QUESTION: HOW DO YOU USE SOCIAL MEDIA, BOTH PERSONALLY AND PROFESSIONALLY?

JANIE DOWNEY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEW ENGLAND MAIL ORDER ASSOCIATION

I am a big fan of Facebook. I joined after my 30th high school reunion, along with about 100 of my classmates — it’s been a great way to be back in touch without sending individual e-mails. And I find many folks I work with in theater in the greater Portland, ME area post, so we keep in touch about auditions, post show pictures, and promote local performances. Most of my family is now on Facebook, which is great, but I did cut a deal with my two teenage daughters that I would not friend them if they would not friend me. I am a semi-fan of LinkedIn. I have a page but don’t go there much. My favorite use of LinkedIn is writing references for folks in the industry. If I were looking to hire someone full-time or as a consultant, I would definitely check them out on LinkedIn.

KEVIN DAHLSTROM, CMO, THINK FINANCE

On Facebook, I post three to five status updates a week — usually from my IPhone — but I’ve never played a social game. I rarely post updates to Twitter, but I use it every day to follow business thought leaders, professional athletes, and a few celebrities. I’m an avid cyclist so I follow Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer, and a few other top pros. It provides a fascinating glimpse into their day-to-day lives. I’ve been a LinkedIn user for years and primarily use it for recruiting. I’m more selective about who I connect to on LinkedIn than on Facebook — my policy is to accept invitations only from people I’ve worked with directly. Before Facebook, I posted to my blog (camp4.wordpress.com) almost daily. Now I only post occasionally when I feel inspired to comment on a business issue, share an idea or describe the details of a vacation. Because blogs are indexed by search engines, some of my posts get a surprising amount of traffic. For example, my Superfood Smoothie recipe has been viewed over 10,000 times!

REGGIE BRADY, PRESIDENT, REGGIE BRADY MARKETING SOLUTIONS

In social media I’m probably a six on a scale that starts at Luddite and ends at expert user. My main online persona is a business person. And, I’ve got only so much time to devote to social. LinkedIn is, by far, my most valuable resource. I don’t accept every invitation, but I do accept those who I know or have connections with in my industry. Two years ago, I wanted to be highlighted as someone who had 500+ connections, so I reached out to my contacts. Since then, I occasionally look at “People You May Know” and only connect with people I know well or selectively respond to invitations. I belong to about 10 LinkedIn groups. I read every forwarded e-mail, but I post occasionally on topics I care about. I’m afraid to sign up for too many additional groups because that means more e-mail to read and/or filter. I do find LinkedIn invaluable in keeping up-to-date with contact information. I use Facebook only for social purposes, and I experiment with being a friend of retail sites just to see how they follow through. I’m dismayed when I see how many companies use Facebook for branding and not data collection. I have yet to embrace Twitter. I find it hard to impart meaty concepts in 140 characters.

MARK TROMBETTA, VICE PRESIDENT, DIGITAL & E-MAIL PRACTICE, TELEMATCH, INC.

On a personal level, I make use of social media to reach out to former colleagues and classmates, keep in touch with global or macro-issues I care about, and stay on top of goings-on that affect me locally, too. I must say that I have become much more proficient and resolute in my usage since my oldest son headed off to Boston College this fall. While he’s often too busy to call, he’s readily available for a quick update or down load online. Going forward, social networking will follow a traditional lifecycle and path not unlike e-mail and mobile solutions. As the medium matures, we will see — and are already seeing — more mainstream, formal solutions replace ad-hoc and non-structured approaches. This will ease and enable greater integration with other marketing and service communications, with conventional delivery mechanisms and performance reporting metrics.

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QUESTION: MARKETERS TODAY HAVE A WEALTH OF DATA AT THEIR FINGERTIPS — MAYBE TOO MUCH. DOES HAVING ACCESS TO SO MANY METRICS HELP SHARPEN YOUR STRATEGY, OR IS IT TOO EASY TO LOSE SIGHT OF THE BIG-PICTURE IMPACT OF A CAMPAIGN?

MAC MCINTOSH, PRESIDENT, MAC MCINTOSH INC.

Analyzing data can be a bit overwhelming. But today you can no longer rely on your best guesses alone. You need data that can tell you if you are on target or not, so you can quickly refocus your marketing for maximum success. The best place to start is at the beginning — set clear but measurable goals or objectives upfront for all aspects of your marketing. How many leads do you need to generate? How many sales must close for the campaign to be a success? By when does this have to be accomplished? And you must be able to get data you need to measure your results. With this in mind, avoid setting goals that you can’t get the data to measure.

LIZ MILLER, VICE PRESIDENT, CMO COUNCIL

Marketers are swimming in a sea of data that isn’t just distracting from a campaign, but distracting from the customer! In a CMO Council report, 41% of marketers said they are struggling with collecting, integrating and maintaining customer data, and 38% are challenged to derive valuable insights and intelligence from their data. Marketers need to start by identifying the critical factors that impact customer affinity and create optimized customer experiences that are meaningful, relevant and aimed at building customer advocacy and loyalty. This requires going well beyond basic demographics to include transactional insight, customer voice, customer service experiences, social media monitoring and content engagement through online, channel or retail environments. You must define what makes up your “relevance matrix” and institutionalize this 360-degree view of the customer so that it’s embraced across your company. And be practical. Remember, just because you can measure it doesn’t mean that the metric will drive business, engagement, advocacy or loyalty. Sometimes data is just a number.

JONATHAN SHAPIRO, CEO, MEDIAWHIZ HOLDINGS, INC.

If marketers don’t have a clear view of what data they want, and how they will use the information, it is easy to drown in a sea of information. You need to focus on actionable data, which can be transformed into valuable information and be used to improve a marketing program. This requires the technology to turn the right data into answers, like which customer segments have the highest lifetime value; which creative elements drove the highest response; and which media sources provided the highest converting audience. Then the marketer needs to be able to act. Using the highest performing creative elements and/or buying the highest converting media easily improves marketing ROI. Targeting the right audience online is a little trickier. It requires the technology to target the right ad to the right user in real time. This is getting easier with the emergence of data-enabled networks and exchanges.

NIKI ADAMS, DIRECTOR OF MARKETING, PHOENIX SUNS

With a range in ticket prices from $10 per seat upwards to over $1,000 per seat for a single Suns basketball game, our fan demographics are extremely diverse. As such, data plays a critical role in learning more about each fan based on where they sit and what triggers their buying behavior. As our senior director of e-commerce and CRM Jenna Corday agrees, the best tip for sorting through all the data and its relevance is to test, test and test again. We’ve purchased lead lists based on profiling our customers strictly on data insights. Testing has taught us that in the current economy, those profiles are not necessarily accurate in today’s market. Still, as marketers, we need to hang on to a bit of our gut instinct. We should let data and the relevant metrics help us make the necessary marketing decisions to guide our strategy, but we should not let them control our strategy.

GOT A QUESTION YOU’D LIKE TO POSE TO THE TOP MINDS IN THE INDUSTRY? Like to participate as a “Chieftain” yourself? E-mail [email protected] or [email protected].

QUESTION: HAVE YOU OR YOUR FAMILY RECENTLY RECEIVED A DIRECT MAIL PIECE THAT CAUSED A STRONG REACTION, EITHER POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE?

SHARON HARTLEY, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING, CRAYOLA

Ninety-nine percent of the direct mail I get at home goes into the trash — and I screen the mail, so nobody else in the family ever sees it. But I did use a direct mail item recently. Every year I get a birthday gift card from Sunglass Hut. And this year I used it. I don’t often pass a Sunglass Hut in my journeys, but I happened to do so, needed sunglasses, and also happened to have put the card in my wallet. So they did me a favor, and I probably did them a favor in return. But I’m getting less and less direct mail, and more and more spam e-mail. I must have signed up for something at the wrong site.

SHARON DUNN, PRESIDENT, DUNCRAFT, INC.

I recently received Healthy Pet Magazine, a direct mail piece, not something I subscribe to. It had a partial wrap on the cover reminding me that Prince, my standard poodle, was due for a set of shots at our vet’s office by October 5. In my hand I had the reminder with a list of all the needed vaccinations, the vet’s phone number and a magazine full of interesting articles — I liked the piece on how to control barking! It was customized and useful content.

ED MARTIN, DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL INSIGHTS & NEW METHODS, THE HERSHEY CO.

One recent direct mail letter addressed to me looked like an official and urgent document from the government. My first reaction was “Oh no! What do they want?” So, of course, I opened it. It took me another 20 seconds to realize it was a solicitation for insurance or something, which really made me angry. Why would I possibly buy from people who are clearly using unethical practices to get me to open up their solicitation? I guess the “you have just won a million dollars” tactic has worn out its effectiveness. But at least with that one, I was happy for a minute when I was tricked into opening the envelope.

DEIRDRE BAIRD, PRESIDENT & CEO, PIVOTAL VERACITY

When we moved down to Florida a few months ago, we suspected it would be very difficult to find the same quality of doctors we were accustomed to in New York. Our first month here, we received a solicitation from a doctor that only re-affirmed our fears. The piece was a postcard soliciting new patients. It profiled the doctor as an American — but listed his medical degree as having been obtained on a Caribbean island known for taking U.S. med school dropouts. On a more positive note, we recently received a catalog chock full of Halloween costumes for kids. We were thrilled at the variety and liked the inclusion of outfits for parents. My husband zeroed in on the Batman costume, as that’s one of my sons’ favorite heroes. And he loved the sexy girl version of the Robin outfit. But no, mommy won’t be wearing that unless we can extend the length of the handkerchief they call a skirt. LOL.

GOT A QUESTION YOU’D LIKE TO POSE TO THE TOP MINDS IN THE INDUSTRY? Like to participate as a “Chieftain” yourself? E-mail [email protected] or [email protected]. And to share your thoughts on this month’s question, visit the Chief Chat forums (forums.chiefmarketer.com).

QUESTION: WILL CONSUMERS START SPENDING MORE CONFIDENTLY BEFORE THE END OF THIS YEAR, OR SHOULD MARKETERS EXPECT THEY’LL SCRIMP INTO 2010?

ROSEMARIE B. MONTROY, CMO, DIRECT MEDIA/MILLARD

I wouldn’t say that marketers should expect the consumer will scrimp into 2010 — but I do expect that consumers will buy discriminately. To add to the incredible 9.5% unemployment rate, there’s the fact that wages are either frozen or cut so discretionary income is limited. When consumers do buy, they’ll be looking for the best possible value. Marketers need to keep in mind that “best value” isn’t just a function of price; it includes product uniqueness, quality, service and ease of purchase. We can’t all have unique products, but every company can create a unique buying proposition for the consumer. If you don’t have the lowest price, perhaps you can have the best service or the easiest order system or the best return policy. The consumer’s view of buying and spending has changed and savvy marketers need to augment the “Boy Who Cried Sale” marketing syndrome with key drivers that enhance the buying experience.

ALFRED LIN, COO/CFO, ZAPPOS

We believe consumers will stay cautious and be more conservative going forward. But, they will shop with companies they trust and feel a connection with. That has always been important, but it’s even more so today. You must ensure that you have a personal, emotional connection with your customers. Don’t just market to them.

JOTH RICCI, PRESIDENT & CEO, JONES SODA CO.

People will continue to scrimp, and we should be resetting our expectations for consumer spending in the new economy. We shouldn’t be waiting for things to get back to the way they used to be. I am not preparing for anything other than [continued slow spending] as we run our business. On a micro level, that will affect how we spend internally. It changes some of the behaviors of how we invest, and how we manage inventory on the back side. Just as the consumer is making tough decisions about what to spend their dollars on, we have to make some equally tough decisions based on where we think that spending is going.

KITTY KOLDING, CEO, HOUSE PARTY

Consumer marketers need to be as focused as ever on providing must-have products and services at a reasonable price. Even though the economy is, hopefully, bottoming out and recovering, unemployment continues to be a lagging indicator. In July, it was reported that the jobless rate topped 10% in 15 states across the country. Additionally, the Federal Reserve recently projected that the national unemployment rate, currently at a 26-year high of 9.5%, will pass 10% by the end of the year. As a result, consumers will continue to be cautious with their spending. They will only buy items that they absolutely need and, even for those items, they will keep an eye out for deep discounts.

GOT A QUESTION YOU’D LIKE TO POSE TO THE TOP MINDS IN THE INDUSTRY? Like to participate as a “Chieftain” yourself? E-mail [email protected] or [email protected]. And to share your thoughts on this month’s question, visit the Chief Chat forums (forums.chiefmarketer.com).

QUESTION: IS GREEN MARKETING HERE TO STAY? or ARE OTHER FACTORS SUCH AS PRICE OR VALUE LIKELY TO OUTWEIGH ECOLOGY IN CUSTOMERS’ VALUES?

AVI SAVAR, FOUNDER & CEO, BIG FUEL COMMUNICATION

To answer this question, you need to consider the marketplace, consumer motivation and accessibility. As the marketplace floods with new products and services, increased accessibility will drive overall costs down. As cost becomes less of an issue, social responsibility will drive consumer motivation and increase demand. This demand, along with positive brand sentiment created by a green positioning, creates a vested interest for the key players to make green work. Which means, yes, green marketing is here to stay. Walmart’s sustainability campaign is a perfect example of a major player — and previous polluter — now showing its green side.

JO SULLIVAN, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, EXTERNAL AFFAIRS, ASPCA

If we’d asked ourselves the same question prior to the collapse of the market I would have said that green would have had a longer shelf life as a marketing tool. But now? It’s going to be a much longer time before the green movement sees the social change it was intended to have. Products are obviously still out there en masse, but ad campaigns you saw 18 months ago touting green benefits now open all their commercials with phrases like “We know how tight your budgets are” and acknowledge that most consumers can’t pay more for products to protect our environment. This is a great opportunity for green to go grass roots and take a break on the product front. Charities or products that can educate families on making compost, growing their own small gardens, or turning in plastic or glass at recycle centers all add up to helping the environment. And they contribute to the family’s bottom line. No matter what — green has to be here to stay. It cannot be ignored no matter the state of the economy or we’ll slip back dozens or more years.

DAVID KRAVETZ, CATALOG & WEB TEAM LEADER, FAIRYTALE BROWNIES

Green marketing is definitely here to stay, and that’s been true since the early nineties when “recycling” was the buzzword of the day. Specific trends evolve and change, but the basic premise of concern for the environment has continued to build momentum over the past 20 years. It has been a slow and gradual process that I believe will continue indefinitely. Consumers will keep demanding new and unique environmental solutions. Our future population depends on it. Price and value will certainly play a role in the equation, but we will no doubt continue to move forward with an increasing appreciation for the delicate environment in which we live.

AMY CURTIS-MCINTYRE, BRAND COMMUNICATIONS VICE PRESIDENT, HYATT HOTELS & RESORTS

We stepped in early with sustainable practices, but we took a typical Hyatt position, which was to be quiet about it. We’ve just realized that we have to go out and tell people what we’ve done [in implementing green practices] because it’s gone from desirable to expected. Green is not a trend or a campaign; it’s a mandatory way to operate your business. It’s as likely to go away as smoking in restaurants is likely to come back.

GOT A QUESTION YOU’D LIKE TO POSE TO THE TOP MINDS IN THE INDUSTRY? Like to participate as a “Chieftain” yourself? E-mail [email protected] or [email protected]. And to share your thoughts on this month’s question, visit the Chief Chat forums (forums.chiefmarketer.com).

QUESTION: DO YOU MEASURE THE RETURN ON INVESTMENT FROM SOCIAL MEDIA AS STRINGENTLY AS YOU DO CAMPAIGNS IN OTHER CHANNELS? OR IS SPEAKING TO CUSTOMERS THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA SOMETHING THAT MARKETERS HAVE TO DO, NO MATTER WHAT THE RETURN?

ANNIE YOUNG-SCRIVNER, CMO, QUAKER OATS

One of the biggest trends in social media is that consumers now have an expectation of conversations, versus campaigns. While the marketing world still works on a campaign basis, consumers don’t think this way. At Quaker, we really want to leverage the fact that our consumers want to have conversations with us. For example, our “Go Humans Go” campaign is a rallying cry that really leverages all of us to do more. We’ve partnered with [hunger awareness organization] Share for Strength — every time a consumer goes to Quakeroats.com and enters a UPC code, we’ll donate product to families in need. We’ve leveraged social media to raise awareness with bloggers, and this has increased followers to our Twitter account. This is an outstanding way to connect with our consumer and be in dialogue on a cause-worthy subject.

JON TAUBER, DIGITAL MEDIA MANAGER, MILLERCOORS

As media has become more social, our brands have been and will continue to be a part of consumers’ conversations. There are times when it makes sense for our brands to provide content and tools to enable and add value to consumer conversations. Other times our role is more passive. As it relates to measurement, a case could be made that we measure ROI on social media more stringently than we do campaigns that live primarily in other channels. There’s simply more data — both quantitative and qualitative — that can be analyzed while campaigns are live and in post mortems to help understand if our efforts delivered against objectives going in.

IAN SCHAFER, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, DEEP FOCUS

The return on social media efforts needs to be measured differently from other forms of media, even digital media. In fact, social media efforts are not campaigns at all. They are long-term relationships that need to be cultivated. Therefore, we must establish sets of metrics that are vertical-specific and gauge measures of efficiency and engagement that don’t just take into account initial brand touchpoints with the consumer, but additional brand touchpoints that are created between consumers. When we can accurately measure that, we wind up creating initiatives enabling consumers to create searchable content around brands that, in turn, propagate the hopefully positive message, because those conversations are happening with or without us.

RHONDA L. SHASTEEN, CMO, MARY KAY INC.

A total absence from the social media landscape in today’s environment is a sure sign that a brand may become increasingly irrelevant. Having said that, I don’t believe every brand should be using every social media tool available. Each should be carefully and strategically considered, with very clear objectives for their use. While we don’t track a hard and fast ROI on social media, we definitely study the metrics as they relate to total exposure, pass-on, new connections made, etc. It is extremely difficult to tie it back to a revenue number. Perhaps the best way to look at it would be similar to the way we look at net promoter scores.

GOT A QUESTION YOU’D LIKE TO POSE TO THE TOP MINDS IN THE INDUSTRY? Like to participate as a “Chieftain” yourself? E-mail [email protected] or [email protected]. And to share your thoughts on this month’s question, visit the Chief Chat forums (forums.chiefmarketer.com).