Vitrue launched lia sophia’s official presence on Facebook, providing a turnkey solution from information architecture  and content organization to layering in an application designed to promote viral discovery of the newly launched page.  For a company driven largely by referrals, establishing an official presence on Facebook was a must to be able to tap into powerful circles of friends.

lia sophia's Official Facebook Presence

The lia sophia Facebook page effectively serves up information intuitive to users – from organizing information into tabs such as products, sales opportunities and specials, to links back to the corporate site and a simple call to action to promote the photo sharing app also launched.

The photo sharing app was designed to tap into the sharing functionality Facebook provides.  With a simple call to action of “add lia sophia jewelry to your friends’ photos”, a user can select a photo from their own albums or their friends’ available albums they want to decorate with lia sophia jewelry.   Complete with cropping and rotation features, users can get their touches of jewelry just right before sharing.

Users can save the photos and post their friends’ walls which generate powerful news feeds for awareness.  The app also allows a user save an unlimited amount of images that they have created and sent to friends and any that they have received from friends.

lia sophia Photo App on Facebook

The photo app provides a fun and easy way to spread the word that lia sophia is on Facebook.

Corporate responsibility is a cornerstone of building a meaningful brand.  People connect to brands that believe in supporting the community and various social causes.  An effective communication strategy is tied to giving consumers the power to express their values and emotions by doing things that matter in their lives.

In partnership with Kellogg, Facebook, Feeding America and Ashton Kutcher’s production company, Katalyst - Vitrue is thrilled to be a part of the Kellogg Cares initiative in support of fighting hunger.  One in six young children live on the brink of hunger in 26 states in the U.S., according to report issued by Feeding America. The rate of food insecurity in young children is 33 percent higher than in U.S. adults, where one in eight live at risk of hunger.

Leveraging the power of social media, our collective efforts are focused on raising awareness of the epidemic of hunger in the United States and creating action.  The goal is to reach people through social media, educate them on the various actions they can take to make a difference and provide the means to easily share and spread the word with their friends.  Demi Moore who directed the “Fighting To End Hunger” video for Kellogg and Feeding America, leveraged user generated video content around the issue of hunger and is now encouraging its viral distribution via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social channels.

Kellogg Cares on Facebook

This program does not have a light-hearted entertainment value like other social programs out there and is not a heavily designed execution with large graphics, flash files, etc…. Rather, the Kellogg Cares page and experience leverages the strength and simplicity of the Facebook platform and utilizes this highly effective communication channel by offering a place for people to share, discuss and support the causes that matter most.   We are huge supporters of the integrated approach Kellogg has taken by using multiple messaging platforms like Twitter and YouTube to drive people to the Kellogg Cares Facebook page and then messaging the fans of the page at consistent times with valuable content.

Across Vitrue’s philanthropic programs, we have seen tremendous engagement and on average consumers spend greater than 5 minutes on interacting with these sites.

Supporting causes like Susan G. Komen, Promoting Peace  (Ben & Jerry’s), managing the Captain Sully (US Airways) profile page, and  across other “non-cause” related brand properties on Facebook, Vitrue has seen  40:1 activity ratio of fans to actions for wall posts (clicks, comments likes) showing greatest success to those that are most relevant and offer value to the reader. In other words, for every 40 people that are fans on the page, one person takes an action on a wall post like a wall comment, wall like, discussion comment, photo/video view or wall click which is an exceptional level of engagement.

Facebook provides an unparalleled environment for engagement. The social actions we take on Facebook act as megaphones signaling to our circle of friends what we care about most and why they should too.  Typically, we use our “social influence” to drive the behavior of others, and in many cases for causes that are inheritably “good” like Kellogg Cares.

I encourage you to fan the Kellogg Cares page, spread the word, and donate.  This is an important issue that needs our attention and collective momentum.  By simply fanning the page, offering a comment or submitting a donation your actions have a powerful and critical ripple effect.

In April we posted a video on YouTube as I wanted to share my thoughts on the looming economic recession and the tremendous opportunity social media can play to help navigate through it.

Getting social is imperative for brands in terms of marketing but that just scratches the surface of a larger opportunity that companies should be driving toward.  Through customer care centers, many companies are off-shoring their customers by outsourcing their call centers.  As reported by MediaPost yesterday, consumers hate offshore call centers and “are nearly twice as likely to recommend the company to others if they think the contact center is in the U.S., while they are three times more likely to defect if they believe it is based offshore,” reports the Contact Center Satisfaction Index.

Social media provides a fundamental opportunity to create jobs here by getting companies to realize the importance of managing their relationships on Facebook and Twitter.  It is time to take social media out of the back room and put it in the board room as we need to rethink the way we are embracing our customers.

Companies that will win will be those that develop one to one relationships with their consumers.

Social media can be a disruptive innovation that helps our economy improve and grow as it can create real jobs for real Americans.

In the future, I believe functions within a company will blend as social media pulls together the functions of marketing, customer service and sales.  Some companies are starting to think this way and the call center is evolving to include social media.

An article earlier this week from InfoWorld also reinforced this with stats and commentary from a report released by Datamonitor “The Rise of Social Networking and Emerging Channels in Customer Service”. Analyst Ian Jacob’s points out “Social networks will not be a flash-in-the-pan craze and will not simply disappear or burn themselves out,” he said. “Companies that choose to simply ignore this trend will relegate themselves to the outdated, fuddy-duddy camp–an important distinction depending on a company’s desired demographic–and more worryingly, maybe even to obsolescence.”

I couldn’t agree more and as mentioned earlier this month, 2009 has become the true inflection point for social media as consumer adoption is mainstream.

Consumers are actively engaging with brands and telling them their issue, their suggestion, their complaint, their endorsement.

Brands need to be there - listening , responding and cultivating relationships one issue at at time like all call centers do.

With the Iranian election last week we have seen an incredible story unfold.

The state declared victory of Ahmadinejad has ignited a groundswell of reaction.  The country is trying to speak up despite being highly censored.

Conversation has exploded on the social web and Iranians are asking where is my vote?  As cited by Farnaz Fassihi in NPR’s article, “what is happening in Iran is being documented by Iranians” and the social web from YouTube to Flickr to Twitter is being saturated with content from Iran.

Widespread reports throughout the media cite Iran’s clamp down of coverage by blocking SMS services, many Internet IP addresses of social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter.  People around the globe have reached out and supplied proxies for people inside Iran to be able to get out their word, their story, their voice.

Iran has long blocked most journalists from reporting – limiting their visas, restricting their access.  In a time when such protests are thriving the restriction remains making coverage of what is happening inside Iran something new – something quite remarkable.

Much like the election of President Obama, the social web was critical in catapulting him to victory. Now in Iran the world is witnessing how social media is impacting what is happening street by street in Tehran.  From disseminating news to rallying protesters, Twitter has become the  central medium– connecting and electrifying what is transpiring.  As cited in the “Washington Post” article yesterday, even the US State Department suggested Twitter not perform its routine maintenance during midday hour in Iran as its role was deemed critical.

We have been using the Vitrue SMI to track the events.

Vitrue SMI Trend Report for Iran Election 2009

Not surprisingly over the past three days, we see all terms have climbed with “Iran” being highest.

What is really interesting here is what this says about the coverage.  Social media empowers us all to be producers of content and puts the user in the direct stream of not just consumption but in the direct production of content. News organizations around the globe are including social media within their reporting. With so much content being produced it certainly raises challenges for news gathering organizations to filter what is fact and what is fiction.  Many are trying to verify and match stories coming out and reports are tempered with disclaimers on news sources – the line between mainstream and social media is blurring.

Return My Vote

The combination of coverage is powerful and as CNN’s journalist, Tony Maddox is cited in the NPR article “It reminds me of what got us all into journalism in the first place — which is that voices need to be heard,” he says. “The idea that governments or whomever tried to stop people being heard and they still find a way of being heard — I find that enormously liberating.”

Social media has become fundamental in how we communicate and the Iranian election is a clear testament that there is no greater medium to let users to be heard.  Although the beauty and triumph of social media is highly organic, organizations need tools to make sure they are reporting accurate news and moderating inappropriate or inaccurate information.  It is a new era and we need to find the right solutions that can tap into this groundswell while keeping the facts straight.

(Photo: RT @pblackshaw:Perhaps the best photo stream I’ve seen from Iran developments today http://www.flickr.com/photo… #iranelection)

I pretty much know what my routine is going to be every day from the moment I wake up to the end of the day – alarm goes off at 5:15am, gym, kid’s school bus, off to work, talk social media all day to some of the most interesting marketers, train home, some dinner, play with kids, a little more work and some ESPN, then some rest.  I’m not a boring guy, I just know that during the week that I have a relatively predictable schedule.  Another predictable thing that I can more-or-less guarantee is that each day I will have a discussion with a brand who is not on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or any other social network.  Some don’t think they need to be there.  Some don’t know how to be there.  Some just can’t manage to be there (due to internal resource constraints).

I will go on the record as saying, every brand needs to be on the social web.  If you are not – get on it!

It is a simple, cost efficient and highly effective way of marketing your brand, acquiring new supporters and strengthening relationship with existing brand advocates.  Some marketers are still struggling with getting their arms around it and I would like to offer an analogy.  Think about e mail marketing for a moment.  Still, by far, one of the most cost effective ways of reaching a highly qualified and interested customer base. If approached strategically, social media is much like e mail marketing anchored to meet goals and answer business objectives from driving acquisition, to incenting trial, to redeeming offers, to building loyalty, to testing offers.

People should think of platforms like Facebook and Twitter the same way.  These platforms give you the ability to lay down the foundation for another communication channel – one that is richer and more interactive than any other. Social media like e mail marketing presents the opportunity for users to take action – respond, sign up, like, comment, share, etc…Social media is more powerful as the actions a user takes are not done in a vacuum and their circle of friends see endorsements, comments, participation, etc…all of which creates tremendous consumer engagement while generating substantial organic and viral impressions.

Your fans and followers have “opted-in” to receive your content.  You now have the tools.  Give them what they are looking for and asking for.  Make sure that social media is integrated in your plans. As cited in a recent study earlier this spring, ExactTarget and e mail networking association E mail Marketer’s Club found that 46% of e-mail marketing campaigns will use social media and e mail in tandem this year, compared with just 13% of all campaigns last year.

Start simple if you have to and use what you feel is most comfortable – to some that might be a YouTube channel, to others a Facebook or MySpace page, while others just like the short and sweet communication aspects of Twitter.  Once you have that foundation, start to think about how you will acquire new fans.  Cross market your marketing channels and drive people from one area (ie. e mail) to another like Facebook.  Provide an incentive for joining a fan page and make them feel wanted and part of the dialogue.  Make it personal and provide a sweet balance between entertainment and utility aspects of the user experience.  You need to get your users to come back day after day, so think about how you strengthen that dialog and provide valuable call-to-actions.

How do you plan to get social?