positive disruption by: Tom Martin | New Orleans based Social Media Consultant

Three for Thursday - January 28

If only this was a bit smaller and more fashionable. It's a Vicon Revue and it's a wearable camera you wear on a necklace or clip to your clothes and it can automatically take up to 30,000 pictures. The pics can be taken automatically on a timer or when you do something like get up, sit down, etc. And it will keep a GPS enabled log of where the photos were taken.

So what you may be saying. So cool I'm thinking. Imagine if it was a bit smaller, less obvious and maybe a bit more designer. You could give this camera to a couple of hundred people and turn them loose for a week. Then get the images back, and begin to see your consumer's life up close and personal. Sort of digital ethnography without the creepy "man I wish that guy would quit following me" feeling.

I'm sure there are other ways you could use this but they are escaping my tired mind right now. Anyone got any ideas? Let me know.

I'm a big believer in the role video is going to play in the future of brand building online. I also think there is a tremendous opportunity for a few smart folks to figure out how to properly monetize online video and no, I don't think that includes pre-rolls, post-rolls and overlays. But regardless of how you think web video will be monetized, you have to agree that first and foremost, the video has to be findable. This week I stumbled across this post and embedded interview with RAMP CEO, Tom Wilde where he talks about how the company's technology can accurately transcribes video content and even inserts hyperlinks. This makes the video far more search friendly via search engines and social networks. Take a peek at the post and the video -- really interesting stuff. And any company that has online video in it's marketing plans might want to listen to this because I'm thinking technology like this is going to be very important to your success.

And finally, a very smart use of iPhone apps. And no, I'm not just including this one because it is from THE University in Texas... well that's not the only reason... but I digress.

No, I'm including it because I think it is a really smart strategy. For students coming into or attending UT, this app is really quite helpful.  There is the usual assortment of content: news, sports, president's blog but there are also GPS enabled interactive maps, a directory of faculty, students and staff at the university and interactive maps of landmarks on the university grounds complete with live audio links to the history of the landmark.

It's also a great app for us Ex's to have because it makes it really easy to stay in touch with the latest news, see sports info (if you happen to live in a state that doesn't recognize any conference other than the SEC) and brainwash, I mean educate your kids, on what a great school it is.

But what I really like about it is that once it is on your phone, say when you're a student, you'll never take it off. It's a lifelong tether to the university. Think about that - if you can build in messaging capabilities sort of like Southwest's Ding app, then you have a pretty inexpensive messaging tool for recruiting, fundraising and a host of other things. That's pretty powerful.

The only two things I didn't like - the directory seems to be pulling students home address, phone and email information. I'm assuming they've agreed somewhere but still, in this day and age, seems like something that shouldn't be there -- maybe just show name and like Facebook you have to request permission for the person to unlock their deets for your eyes. Also, would be good if Alumni could add themselves and maybe their LinkedIn or FB accounts... or maybe the app could link up with any Texas LinkedIn groups.. that would extend it beyond the iPhone. But all in all -- I think you're going to see more and more universities go this route... just too smart not to. 

So what do you think? Interesting? Boring? Big ideas or small?

Should You Be Trying To Create Demand or Desire?

What's more important for your business right now -- creating demand or the desire to demand?

If you listen to the social media ROI folks, you'll hear them beat that demand drum all day and often well into the night. And while I agree with them -- ROI is important and you do have to measure it and ideally drive it, I wonder if this fanatical focus on ROI and more importantly trackable ROI, isn't a little bit of cart in front of the horse thinking. I'm not sure you can have demand before desire.

I'm thinking that before you can have demand -- defined as people buying your product/service, you have to have desire -- defined as people wanting to buy your product/service. And creating desire requires investment. Most folks call this investment branding. With branding we're not necessarily looking to create a sale we're looking to instill a desire to buy today, tomorrow and the next day. More importantly, we're looking to instill the desire to tell others to buy too. 

I'm also thinking that a desire-demand model looks like a typical sales funnel, so you need to create a lot more desire for your product/service than the amount of actual demand you need to generate to stay alive. Why? Because I'm thinking that not everyone who desires you will be able to buy you. At least not today. Think MAC lovers who are forced to be PC's for a variety of reasons. I'm guessing a lot of these folks were early iPod buyers because for the first time they could act on their desire to be an Apple. Or think about cities or destinations. They need to drive a lot more desire because life creates a lot of hurdles that get in the way of people converting their travel desires to travel demand.

Given the current economy I think it's easy to think you need to focus on creating demand. But I'm thinking that for some companies, brands, products and services the answer isn't demand, it's actually desire. 

What do you think? Demand or Desire? Which would you focus on right now? Why? 

photo by ben matthews :::

What Unifies Your Customer Base?

 

Is there a single image, sound, ethos or stimuli that would stimulate your entire customer base to have an almost Pavlovian response like the one above? If not, ask yourself how cool would it be if it did. What could you do with that kind of responsive energy?

Let me back up a step. I snapped the image above this weekend at my daughter's state dance competition. As all the teams were sitting on the gym floor waiting for what seemed like an eternity for the judges to finish the scoring... there was cool dance music playing. At one point, One Time by Justin Bieber comes over the speaker and the image above captures what happened. Almost in unison, the floor erupted into a sea of dance. There was no instruction, no ripple, just that Pavlovian need to move.

But that makes perfect sense. For dancers, the unifying thing is music. Specifically, dance music. They are almost physically incapable of not dancing, moving, swaying or something when they hear it.

Which got me to thinking. Do my clients' brands have a similar unifying thing? Is there a universal north start that all of their customers would follow? Honestly, I don't know. I've been thinking about it all weekend and on the plane today. Why? Because if they do have this universal connection with their customer and we can figure it out, harness it and direct it -- man I'm thinking that could be powerful.

What do you think? Does your brand have a universal connector with it's customers? Does any brand?

Does Amazon Want To Publish Your Next Book?

This eBooks post from Amber Naslund reminded me of a conversation I was having with Chris Brogan when he was here in New Orleans last week. I was asking him about his book [Amazon link], how he got the deal, etc. and he mentioned how little he makes on each book. He joked that if Amazon came to him and said they'd give him 40% of every book sold, he'd be in much better shape. You laugh but just wait. I'm not sure this future is that far off.

You see, I think Amazon doesn't just want to be your bookstore. No, with the newest Kindle, [Amazon link] they have set their eyes on a bigger prize. They want to cut out HarperCollins, Penguin and Wiley from the entire equation. You laugh, but think about it.

The new Kindle supports PDF. If I have one of those eBooks from Amber up there, I can email it to my Kindle (if I had one) and presto - Amber is a published author on my Kindle. If I'm Amazon, I want to make it even easier. I'll invite folks like Chris and Amber to post their free eBooks on Amazon and then I'll put the best ones on the front page of the site for Kindle owners to find. I might even want to push my Top 10 or Top 100 list directly to the Kindles. Or maybe each Kindle will get a "recommended" book each month based on the books they download already. It would be sort of Amazon's "gift" of discovery. Who wouldn't like that?

To all of this, I'll watch the click-thrus and see which authors drive the most traffic to their books using social media tools and such. Then I'll ring up the folks that drive a lot of traffic and I'll offer them that 40% deal Chris wants. And I'll get it. And I'll make money, because well, there is basically zero cost. Maybe to make it easier and the books visually more pleasing I'll give the authors some kind of eBook making tool and I'll have designers on hand who can make cool cover art to post on the site. So a little cost, but other than that -- it's digital. There just isn't a lot of cost involved here. Digital book warehouses are well, small. And the shipping charges -- very cheap. 

Now, how many budding authors are going to rush out to list their free eBooks with Amazon, try and work the system and get the publishing deal so many of us want? I know I will. What about you? And what do you think about this whole "cut out the middleman" thing? Is this a fad or a trend?

Related articles by Zemanta

• Apple in Talks with HarperCollins to Bring E-Books to the Tablet [Report] (mashable.com)
• Amazon Kindle self-publishing platform launches globally (telegraph.co.uk)
• Amazon and Traditional Publishers Anger Some eBook Buyers (arnoldit.com)

Three for Thursday - January 14

Ok, it's late so this will be quick... three cool things, minimal editorial.

In a continued movement towards making low end production look high end, Tiffen Smoothee has developed a steady cam mount for the iPhone 3GS. This means, you can do much more sophisticated video (things like moving interviews where the person on camera is in motion, say walking toward you like they do on news shows) and not get that jiggly hand held feel. Once again, we're seeing technology make it cheaper to produce better quality video on low budgets. Not sure if they have on of these for the Flip Cam -- but if anyone knows of such a device -- ping me in the comments please. Would like to get one. Otherwise, I may have to just upgrade to the 3GS and get me one of these.

Product/Service review sites are hot right now. I was with a company just this morning that was so very focused on one such site... that it is no wonder Google wants to get into that game and kick it up a notch. With their Social Search product they are trying to remove the one weakness of these review sites:

I don't know the folks that wrote the review.

They may be legit, they may not. They may work for the brand that is being reviewed. I have no way of knowing. In Google's words, their Social Search is...

Google Social Search is an experimental feature that helps you find relevant public web content from people in your social circle, when you're signed in to your Google Account. For example, search for [ restaurants ], and restaurant reviews by your friends and other contacts may appear more prominently in your results. Join the Social Search experiment at http://www.google.com/experimental

So now you see reviews, but from folks you know. Do you feel the personalization of the web getting more intimate?

And lastly, how about DIY (Do It Yourself) iPhone apps? Let's face it. iPhone apps are hot. Everybody wants one. So it's no wonder someone finally created a DIY iPhone App Maker - in fact they claim you can create one in 27 seconds. The drawback here is it basically just creates a fancy RSS reader...BUT if you're in the knowledge business, let's say like a social media consultant or a professional speaker or something, this is pretty cool. For a fraction of the normal development cost, you could create an iPhone app that is all you, all the time. Likewise if you were a media company, you could create an iPhone app with all of your content in no time. Interesting... yet another step in the "kill the middleman" trend that is overtaking the marketing and media industry.

Well that's it folks. Blame the short post on Chris Brogan -- who kept me up late drinking ;-)

And as always, if you see something cool that would be good here... let me know. Last week Julie mentioned FastPitch, which I'm checking out now for a future post. Thanks Julie.

Volunteer Your Way To Success

 

What do the AMA, PRSA, IABC and countless other trade groups have in common? They all require volunteers to make them run. For many years now I've been a member of the AMA. And like all membership organizations, the value I receive from that membership is directly proportional to the investment I make in it... hence the idea of volunteering.

Many moons ago, the New Orleans chapter of the AMA decided to build it's brand around "Great Speakers." We committed to a sponsorship program to raise the funds required to bring world-class speakers to each and every luncheon we have. Now someone had to step up to start the sponsorship program and find speakers. At the time I was in charge of Business Development at another agency. So of course, I jumped at the chance.

Over the next 4 or 5 years I invited marketing directors, vice-presidents of advertising, authors, and pretty much anyone that tickled my fancy for a free trip to New Orleans. The contacts I made were invaluable and the knowledge I (and the rest of the attendees) gained would have cost me a fortune in conference fees.

Even now that I'm no longer directly in charge of that effort, I routinely use the program as an excuse to meet really, really smart people. Last May it was Peter Shankman. I got to spend pretty much an entire day picking his brain and forming what has turned out to be a nice relationship. And today, I'll get to hang with probably one of the finest Social Media Experts in the country -- Mr. Chris Brogan who will be speaking tomorrow. And while everyone else will get  a few fleeting moments of his time/attention after his talk, I his lowly driver will have a good 30 minutes while we shuttle him back to the airport. And this evening, one of my co-workers will enjoy the same as he picks Chris up from the airport. So for the 30 minute ride into the city, a young, just starting out social media strategist will get to pick the brain of a master. All because he volunteered to help.

Maybe it's just me, but I think there is something with this volunteering stuff. What about you? Ever get a big break or form a valuable relationship because you volunteered for something? 

photo credit: Randy Stewart

Could Foursquare Help a Politician Be Elected Mayor?

You've probably heard of Foursquare... that little mobile social media network that lets you check in at businesses you use. By checking in you can send a note to your friends telling them where you are and you can include tips. There is also a competitive side to Foursquare. If you check in the most, you can become Mayor of the establishment.

 

Some establishments will offer the Mayor a special discount such as a free drink, free appetizer, or something along those lines. And this is where it gets fun and competitive. When you become Mayor, the previous Mayor receives a message telling them they've been replaced and by whom. The idea being that they will then go to the establishment and check in to unseat the new Mayor and so forth and so forth. Everyone wins and Twitter gets a lot of tweets like the one above.

So what if a social media savvy politician decided to use FourSquare for his/her own run for Mayor. What if they went to a spot just in front of City Hall and created a new location titled let's say New Orleans. Then they check in and that spot is now geocoded into FourSquare's directory. And what if they had been steadily building up a good base of Twitter followers and had told FourSquare they want to notify folks when they become Mayor. And of course, they'd make sure that their supporters were all on Twitter and all committed to retweeting everything the candidate tweets.

 

And then it happens... the magical check-in where they become Mayor. They receive a congratulations message on their Foursquare screen and all of their followers on Twitter receive a tweet like the one at the top of this message, which of course, their committed followers instantly retweet.

Of course, the savvy politician would probably have followed all of the local journalists on Twitter and if he/she was lucky they followed back. But even if they didn't, I'm sure the politician's PR team would make sure to send out a Press Release that their guy was elected Mayor of New Orleans today with a photo copy of the tweet to prove it.

I don't know... Would the news media cover it? Would it make a difference? I wonder. And if it would, I guess the next question would be should you do this early or late in the campaign? Do it early and your competitors can try and unseat you -- and you they -- which would be a lot of free ads, I mean tweets. But do it late and you get the fun, positive PR story (and you know how many of those you see late in a campaign for anything) that your competitor has no time to counter.

Hmmmm, I wonder. What do you think?

Three For Thursday - January 7

Happy New Year! For the first Three of Thursday of 2010 I thought I'd focus a bit on video and how video will be created and distributed in the future. Personally I thought 2009 would be the year that brands would discover micro-content, but while many dabbled, none cracked the code...so I'm hoping that maybe 2010 will be the year. We'll also cover a cool new Twitter tool and a really interesting content blog. As always, let me know what you think about the stuff I'm sharing and this series in general. If you're finding it helpful I'll keep doing it, but if not, well, we can find other things to share here.

Twitter Spam Blocker
As always, Jay Baer shares something interesting. It seems a few weeks ago Jay lamented on Twitter about the growing Twitter spam and wished there was a service that would help clear that from his in-box. Well seems Jay got a little Christmas present and he talks about TwitSweeper in this post. Check it out. I've not signed up yet (just found this little gem yesterday) but certainly looks like what we all need.  

Is that a TV in Your Hand?
We've all seen (and in my case owned) portable TVs with screens ranging from the average 3 inch screen to the cooler 5" and 7" variety. These battery powered beauties have kept many a man off the couch by allowing him to attend his daughter's dance recital while watching his alma mater play football/basketball or baseball. (And no, I've never done that) But, who wants to carry yet another device in their hand and more importantly, it's soooo obvious when you're doing that. Luckily for us, the cell phone companies and the wireless services that support them want to change all of that. Got an iPhone? Want to watch TV on it? Here you go -- just introduced at CES, the Mophie is a FLO TV antenna packed into an iPhone case. So now you can watch streaming live TV to your iPhone. You can read all about it here. What I think is interesting here from a marketing perspective is with devices/services like Mophie/FLO -- the phone truly becomes a third-screen. Consumers' worlds are further condensing into the palm of their hand, and there too will their attention. So think about transit advertising. Next time you're on a subway or bus, look around at where folks are looking -- now think about what you'd see on the 5:30 train home if say everyone had FLO TV on their phones and decided to multi-task and watch the evening news instead of reading that book or texting. If consumption context effects advertising effectiveness (and some studies suggest it does) then this becomes really interesting to me. I'm also interested to see what this does for the future of broadcast advertising and most importantly, measurement of broadcast on mobile consumption.

Nomadic Journalism
As part of a cool Mardi Gras content project I'm working on (more on that soon) I had the pleasure of an introduction to Randy Primm and his RoadBandit project. Basically, Randy -- a film maker -- has embarked on a nomadic journey in an RV. He's filming, blogging, taking pictures, etc., documenting his travels. He's still looking for sponsors and the site could use a little focus/polish from a marketing perspective, but that's not what really interests me. What jazzes me is RoadBandit is an example of micro-content'ish like content. For instance, what if Randy got the GoRV'ing folks to get behind him with a little sponsorship. Then his purpose is to document and romanticize the RV lifestyle. Which if you've seen sales of RV's lately, the industry could use a shot in the arm of new RV'ers. With the cost of digital content creation/distribution damn near zero, this kind of approach is something that I've got to think brands will eventually figure out. If you agree or are just intrigued by the idea, stay tuned in 2010 -- I'm going to spend A LOT of time on this subject as we flush out the idea of Campfire Conversations a bit more.

Well that's it folks... what say you? Cool stuff? Intrigued? Helpful? Can I make this series more valuable to you by focusing on a certain type of content like new digital tools, new marketing campaigns, etc.?? Let me know. This series will only be as helpful as you make it.

Oh and one more thing -- Hook'em!! ;-)

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

 
This morning I was struggling for what I wanted to post today so I revisited some old writings for inspiration. I reread this one and thought it would be a great one to share. It was originally written six years ago, not too long after the birth of my third child Hayes. Give it a read and then you let me know if you don't agree that the message is even more important today than it was back then.

Last year my wife gave birth to our third child, a beautiful baby boy. Unfortunately for us, we were about to enter the world of “other people” as in, bad things only happen to “other people.” We would learn the next day that our son was born with multiple congenital abnormalities of they left eye and would require surgery on the eye, maybe more than once. Worse, there was a possibility he may never see out of the eye. We then began the long search for a surgeon that we could trust and scheduled the first surgery. There was just one big problem. While we wanted to have the procedure done at our local children’s hospital, the surgeon was strongly recommending a local hospital with which both my wife and I had had a terrible previous experience. After much soul searching and many late night discussions with friends, we finally relented and agreed to allow the procedure to be done in the “bad hospital.”

We arrived at our appointed time, exhausted because we had not slept the night before, full of fear because we had no real trust in the hospital and in general on edge. And then it began – “Hayes Martin” came the call from the nurse. What would follow in the next 5 hours was simply the most important branding lesson I’ve ever learned.I was about to understand the power of brand experiences to alter brand perception first hand.

What we experienced that day was nothing like we expected. Instead we were fed a series of carefully orchestrated clues, which together would force my wife and I to alter our current brand perception.

First were the technological clues. There was no “chart” instead everything was entered into laptops connected wirelessly to a central database. If we asked a question or needed to see someone, the message was sent via text page to the person, who would then come to the waiting room.

Second were the organizational clues. At each surgical station, a nurse would guide us through that part of the surgical procedure and prepare us for our next station. Prior to moving us, the nurse would send our “chart” ahead so that when we arrived, our new nurse was ready and fully informed. Handoffs were seamless and information flowed freely. It was more akin to a well-choreographed ballet than a surgical procedure.

An additional organizational clue was time management. Over the previous six weeks we had seen four different specialists in three different hospital systems and had wasted at least 30 hours in doctors’ waiting rooms. It was if the medical profession was incapable of doing anything on time. After a while you begin to equate the quality of the medical staff to how well the office runs. Here again, a clue was signaling to us – this is a well-run, professional hospital that will take care of you and your family because we do the little things like start on-time.

Next came the personal clues. The people were all polite, gentle and genuinely seemed eager to make this experience as easy on my wife and myself as they could. We expected a clinical feeling but instead found one of warmth bordering on friendly.

And then there were the environmental clues. The waiting room was spacious, not opulent but big enough that you could spread out away from the other families. This was important because my wife, her parents, and myself were all on edge to say the least. The last thing we wanted was forced contact with strangers. The generous space combined with the constant flow of communication from the desk nurse (organizational/technological clue), informing us of major milestones in the surgical procedure gave us a feeling of reassurance. And all of this was delivered by employees that seemed to understand our situation and truly wanted to make this moment as stress free as possible.

What this episode taught me was the power of positive experience and experiential clues. Over the course of one five-hour experience I went from Brand Terrorist to Brand Ambassador – and people that know me will tell you I don’t change my mind easily.But why was one experience able to accomplish what years of advertising and public relations hadn’t achieved, because actions speak louder than words. What I witnessed was an obvious ingrained attitude and dedication to providing a world-class surgical experience. How did I know this? I knew it based on the clues the hospital fed me. From the big clues like the use of technology to the small clues like starting on time, I was constantly immersed in a good experience that reinforced a predefined brand perception that the hospital wanted to communicate to me. The end result was it forced me to set aside my previous feelings and adopt a new set of feelings based on a slew of new data that I was receiving.

And therein lies the power of a systematically managed brand experience. I had been exposed to countless advertisements for this hospital. My former employer was even the Agency of Record while I was employed there. But none of the advertising, PR or direct mail I received was powerful enough to dislodge my brand perception that the “bad hospital” was incapable of delivering high-quality medical services to my family. A brand perception, remember, that was completely driven by one previous experience – a bad one.

As a consumer, I am going to have an experience with a brand. The question we as brand managers must ask is whether we’re going to leave that experience to chance or see it for what it is – one of the most powerful branding weapons in our marketing arsenal.

I’m not suggesting that managing the brand experience is a replacement for traditional marketing activities. I am suggesting that if you are not currently applying a systematic approach to the clues your brand and brand experience are emitting then you are missing one of biggest brand management opportunities currently available to you as a brand manager.

So what do you think? Still valid? 

Using Social Media to Improve Occupancy In a Down Economy

 

So this Free Idea Day winner really got me excited because I can actually use their services. Meyer Real Estate is (in their words):

We are a vacation rental and real estate company along the Alabama/Florida Gulf Coast. Our challenge is to participate in social media with a product that is not an everyday use or pocket-change type of product - we rent houses and condos to people for their vacations, whether two nights, two weeks or two months (or longer).

None of us is a social media expert; we are doing the best we can to learn and to keep the sites active. But we do believe that part of the issue is the type of business we are in – once someone arranges or completes their vacation, they don’t want to hear from us until time to plan the next one. How do we overcome the cyclical nature of our type of business and build up a year-round loyal subscriber base on our social sites?

photo credit:  Meyerre.com

So much opportunity here and far more than I can really cover in a single Free Idea Day post. But in an effort to fulfill and point you in a direction that should bear fruit, I've broken my thoughts down into a sales system you can apply.

Given the high repeat business and strong seasonality trends you face, you may want to consider approaching your marketing from an Acquire>>Engage>>Activate model. I'll break each stage down and provide a few thoughts on efforts you can apply at each.

Acquire
With 70% or more of your business coming from repeat guests, you have both a blessing and a curse. You're blessed in that you have a solid base of business that you can pretty much count on year in and year out. But it is also a curse in that humans are creatures of habit. So if my habit is to take the family on an annual beach trip in June, then you only get me to come with my family in June. You may be able to stimulate me to change my month or consider coming a second time or maybe even come with just the wife, but by and large, I'm just going to do what I've always done. Thus, it is imperative that you focus a percentage of your marketing efforts on expanding your base of first time renters. A couple of thoughts for doing this.

Sales Materials

• Include a simple business card with your Facebook, Twitter, Website and Blog addresses. Why a business card? Because everyone has a wallet and if you make it it simple to just put that card in their wallet, they likely will. To increase your odds, print a few key phone numbers (emergency service line, popular restaurant's reservations line, or something else) so the guest has a reason to want to have that card handy.
• Refrigerator magnets: make sure these are in each unit you rent. Make sure they invite guests to follow you on Facebook and Twitter. Given that most, if not all, of your units will have high-speed internet, you have an opportunity to capture new friends/fans.
• Post Cards: Give the guest a chance to tell their friends about what a great time they are having. At the bottom of each card, include your Facebook/Twitter handles so the recipient can fan/follow you themselves to get great deals, etc. 
• You've already got the newsletter, which has a robust list, but it would probably be a good idea to scrub the list or apply some behavioral techniques to see how many of those folks are active readers vs lapsed and possibly purge the lapsed users. There are also some really cool segmenting things you can do with email lists, which would likely bear fruit and generate solid ROI's.

Your Owners

• Every property you manage has an owner with a vested interest in you renting out every available date that owner gives you to manage. Many of those owners (and likely growing) are active on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Make sure those owners have and promote your Twitter/Facebook handles. You'll need to give folks a reason to want to follow/friend you, but we'll cover that in the Activate section. At a minimum, make sure each owner is a Fan and Follows you on Twitter so you can begin to stimulate the viral loops that are the true power of Social Media.

Twitter

• Use Search.Twitter.com to find folks that are actively looking to book condos on the beach, plan or take a beach vacation, wedding trip (bachelor/bachelorette) or other types of trips that you indicated folks regularly take when booking your condos. If questions are being asked about where to stay, what to do, etc., then answer them -- don't sell, help. More on this during the Engage section.

Engage
You noted in our emails that social media is still new to your team... not to fret, it's still new to everyone. So while we probably can't cover everything you may need to know, let's hit a few high points that should help your efforts.

• Twitter: as noted above, this is a great place to acquire new followers that can eventually become fans and guests. When you run your Twitter search, respond where it makes sense. If someone is asking for help, recommendations or rooms, engage them. In some cases these folks might already be on the coast and renting from a competitor, but be helpful anyways. They'll remember you the next time but more importantly, they'll likely engage you back. Once they do, then follow them. There is some debate about when it is ok to follow a consumer talking about your category -- in your case condo rentals in the Gulf Coast. Again that is a post all its own, but safe to say -- you probably have some low hanging fruit in your account right now given that you're only following back about 10% of the folks that are following you. If you're not following a person on Twitter you can't see what they are tweeting. If you can't see their tweets, it's hard to engage with them. So I'd start there and then you'll need to think through when it is appropriate to engage folks on Twitter that are not following you but certainly could be candidates for your services.

• Contests: These seem to be the game everyone is playing on the social media front. I love your photo submission contest but feel you could leverage it more. Get those up on Flickr and place them under a Creative Commons license. Then apply tags and description copy that will help them get found. You might even want to dictate in the comments section the photo attribution line you prefer folks use when they use the photo. Where would folks use that photo? Travel bloggers for one. They're always looking for great shots for their posts. Make sure if a blogger is looking for a killer beach shot that they find yours. Other than that -- I'd suggest you be careful with contests. They are low engagement and create an illusion of engagement where one truly doesn't exist. Instead, talk to folks. Be a member of the social community. Be a person. Share funny stories, answer questions that have nothing to do with condos in Alabama and in general be likable.

• Surveys: Instead of fielding a traditional consumer insight survey, take the opportunity to ask lots of questions spread out over time. Ask folks about their vacation patterns, economic situations, vacation likes and dislikes, etc. Offer folks a discount on a future rental or better yet, a free weekend stay that can be used outright or as a discount against a weeklong rental. Surveys are great engagement tools and if you've built up a good reputation as a trusted (good person) you can ask for the occasional Retweet (RT) of the survey -- which takes us back up to the Acquire portion of the cycle.

Activate

• You're sitting on a lot of unrented inventory every day. Inventory that can't be put on a shelf to be sold tomorrow. Once the room night is gone, it's gone. So put that unused inventory to work for you. Given that most of your traffic is close in drive traffic, steal a page out of Southwest's playbook and create a "Ding" like product that pushes unused inventory. This is a great way to entice folks to follow you on Twitter and Friend you on Facebook -- as long as you make those the only channels you push this deal out through. eMail is also great for this and if you wanted to start getting into mobile, you could use Text messaging to do it... though the text messages would likely have to push folks online to see all the offers for that week.

• Blogger rooms - let it be known that you are blogger friendly. If a blogger happens to be planning a trip to your neck of the woods and you have some inventory that isn't being used (and the owner is willing to play along) let the blogger have it for the variable cost only. That way your turn-over costs are covered, and if you're lucky (which likely you will be) the blogger will blog about you, the room and the location. All of this can then become fodder for your own Facebook/Twitter postings and will likely help you in the SEO world too. Again, you're not out anything and you get a bit of low cost marketing help. The big thing here is this: you can't mandate they cover you. Well actually you could but then it really would call into question what they write and the best ones won't take you up on it. Instead, you just have to trust that the blogger will find a way to repay your hospitality -- and I think you'll find most will. Certainly you should vet the bloggers to make sure they're legit. But after you've qualified that they have an audience that is of value to you, and you'd willingly trade a few room nights for the possibility of some kind of coverage, then you just have to trust them and watch. It would also be good to offer some kind of blogger rate that folks have to contact you via Twitter or Facebook to qualify for... I've watched the Roger Smith Hotel use this quite effectively -- hell I'm staying there in January because of it!

• As you build relationships with Fans and Followers -- use your dialogue to help them see other times they can use you. For instance, I came to the coast once with my family over Easter. Honestly, I had never thought of taking them to the beach in April. But, honestly, it was great. To be able to sit on the beach and read a book while not baking -- heaven. Use the power of social media tools to get those kind of stories out of your guests and then share them. Those are the kinds of stories that get folks to consider changing their traditions and patterns.

• And lastly, provide a helpful service. If you're not getting this, find a way to get anniversary and wife's birthday dates. Overall, guys suck at planning ahead to buy gifts for those important dates. Heck, lots of guys suck at even remembering them! So help the hubby out AND give them a gift any wife would love -- a few days at the beach (with or without said hubby) ;-) at a reasonable price. This can be done with email or even Twitter (but use the DM vs @ channel).

Well that's about it for now. As I said, I think there is a ton you can do in this space -- far more than I can cover here -- but this should get you started and hopefully stimulate a few more ideas from other readers via the comments section.

So what say you folks? Anyone got something I missed? I'm guessing you do... why not pay it forward and help these fine folks out.