immediately turned her from disgruntled to impressed.

An even better example would be Domino’s Pizza.

After the black eye Domino’s received earlier this year when a YouTube video of two employees defiling the food got national media attention, the company could have easily cowered in fear of social networks. A Facebook ad for Domino’s caught my attention. Partly because they pulled user content into the ad to point out that my friend Les had participated in their survey.

I clicked the video in the ad and, wow, what a bold move in spin control and using the social networks to listen and react. Domino’s took the general negative sentiment about the quality and taste of their pizza and used it as the focus of their new Pizza Turnaround campaign.  The site even has a live Twitter feed flowing in all comments positive and negative. Now, thoroughly intrigued, I decided to try the new pizza instead of just blogging about it. The whole process is so well done, I may just have to make my next post about everything Domino’s is doing online, and what I thought of the new pie (it should be here any minute).

As for the bad, there are too many examples to cite, and I don’t want to point fingers unnecessarily. I’ll just call them the people standing on chairs shouting over the conversation at the party. Anyone who is doing social network promotions without a predetermined strategy because somehow they heard that they should would fall into this category.

So, if you are considering getting into social network marketing, make sure you have a plan. Here is a helpful chart that lays out the types of things that can be achieved on the social networks. Once you have decided which ones fit your plan, then assess which networks will best help you accomplish your goals. And, as always, if you need some guidance, we’re here to help.

Sears - an example of social media failure.

Everyone seems to be buzzing about Social Networks and how to take advantage of them for marketing purposes. It is a great opportunity for companies to join a conversation that’s already taking place rather than trying to start a new one. As with any conversation, you have to listen. Imagine walking into a crowded party and just starting to talk about things that interest you without bothering to figure out the current topic of the conversation. How would people react?

Here is my step-by-step guide to getting into the social networking fray.

1. Plan: Before getting involved, ask yourself, “What are my business goals and how do I plan on measuring them?” Only then can you develop a plan to make social media a part of that success.
2. Listen: Begin monitoring the current conversations to find out if people are talking about you and what they’re saying.
3. Evaluate: Is there a prevailing positive or negative tone to the existing conversations?
4. Engage: Social networks can be a great opportunity for customer service, as you’ll see in the examples below.
5. Promote: The final—I repeat, final—step of playing in the social network sandbox is promotion of your goods or services. Once you are a part of the conversation, then you can start changing its direction.

Now for some examples, I’ll start with the ugly: a recent encounter with the Sears service department regarding my washing machine. I won’t bore you with the gory details of the electronic problems that are still ongoing. What I found to be interesting was a Google search I did when looking for their phone number.

To begin my search, I typed “sears service” into the search field. The first result, as you would expect, was Sears.com. It was the second result, right before service.sears.com, that really caught my eye: a YouTube video entitled “Sears Service Sucks”. Since this summed up my mood at the time, I clicked it first. A video of a very disgruntled fella in the same boat as myself then went on a rant about his experience.

“So what? What difference does one guy ranting make?” you might ask. Well, this video has been online for more than two years and continues to gather steam. It has over 44,000 views and most traffic is coming from searches for “Sears,” “Sears service” and “Sears repairs,” with another significant chunk of action coming virally. Sears has missed a gigantic opportunity to make things right with one consumer and change the conversation that’s happening online.

So, our interactive department did a little social network survey to see how Sears is doing now. We found the current conversation dominated by people looking for do-it-yourself advice or seeking reliable local repair people with occasional complaints about the products. Daily opportunities for customer service and sales of Sears’ repair program continue to go by unnoticed.

Read more in part 2 (coming tomorrow).

Applying strategy is critical to social media success.

99 ways to use Twitter?

There are plenty of articles on the Internet that outline the 17 ways to use Twitter or the 32 ways to use Facebook. If your approach to social media has been to start with these types of articles, you may be focusing too quickly on tactics without an appropriate social media strategy. Tactics without a strategy are particularly bad because they often end up being ineffective, hard to measure and mask real opportunities a more strategic version of the tactic may provide.

Because social media tools are so accessible and seemingly easy to use, a planning/strategy phase is often skipped, perhaps also in part because the realm of social media seems so complex. Because there is no clear place to begin, there is a tendency to start with tactics, a fatal mistake.

How to approach the problem

One technique for approaching a problem that seems complex is to break it down into a series of simpler problems. This is a great approach when it comes to the social media landscape. Instead of looking at a list of 50 ways to use Twitter, it makes more sense to look at a smaller list of ways to use social media in general.

Such a list might look like this.

In fact, you’ll find that any social media strategy probably consists of several of the leaf nodes in this diagram being used in various channels. (For the purposes of this discussion, a social media “channel” is Facebook or a blog or Twitter).

Your challenge then is to identify:

1. the kind of information your organization has or can generate, ideally something conversational
2. the types of people you’re trying to reach through social media
3. the items from the diagram above that can be used to put that information from step (1) in front of those audiences in step (2)
4. the appropriate channel for each item in step (3)

Now, just because we have a plan of attack doesn’t mean this is necessarily an easy or straightforward task. The best social media strategies look easy in hindsight but have usually been cooked up with some outside-the-box thinking. The above map is not a magic wand, but it is a starting point.

Examples, please!

Let’s look at a real-world example. Imagine your real estate agent. There may be a temptation for him to jump straight to tactics and use Twitter to post listings. After all, he has listing information (this is his product) and Twitter is easy to sign up for. Plus, this is on the map under Sales/Marketing --> Product announcement. We’re in good shape, right?

Well, Sales/Marketing on the diagram has a red flag on it. That red flag means if you’re only using something from that category, you may be on the wrong track. In this case, our real estate agent’s listings probably aren’t that useful to most people (who only wants to see the listings from a single real estate agent?), it’s not very conversational (what would people say back to him about a listing?) and he’ll probably find he won’t get a lot of followers.

Even worse would be to have a Facebook page where he is re-posting the exact same listings. Now he has a situation where even if a person were to be interested in those listings, it’s not in their interest to follow him on Twitter and be a fan on Facebook because then they’ll just get the same information twice. As silly as that sounds, we see this all the time.

Lesson learned: Directly promoting your product or service on as many social media channels as possible is not a good strategy because it abuses your potential followers and misses the whole “social” part of social media. You’re not listening, you’re just talking. And you’re saying the same thing in multiple places. And nobody cares.

This can take many forms including using Twitter to post links to your press releases or using Facebook to post links to your blog posts. I’m not suggesting never doing that but only doing that puts you in the PR category on the diagram and it, too, has a red flag. Oops.

Okay, give me a better idea.

This real estate agent has a problem, however… Aren’t the listings the only content he has? Possibly, but remember the first step is to identify the kind of information your organization has or can create. The listings may be the only content he has at hand. Grabbing whatever information you already have and using social media as a one-way channel (outward) is a missed opportunity.

This is where the strategizing comes in. What about creating a tips/tricks list for homeowners? (See the map above under Educational --> Tips/Tricks). This could include reminders to disconnect your plastic hose fittings in the winter so they don’t crack or money-saving tips for efficient energy use. Maybe it’s one tip a week and every once in a while he throws in a property listing (Sales/Marketing --> Product announcement) or an open house announcement (Notifications --> Events/Reminders).

Now this real estate agent has something useful he is providing to his clients. All of his existing clients would potentially be interested and he’d stay top of mind when they’re looking to sell or buy or even just make a referral to somebody else: “You should use my real estate agent. I follow him on twitter and he’s got great homeowner tips.” This takes the form of branding (Topics/Issues --> Brand related) and on top of that, he gets his listings and open houses in the mix. He’s now using five concepts from the diagram!

Plus, followers who have tips of their own can reply to him which means (a) the rest of his followers benefit from the tip (“Comments” from the Social category on the diagram) and (b) he can file it away later to use next year (a form of Research on the diagram). Wow – we’ve got seven nodes covered on the diagram, only a couple are red-flagged and a real social media strategy is taking form!

Hopefully you can see the difference this approach can make. Obviously there are issues like staffing and creative elements and ongoing maintenance and monitoring but try this process with your organization or give us a call and we can walk you through it.

Soon, you can search within your circle of friends.

We can get overwhelmed sifting through blogs and online discussions. That’s why we turn to our social circle for recommendations. But our friends also have several social network accounts and each one has a lot of information. So how do we keep track of it all?

Don’t fret, fellow social butterflies: Google is developing Social Search. It enables users to add their networking profiles to a Google account and see search results filtered and prioritized based on their circle of friends. This means that we can turn to our social circle first when filtering results on the web. For instance, if I wanted to research restaurants in my area, results from my trusted social circle would appear more prominently in my search.

Click here for an overview of Google Social Search.

How much time are you spending online?

There was a very interesting study released by Harris Interactive showing that web users are online an average of 13 hours per week. This is a slight dip from the same observed period in 2008 where they saw average users online for 14 hours per week. The major change? In 2008, 43% of users were online at work. In 2009, that dipped to 40%.

Harris tracks use at home, at work and at what they list as “other location.” Online at Home and Online at Work have both seen Year-Over-Year growth since the study began in 1995, with this being the first year they have seen a dip for the Online at Work category. A simple explanation may be that there are fewer people at work this year then there were last year.

Beyond that, the study is a very interesting look at the growth within the last two years in the amount of time users spend online. In 2006, that number was 9 hours. 2007 saw 11 hours. 2008 and 2009 saw an average of 13.5 hours spent online per week. Even more interesting is the fact that this time does not include time spent on email.

Another interesting takeaway from the study is subject audience itself. Harris Poll culled this data from 2,029 men and women aged 18 and over through phone surveys. It would be very interesting to know if these were randomly selected phone numbers, since landline use across the globe has been dramatically decreasing. Nielsen reported in September 2008 that nearly 20% of all households in the US do not even have a landline, effectively removing them from Harris Poll’s eligible subject group. This group also scores high for broadband web use, pointing to a population of web users that have been potentially ignored by the Harris Polls study.

Why online advertising is important for hospitals.

By: Kelly Hocutt and David Michaluk

Are you still reluctant to advertise your hospital on the web? Maybe you’re bound by tradition. Or maybe you think healthcare is too private for the web — and people seek information only from people they can trust. But research by OTX and Google shows that adding search and web advertising to your marketing mix is more than just helpful — it’s essential.

That’s right. Consumers are increasingly going online for hospital information. 41% go to the Internet before seeking advice from healthcare professionals or friends and relatives. When these information-seekers get to the Internet, 76% go to hospital websites, 62% to search engines and 56% to health websites. They’re using more than one destination — which means if you’re not using search engine ads and ad networks, you’re missing a sizable audience. If they don’t see you, you don’t exist.

And they’re not just window-shopping, either. After finding information, 59% of these consumers take action. This includes 46% who look for more information, 16% who clicked on an ad, 14% who forwarded a link or video and 10% who booked an appointment. These additional actions translate into greater awareness of your organization, good feelings, referrals and appointments. Do these goals sound familiar?

Just as important: Recall is higher for online search than for any other medium. Yep, more bang for your buck. 43% remember online ads while only 32% recall TV ads, 28% informational brochures, 18% newspaper ads and 18% billboard ads. Isn’t your aim in advertising to get your audience to remember you? You’re spending a lot of money advertising, so get more value for your money and welcome online advertising into your marketing mix. Plus, when people recall an online ad, 43% look online for more information, 38% ask a medical professional about a hospital, and 38% ask a friend or family member about a hospital.

So, should your hospital advertise online? The numbers say it all.

Putting social networking to work...literally.

Yammer is a simple way for employees to connect and share by posting messages. As more employees participate, it becomes a corporate social network, discussion board and knowledge base. Yammer is like a combination of Facebook and Twitter. Your company can create a profile that mimics the look of Facebook: picture, wall posts/messages, an information page, etc. Your company also has a “network.” And the Yammer is protected, permitting only people from your company to join by requiring your company’s domain (@yourcompany.com). The homepage resembles Twitter — members of your company can post messages about what they’re working on or post questions to coworkers.

But what happens when employees start spending more and more time chatting on Yammer? Will it be a time-waster? Or a morale-booster? Only time will tell.

Things have really changed in the online world.

I’ve become a big fan of the publication Mediaweek, despite the fact that I’ve never planned nor bought any media — ever. Yet, for some reason, I’m sent a copy of this magazine every week, so who am I not to read it? It’s funny how certain publications find their way to your mailbox. For example, I also look forward to my weekly dose of Modern Manicurist. There’s nothing quite like an article centered on the finer points of nail sculpture.

But getting back to Mediaweek, their recent “Best of the Decade” issue offers some interesting statistics about online-related trends over the last ten years. I love interesting statistics. (Perhaps Mediaweek realizes this and that’s why they’re sending me their magazine.) Here’s the first online fact: “Americans who said they used the Internet in 2000-01: 53%. Americans who use it today: 75%.” That’s three people out of every four. Not totally surprising. How about, “Total daily time Americans spent online in 2000: Less than 30 minutes. Time they spend on the web each day now: 4 hours.” No wonder we’re all so chunky! What were we doing with the extra 3? hours not spent online in 2000, power-walking? And perhaps the most astounding online statistic of all, “Number of text messages sent in 2005: 5.4 billion. Estimated number of text messages sent in 2008: 1+ trillion. That’s “trillion” with a “tr.”

Next up: I offer some hot tips on the do-it-yourself reverse French manicure.

Creating a new way to Twitter for your business.

The “Contributors” feature from your friends at Twitter, currently in beta testing, will enable your company to have multiple contributors to its Twitter feed. Each Tweet will include the writer’s byline. In addition, “Contributors” promises two different levels of access: Enhanced and Partial.

Enhanced Access will allow contributors to view the account dashboard and it may include data and analytics about your Twitter feed, followers, etc. Partial Access allows them to write Tweets but not see the entire dashboard. Other business-specific features are in development as Twitter makes a concerted effort to address business needs. How will this change the Twitter game? Watch and see for yourself.

Changing the way they advertise.

Everyone wants to reach the top. Mountain climbers have always set their sights on conquering Mt. Everest. Baseball players have always aimed for the World Series. Big companies have always budgeted to advertise during the Super Bowl.

Until now. Pepsi is ending its 23-year run as an advertising staple during the most watched television event of the year. According to the Wall Street Journal, the soft-drink powerhouse is moving its advertising dollars online to kick off the “Pepsi Refresh Project” that will “award grant money for community projects proposed and selected by consumers, such as helping high-school students publish books to develop their writing skills.”

ESPN reports that the website will go live on January 13, and voting will start February 1 to determine which projects receive money.

A 30-second spot during the Super Bowl costs an estimated $3 million and reaches 98.7 million viewers. Pepsi’s new cause-related initiative is reported to use up at least $20 million of its 2010 marketing budget. Apparently, Pepsi has noticed all of us flocking to the Internet for every purpose imaginable. No doubt this site will draw hundreds of thousands of applicants who want to win these grants. Of course, when Pepsi awards the money, it’s a huge PR coup. Most likely Pepsi will plant its name on each winning community outreach program, bestowing an almost sponsor-like status upon itself — for a lot longer than 30 seconds.

We all love watching what agencies come up with for Super Bowl ads, but that tradition may be dying as big companies bail — FedEx has also opted out of the big game. Whether or not the giant courier will sponsor its own cause-related initiative remains to be seen.

Social Media Strategy and Success Stories

About to plan your social media marketing strategy? Wondering about the return you’ll get on your investment? Check out Socialnomics: Social Media ROI. This short video showcases success stories, plus some interesting facts. For example:

• More than 300,000 businesses have a presence on Facebook; about a third of these are small businesses.

• A Wetpaint/Altimeter Study found that companies that are heavily into social media blow away their peers in both revenues and profits. The study also found that companies using social media the most increased sales by 18%, while companies with the least social activity saw sales decline 6%.

• Dell sold $3,000,000 worth of computers on Twitter.

• eBay found that participants in online communities spend 54% more money.

What’s your social media strategy?

Twitter updates...brought to you by Saks Fifth Avenue and Microsoft.

As part of its legendary holiday display, Saks Fifth Avenue has partnered with Microsoft to put video screens, hooked up to computers, in its windows. The screens will display real-time tweets. When people use the #holidaywindows hash-tag on Twitter, their beaming tweets about Windows 7 (and their holiday wishes) will pop up in the Saks display. Hard-core Apple fans reportedly have tried to hijack the Twitter feed by writing anti-Microsoft tweets. But they aren’t getting through to the public. According to Microsoft, most negative tweets are being filtered out automatically. Plus, the company says, there’s a human backup.

Tweet now and see if you can reach New York’s holiday shoppers!

Marketing via a NYC cab

The old adage in New York City is never watch the road while being driven in a cab (I use the word “driven” loosely). Well, over the past year, that advice has become a bit easier to follow — LCD screens have been added to the backseats of NYC yellow cabs! Now, the once white-knuckled passenger can sit back and relax while catching the latest movie reviews, learning about the hottest new restaurants and, of course, watching countless marketing messages, specifically directed toward those of us who find ourselves bracing for the next brake-screeching halt or other equally surprising evasive maneuver.

From H&M to HBO, from Starbucks to State Farm, advertisers of all shapes and sizes are making the most of our commute, and are finding ways to engage with us as we sit in the comfort of a “pleather” bench seat. At times, I even find myself ignoring that blinking red light on the Blackberry or the melodic tones of the iPhone ringer (no, it isn’t Miley Cyrus) and instead directing my attention to the center console for some good old-fashioned digital entertainment and marketing messages, while doing 90 MPH down 9th Avenue!

Here’s a clip showing how Corcoran, a high-end real estate group, uses the in-cab screen to promote property listings with an interactive delivery. And the next time you’re hurtling down 9th, remember — keep your eyes off the road!

Welcome to Recruitment 2.0

Physician recruiters have fallen on hard times. Once viewed as heroes who deliver agents of change to organizations in need, they now find themselves constrained by ever-growing demands on their time and budgetary resources. As a result, recruiters are finding it harder to compete — they can only do so much with their list of contacts; they can expect only so much in return on their marketing efforts.

What’s a recruiter to do? Social networking on the web.

A research company, Aberdeen Group, recently published a report titled, “Employer Branding: How to Grow, Measure and Manage Your Company’s Perception.” The report recommends that recruiters more than double their adoption of Web 2.0 tools — mainly networking platforms such as Facebook, Linked-In and Twitter. Such sites are enabling recruiters with fewer resources and tighter budgets to reach more passive and active candidates. Not only do these media provide ample opportunity to connect directly with potential hires, the interconnected nature of a user network allows for greater reach of message — something the lone recruiter, with his or her contacts, phone and email could only dream of just a few years ago.

Another compelling reason to adopt social networking is the changing face of the workforce. Baby boomers, advancing in years and commanding big salaries, are becoming less viable candidates. Gen X’ers, while heading toward the twilight of their career lifecycles, are still in their prime. Entering the workforce are the Gen Y candidates — at an estimated 70 million strong. In short, the prime targets for most recruiters are Gen X’ers and Gen Y’ers, both of whom are major users of social networking channels.

Lots of physician recruiters want to beef up their marketing mix, but their funds have dried up. And, while they may be familiar with social networking sites and salivating at the potential for recruitment, they don’t know how to get started. Here’s how: First, develop a plan — spell out what you want to accomplish. Then assess your resources — know what you have to work with so you can use it as efficiently as possible. Build some time into your plan for monitoring progress and managing the activity. Time may be your least expendable resource — obviously a recruiter’s time is best spent recruiting — but you have to think of marketing tactics as an integral part of your job, especially when it comes to social networking.

Several of our recruiter clients have come to us for agency assistance — a minor investment to extend their marketing mix and include social networking, plus the minor investment in time needed to monitor and manage these activities. Their employer brand gets regular exposure, their messaging is kept up to date, the media allows for instant interaction and — best of all — they’re seeing results.

What happened to old-fashioned communication?

Remember “The Telephone Hour” from the early 1960s Broadway show and movie Bye Bye Birdie? The song depicted a teenager talking to a friend on the phone, then that friend talking to another, and so on. This was — and may still be for many Boomers — the quintessential method of communicating. One friend tells another a story, and then a third friend hears it from the second.

These days, many Boomers communicate via Facebook — its fastest-growing demographic is people over 45. I have embraced Facebook myself. I enjoy catching up with friends and family, seeing photos, learning what’s going on.

On the other hand, “embrace” is not the word I would use with Twitter. But because I am in the marketing/advertising industry and always try to keep up with the times, I recently made a commitment to engage in the conversation. So I went to my local library and checked out The Twitter Book, which promised to deliver “a bunch of sensible, down-to-earth material on using and enjoying Twitter.” The book has me trying to wrap my brain around “hashtags” and “tools for tracking trends” while generating click-throughs and sharing photos with “TwicPic.”

So, even as I am unavoidably assimilated into the social networking generation, I ask: if Mad Men can devote 10 minutes to Bye Bye Birdie, why can’t we all just pick up the phone when we want to engage in “ambient intimacy?”

Creating demand for Paranormal Activity.

Have you heard about Paranormal Activity, the low-budget horror movie that has been terrifying audiences over the past few weeks? It was reportedly produced for $15,000! But the very strategic marketing paid off as well as a multimillion-dollar campaign.

First came very scary trailers, followed by updated trailers with footage of terrified moviegoers at a sneak preview of the film. This was followed by a limited release in a handful of college towns around the country.

Then came the really clever part: what appeared to be a grassroots campaign to get the movie distributed nationwide. By teasing us, the filmmakers created a public demand for the movie. They drove us — both in commercials and online — to eventful.com, where we could demand that the movie open in our hometown theaters. The site had a real-time running tally of votes and bragged that Paranormal Activity is the first movie to ever be “demanded” by “we the people.” We could also show friends and associates that we supported the “movement” by spreading the word via Twitter, Facebook, a MySpace widget or links in emails.

The best part? It worked — whether or not they ever needed the votes to obtain a national release. How’s that for creating artificial demand? I wonder how future marketing campaigns will incorporate Paranormal Activity’s grassroots web marketing.

Social media is here to stay.

It’s all the buzz. Social media has exploded. It's everywhere. Some might say there is a revolution going on. Have you seen the YouTube video about this very topic? It has some very interesting statistics, such as:

• By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers.
• 96% of them have joined a social network.
• Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web.
• 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media.
• Facebook added 200 million users in less than 9 months.
• 80% of companies are using LinkedIn as their primary tool to find employees.

Check it out for yourself.

Am I too old for Facebook?

So it’s no secret — I’m well into my 50s. I learned the basics using pencils with portable erasers that were the size of small Volkswagens. Eventually I graduated to relying on secretaries who used carbon paper. These same secretarial resources also made my thoughtful presentations come to life using some low-cost overhead projections. Then life got fancy and we all started using slides! The fax machine really changed the whole mindset though — I was suddenly able to “do my own faxes” (well, usually).
I’ve been able to stay abreast of all this change because for the past 30-plus years I have worked in the communications industry surrounded by lively, smart young people — all using the latest technology. But there have been personal influences as well — my 20-something daughters! Their school demanded that they own laptop computers starting in 8th grade!

So in the last two years along comes this opportunity called “social media.” Employees are (for the most part) abuzz, trade journals provide weekly updates and editorial positions on this thing called “social” and family is already there with Facebook. Hmmm. If 20-something daughters can chat with friends and show pictures, why can’t I? And after all, this is the business I’m in! So the combination of pressures was too great and with one nervous leap I was officially on Facebook. My first week on “The Book” was memorable. Tons of people were “on my wall,” others invited me to be their “friend” — what had we been up until then? I was tagged, blocked and God knows what else. And while all of this was memorable, it was not stimulating! Why?

1. Most of the early respondents were my daughters’ friends from high school! All nice kids, some were noticeably more mature but most were offering comments like, “Mr. G. — Cool to see that you are doing Facebook!” or “finally you’re on The Book — where is Mrs. G.?”
2. Most of the messages were weird “inside” jokes or outright dumb remarks.
3. Truthfully, to be “good” at this social media thing, you have to be on the edge of your computer as much of the day as possible and, quite frankly, I’d rather be on the golf course.

Please don’t misunderstand — I like technology and I love people. But The Book is too much for me. Besides which, golf is a very social game.

The browser wars are back on!

Remember the browser wars of the late nineties? Half the online population thought “Netscape” actually was the Internet and Microsoft was just starting to take the Internet seriously.

Of course, Internet Explorer emerged the victor and whether you’re in the camp that faults Microsoft’s heavy-handed tactics or the camp that recognizes Netscape’s failure to innovate, there’s probably some truth in both.

But now the war is back on. Except it’s not a browser war, it’s a “rendering engine” war.

What’s a rendering engine?
So, a browser is a program on your computer that you use to access websites. You probably know this and that may seem simple but Google went to the streets recently and found many people don’t grasp that concept.

But the browser program is fundamentally just the window, the menus and buttons, your bookmarks, etc. What’s really running the show is the part of the browser that actually displays or “renders” the website, and that is called the rendering engine.

Internet Explorer’s rendering engine is called “Trident.”

From Netscape’s ashes sprung a rendering engine called “Gecko.” That’s what’s inside Firefox for the rapidly growing population of Firefox users out there (me included).

So those are two major browsers, er, rendering engines, in use. But what about Apple’s Safari? And the new kid on the block, Google Chrome? Two more browsers? Kind of. They both actually use the same rendering engine: an open-source software project called “WebKit.”

Each of these rendering engines is updated from time to time so we have different versions and frankly, these different rendering engines make it very difficult to develop websites and software for the web!

They are all supposed to work in roughly the same way but they each have their quirks and nuances and it’s often difficult to get them all to behave the same way. Particularly when your goal is to work on some of the older versions.

Let’s get back on topic: The first browser war was about features. The rendering engine wars are about performance. For the sake of accessibility, however, let’s keep the rendering engine in mind but switch back to talking about browsers because rendering engines just aren’t what people use directly.

This performance war centers around online web applications like Google Maps, Apple’s Mobile Me service, Facebook and countless others. To provide the interactive interfaces you’ve come to expect from these types of websites, the rendering engine in your browser needs to be able to work very quickly on things like “DOM parsing” and “JavaScript execution,” technical terms for “making stuff happen.”

When the rendering engine can’t keep up, things tend to be a little slower to transition — you might see animation that isn’t as smooth as it should be or other hesitations that detract from the task you are trying to accomplish.

Given Firefox’s rapid growth in market share, its ability to be extremely competitive (if not always the fastest) when it comes to performance and its add-on ecosystem, it’s hard not to crown it the best all-around browser.

Chrome and Safari seem to hang on primarily because they both use the same rendering engine, which by all accounts is well written from a software engineering perspective (the same engine also powers the iPhone browser); plus they have some niche markets like Macintosh users and Google junkies.

And what about Internet Explorer? In my opinion, it’s got the worst rendering engine. It has the most quirks, the worst performance, the worst standards compliance and the most “versions” in use. Don’t get me wrong — we develop web software almost exclusively on Microsoft’s platform so I’m not a Microsoft hater. But I’m also not an apologist: Their browser’s rendering engine sucks! They like to say you have to use a slow-motion camera to see the difference between their browser loading a page and some “other” browser loading the same page. But it’s not about loading CNN.com today. It’s about loading an immersive and interactive “search-as-you-type CNN.com news interactive web application” tomorrow. And I don’t mean tomorrow next year. I mean tomorrow tomorrow.

So the good news is that there is renewed competition in this space and while that’s a royal pain for web developers like myself, it’s good news for the future of the interactive web.

Website design requires a balance.

No matter what you design — from blue jeans to loveseats to SUVs — you have to strike a balance between form and function. Thanks to the patient counsel of my interactive colleagues over the years, I’ve learned that I can’t approach web design the same way I approach print and other media. The scales tip toward functionality, which is determined by the target audience and its needs.

User experience is the number-one priority. Of course a successful website should look good, but, more important, it has to answer the needs of the audience and bring value to the user. Complicated navigation and over-designed pages only distract and confuse the audience, driving them away from the site.

When it comes to web design, balancing form and function is critical. Your design has to be engaging, interesting and compelling, but you can’t overwhelm the user with superfluous bells and whistles. Know your audience; know their needs. Let that knowledge guide you.

New technology from Google to help ad agencies.

Google has long focused on empowering the consumer, evident in its easy-to-use self-serve tools. This focus is especially apparent to agencies trying to manage client AdWords/Analytics accounts (credit card–centric billing, max of 25 Analytics accounts per Google Account, flimsy integration of Webmaster Tools).

Google is taking steps to remedy this, however, with the launch of AgencyLand, a single repository for all agency info, including training, resources and news. It also gives the freedom to share certain relevant portal aspects with team members, enabling managers to share a piece of knowledge without bogging down employees with the whole pie.

Access requires an MCC customer ID (obviously) and an invite, since it’s a pilot offering.

A new look for Twitter.

In a need to monetize, Twitter has redesigned its homepage to make search front and center. The simple search box lets you search (duh), and below it is a ticker featuring three rows of popular topics, broken down by minute, day and week. “Popular topics by the minute” take precedence, and appear in a larger point size, indicating the general of-the-moment nature of tweets. Real pulse-of-the-marketplace info, especially if your market has a presence in the Twitterverse.

Paid search is next, folks. Give Twitter a few days (or weeks) to serve up this feature.

Everyone needs an advocate.

Imagine getting a blood test and never hearing from the doctor about the results so you assume everything is OK. Now fast-forward eight months — you’re paler and more bruised than usual so you go get more blood work. Then you wake up on your birthday and get a call from your doctor telling you to get to the emergency room. That’s exactly what happened to Matt Sheehan a month ago. After going to the ER at Hackensack University Medical Center, Sheehan learned he has a rare blood disorder — aplastic anemia. This means that the bone marrow does not make enough blood cells. It also means that Sheehan has to go through countless tests, transfusions, biopsies and other health nightmares.

After his diagnosis, Sheehan decided to share his story with the world. He uses his blog to not only update his progress or setbacks with treatment, but to document his experience with doctors, nurses, insurance, bureaucracy and all the confusion within the healthcare industry. Sheehan’s message: Be your own advocate. Read more at www.mypiccline.com.

While Sheehan’s blog isn’t technically a “care page,” it serves a similar purpose: an easy way to update those around you without having to pick up the phone every 10 minutes. Care pages are becoming increasingly popular with patients and their loved ones. As the CarePages website (www.carepages.com) says, “Through it, you can receive emotional support with loved ones and friends during a health challenge.”

And, just as individuals need an advocate when dealing with the healthcare system, a healthcare system needs an advocate when dealing with social media and the web.

Give yourself a Mad Men makeover!

Didn’t work at a Madison Ave agency in the early ’60s? Tired of dirty looks for drinking in the office at 11 a.m.? Now at least your Facebook icon can live the life, thanks to AMC’s MadMenYourself.

Suit or skirt? Martini or whiskey on the rocks? Cigar or cigarette?

Too much fun. Unlike ElfYourself, SimpsonizeMe and FaceYourManga, you don’t actually upload an image — one less hurdle, which is good. Oh, and (somewhat) easily Facebooked, Tweeted, Dugged and StumbleUponed.

PS - We couldn't help but get in on the action. Try it for yourself.

Get ready for the new "Alice in Wonderland."

Johnny Depp is the Mad Hatter. Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter are the White and Red Queens, respectively. It’s Tim Burton’s take on "Alice in Wonderland," and it promises to be over the top. Set for release in March of next year, the movie is already being very cleverly promoted using social media.

On Facebook, you can sign up to be a “loyal subject” of the Red Queen or the White Queen or a “disloyal subject” of the Mad Hatter. And the benefit for becoming a fan? The group that is the largest by 7 p.m. on July 24 will win the chance to see an exclusive new trailer from the movie before anyone else.Check out the Facebook character profiles:

Loyal Subjects of the Red Queen
Over 1,200 fans
Personal Information: How dare you ask! Off with your head!
Personal Interests: Playing croquet; eating tarts, tadpoles on toast points, and caviar; and studying Dominion Over Living Things

Loyal Subjects of the White Queen
Over 1,300 fans so far
Personal Information: I enjoy spending time with members of my court — White Rabbit, March Hare, and Cheshire Cat.
Personal Interests: Perfecting medicinal cures and transformational potions and overthrowing my sister, the Red Queen

Disloyal Subjects of the Mad Hatter
Over 6,000 fans so far
Personal Information: Some may think I’m mad.
Personal Interests: Throwing tea parties; celebrating un-birthdays

This is a smart use of social media. Consumers can connect with the movie months before its release. This builds momentum — which translates into building audiences. Fans may also go a step further and spread the word about the Facebook fan pages — and the movie — to friends and family.

Ready to go down the rabbit hole?

Alice.com can help with your household shopping.

Would you like a website that would guarantee you never run out of toilet paper? If so, then Alice.com is for you. It’s a new website that sells consumer packaged good (batteries, soap, shampoo, coffee, toilet paper and other common household items) directly to consumers. The site also has planning and budgeting features, smart reminders and coupons (which should give grocery stores a run for their money).

Alice even provides recommendations based on who lives in your household. For example, if you live in a household with all girls, you clearly won’t have to buy men’s essentials. And you can set a time for a reorder reminder. This way, you never accidently run out.

There is a ton of selection, with thousands of options and brands to choose from, and prices that are close to Walmart’s or Costco’s (without having to pay for gas to get to and from the store). And the best part — shipping is completely free.

Alice.com also has benefits to the consumer good manufacturers. They can access consumer information about who is buying their products (thanks to selling through Alice versus a traditional store). The site also offers a variety of programs including coupons, loyalty programs, product trials and sampling, customer surveys, and category sponsorship opportunities. But is it enticing enough for you to make the switch to online shopping for your household needs? Check it out for yourself.