Without fail, the back to school season seems to creep up every year. And year after year, the same routine of scrambling to get things ready ensues. It is a rather stressful, but exciting time.

As moms and dads breathe a sigh of relief of not having to entertain the children all day, kids are eager to be reunited with their friends, show off their new duds and share the happenings of the summer.

The funny thing is, regardless to whether or not you have children headed to school, the same feeling hits us every late August/early September. It is the official end of summer.  We realize it is time to start putting our noses to the grindstone and make things happen.

Summer is productive – don’t get me wrong – but when riddled with family vacations, half-days and sunshine, it feels as though we all had somewhat of a childhood summer.

Our summer here at L&S was a great one, with lots of excitement and progress. New faces, exciting projects and lunchtime grill-outs were just a few of the summer happenings at the agency. Just last week, we had an enjoyable summer picnic at Riverdale Park, complete with a sand volleyball tournament and iPad giveaway. Check out some photos on the L&S Facebook page.

Summer may be slipping away, but the fun of a quick getaway is not out of reach. If you need a last minute vacation, be sure to visit the TravelSD website for some ideas on quick trips you can take throughout the state.

The excitement of a fresh start also comes with a new school year. Kids armed with new notebooks and backpacks are ready to learn. To be honest, I still enjoy picking out a new notebook and pen for work every fall. Stop by Lewis to pick up a few last minute school or office supplies and check out their great weekly deals or upcoming tent sale.

The back to school air circulating throughout L&S is hard to ignore. We are all excited for upcoming months. We are ready for the great ideas to come, the challenges ahead and the lessons we will learn working with new and longtime clients. Be sure to keep your eyes and ears open to the latest news from the team here at Lawrence & Schiller.

Travel spending research has been a bit of a mixed bag as of late. According to the most recent Traveler Sentiment Index numbers published by Ypartnership, consumer perception of the amount of money available for spending on travel is up (considerably –a 17% increase in April 2010 from April 2009). But having more money to travel doesn’t necessarily mean consumers are ready to take a leap and book their trips. A recent Gallup Poll shows one in four Americans plan to travel less in 2010.

Source: Google Trends

One common factor in both the Gallup Poll and the Traveler Sentiment Index is that consumer perception of the state of the economy and the stability of their own finances strongly correlates with making travel plans. The difference in the two studies seems to be a discrepancy in survey answers relating to consumer confidence—the Traveler Sentiment Index shows consumer confidence increasing, Gallup shows the opposite.

So which is correct? Let’s use search trending as a tie-breaker. After all, an internet search represents what a person actually does, whiletraditional research studies rely on the truthfulness of survey answers for accuracy. Google Trends shows that searches for the keyword phrase “vacation packages” have been have been consistently higher year-to-date over 2009.

Source: Google Trends

Interestingly enough, a Google Trends analysis of keywords that might indicate non-confidence in personal finances also look to be declining (albeit, not as sharply). This would represent an increase in consumer confidence.

So while the research is mixed, one thing seems clear. The sooner the economy recovers, the faster U.S. travel will rebound.

With the soaring popularity of mobile EVERYTHING, we often recommend the use of Foursquare to our travel clients. It’s an engaging way for people to track the places they go and the things they do (or want to do).

But like many other social media avenues, Foursquare is built on a foundation of consumer, not marketer, activity and interaction. So it gets a bit fuzzy. How exactly do you encourage consumers to promote your business within a platform built by the people, for the people?

Well, there are several ways. First of all, Foursquare offers some simple things businesses can do to get in on the action. First of all, get listed as a location. Do a search for your business – if nobody has added it yet, there will be a link to add a vendor. Once you’ve created a profile for your business, you can create specials that Foursquare users can unlock based on their activities. For example, if a visitor checks in at your restaurant, they might get a free appetizer with the purchase of an entrée.

Tourism groups throughout the country are also using Foursquare as part of larger digital marketing efforts. The Pennsylvania tourism board recently rolled out a summer campaign called “The Fantastic Roadtrip-a-Matic”. The effort includes tips placed at 100 locations throughout the state, which visitors can unlock by checking in at these locations on Foursquare. Visitors can also earn Pennsylvania-themed badges based on their activities. A “PA 4 Score and 7” badge is earned by three visits to PA historical sites, for instance.

Currently the restrictions in Foursquare are minimal – anybody can enter a new vendor. There also aren’t a lot of restrictions on how organizations are designated – Pennsylvania, Chicago tourism, and other CVBs are set up as “people,” not vendors. As Foursquare grows in popularity, it will likely go the way of Facebook, where organizations now must be specifically designated as clubs, cities, pages, etc. Businesses would be wise to get in on the Foursquare action while it’s easy to do.

If there ever was a site that should have a mobile app, it’s TripAdvisor. Well, now they do. The enormously-popular travel ratings site boasts over 35 million comments and travel reviews. The new TripAdvisor mobile app was announced this week, and with it, users can browse reviews, find flights, get GPS directions and more via their mobile phones. So far, there are versions for iPhone and Palm Pre, and Android is coming soon.

For users without app-friendly phones, there was also a mobile site launched in March. Mobile visitors to www.tripadvisor.com are automatically re-routed to the mobile version of the site.

Now if they could just make and app that does my laundry, I would be sold. But this is a good start. Happy travel-apping!

Take one of your family car trips and freeze it in time. Now look around, what do you see? I see my dad, with a perm, yelling into a gigantic bag phone. I see a huge VCR and TV, made “portable” only because we set them in the aisle of our Econoline van so we could watch movies in transit. I remember navigation by tattered atlas, McDonald’s billboards and gut instinct.

The gadgets, gizmos, time-wasters and time-savers of the American road trip are a time capsule of sorts. While the game stays the same – getting a group of participants with varying levels of enthusiasm to a chosen destination all in the name of fun (without killing one another) – the players change dramatically. Here are some of the latest and greatest updates, sure to fan up your dad’s shortest 1980s jogging shorts:

Old School: Word of Mouth

New and Improved: Foursquare

What It Is: Foursquare lets users report their location in real life (a specific café, museum, attraction, etc.) through the website or via text or mobile phone app. They can connect with friends and share travel recommendations and reviews. The program challenges members to “check in” at specific locations and share tips or reviews on that location. Posters can earn points or “badges” for checking into locations.

Take Advantage: Provide specials via Foursquare. Encourage your best customers to “check in” and tell their friends what they like about you.

Old School: Rand McNally Atlas

New and Improved: Google Local

What It Is: Google’s local business listings are what generally appear at the top of a Google search alongside a Google map. For instance, a search for “Omaha steakhouse” brings up seven first-page results at the top of the Google page, all marked on a map alongside. Travelers can also search and get direction on their mobile phones.

Take Advantage: If your business isn’t already on Google maps, go to Google Local Business Center and get signed up. If you already have a profile, make sure it’s updated. Look for mobile sites (urbanspoon.com, for instance) that cater to your type of business and list yourself.

Old School: Portable TV/VCR/DVD player

New and Improved: iPad

What It Is: The iPad is a light, handheld computer device that can be used much like an iPhone or laptop. Though just launched a few weeks ago, the iPad already boasts over 1,000 applications with which travelers can access movies, tv shows, books, maps, games and more. There are game applications such as Scrabble, so you don’t have to worry about losing game pieces, and educational applications for the kids, such as the U.S. States & Capitals app. The iPad is sized so that it’s more portable than a laptop, but with a bigger screen than an mp3/video player or mobile phone, and with more functionality than a straight up DVD player.

Take Advantage: Get listed on lodging/attraction/dining websites that push their content through an iPad application, so travelers can find you on the road.

Old School: Travel Agents

New and Improved: Online Booking Sites

What It Is: Online booking sites like KAYAK, Orbitz and Travelocity provide an avenue for researching, creating and booking a multi-faceted travel itinerary (hotel, rental car, flight, etc.)  from your phone or computer.

Take Advantage: If you have bookable inventory, you can get it listed on these sites for a commissioned fee. See what kind of presence you have on review-based, informational travel sites (Tripadvisor.com, Yahoo Travel) and make sure there is an accurate description and good photos posted. While visitors can’t book from these sites, they often research in these places before booking.

Old School: Pen-and-Paper Bucket List

New and Improved: Lifepoints

What It Is: A Facebook application that allows users to check off interesting things they’ve done and accrue points. As an added bonus, you can redeem life points for cheap and free stuff.

Take Advantage: List your attraction or thing to do within the Lifepoints app on Facebook. Search for your business or community within the Lifepoints application – if nothing comes up, use the “Add an Experience” button to create an interesting one for your business – something like, “Survived the Macho Nachos at Stadium Sports Bar in Spearfish”. Then tell all your Facebook friends to stop in and nab their points.

Awareness of green or sustainable living practices is increasing all the time. People are carpooling, recycling, composting, buying local and even raising their own chickens. So it’s a natural extension for these green-livers to want to extend their sustainable mantra into their vacation time as well. In honor of Earth Day, here are some helpful resources for making your travel business more sustainable, and how to market to these potential green travelers:

• Business.gov has lots of resources for small businesses, including guides on becoming more sustainable.
• Earth911.com offers a directory of local recycling and disposal options. They also provide tools for businesses to track recycling and demonstrate green compliance.
• There are some official, national programs that label products as green (think Energy Star), but not really any at the governmental level that certify businesses or organizations. Be choosey about third-party companies that offer green certification for a fee – some are scams. Check out the perks you get for becoming certified – for instance, inclusion in a good online database – and you might decide it’s worth the cost. Or look for certification organizations that donate your fee to green causes.
• If you have a sustainable restaurant, hotel or attraction, get the word out. Find websites that provide ecotourism listings, like www.itsagreengreenworld.com, and get listed. Again, be wary of those that charge a fee. Also, list sustainability as an amenity in descriptions of your property, on your website and on your advertising materials.
• Studies have shown that consumers feel good about themselves when they use a product or service that is eco-friendly. Put up signage on your property that points out the good things you are doing. It will encourage repeat visitors.

Black Hills Vacations has launched its new updated online presence. Black Hills Vacations is the official booking agency for South Dakota and the Black Hills and Badlands. They do everything from booking your tee time to booking your hotel room. You can view pictures, post and read reviews, print maps, and even watch some video tours. BlackHillsVacations.com is the full package (no pun intended). The features are endless.

I have to admit this site was no small feat. Programmer Minh Lee – yes that is his full name – used some nice jQuery on this site to make any transitions you see move with ease. I love when our programmers surprise me with neat tricks! We are also pulling in a lot of dynamic content into several niches that our client can control from our custom maintenance area.

I can honestly say this is one of my favorite sites I have had the opportunity to work on because of the challenge of making it clean and simple but still keeping all the information there for the user.  The site went live after a lot of hard work and dedication by not only the L&S team but Susan, Keri and Kenny at Black Hills Cen Res too. Thanks everyone!

Enough said. Take a moment to check out all the great features that blackhillsvacations.com has to offer! You can also check out our new LS site and all the related information we have in our Travel and Tourism section.

In just one month, the South Dakota Office of Tourism’s online sales increased 257 percent. The triple-digit increase in February can be attributed to the Office’s newest Web-based program, Digital Revolution.

Gov. Mike Rounds unveiled plans last year for the Digital Revolution – a new travel Web site with opportunities for everyone in the visitor industry, both large and small, to control their own content and gain valuable exposure on the home page of South Dakota’s official tourism Web site.

“Photos, videos and an online booking mechanism help to make our online visitors’ experiences even better,” says Gov. Rounds. “This is cutting edge. There’s nothing else like it.  No other state in the union is doing what we have done this past year.”

February 2010 was the first full month of operation for Digital Revolution. Compared with the same time period in 2009, the new TravelSD.com has seen dramatic increases in online sales and visitor engagement.

Every city, attraction, activity, lodging, dining, shopping and traveler service can become a Digital Revolution partner. By paying a one-time fee of $250, businesses can add and edit their own descriptions (hours, features, contact information, etc.) and upload photos and videos. Related destinations, activities, vacation packages, events and news stories are automatically connected to businesses and displayed on their Web pages. For an additional $250, a partner can add a booking widget, which allows visitors to book their vacation directly from TravelSD.com.

“There are nearly 300 partners signed up to be a part of the program, but there’s always room for more,” the Governor says. “Our vision is to have every destination, hotel, motel, hunting lodge, campground, restaurant, gift shop and attraction be a part of Digital Revolution.” 

Visitors to the Web site can add items to a personalized Trip Planner or click to book online. Other opportunities for engagement include requesting vacation guides, signing up for monthly e-mails targeted to individual interests, and uploading travel photos.

Links

• Digital Revolution Case Study 
• Digital Revolution Promotion Video
• TravelSD on Twitter
• SD Tourism on Facebook
• SD Tourism’s YouTube Channel

Five thousand two hundred and eighty is the number of feet in a mile. It also represents the commitment Lawrence & Schiller makes to go the extra mile for its clients.

Each quarter L&S honors an employee who embodies the spirit of 5280. Someone who has gone above and beyond to deliver significant results for a client. Not just someone who has put in long hours, but someone who has been strategic, insightful and relentless. To this person the Marketing and Advertising  (MAP) Award is presented.

Bob Davidson

From a long list of nominees, the MAP winner for the first quarter of 2010 is Bob Davidson, an Interactive Programmer who’s been with Lawrence & Schiller since August of 2008. Davidson was selected because of his work on Digital Revolution… the redesigned, re-organized and re-programmed website for the South Dakota Office of Tourism.

Months in the making, Digital Revolution transformed www.TravelSD.com from an informational website to a transactional one, allowing visitors to not only research their South Dakota vacations but also book them without leaving the site.

Davidson was the technical lead for a group of programmers who developed the site in ASP.net and created the following functionalty:

• Partner Pages – for a nominal one time fee, visitor industry members can gain access to a content management system with the ability to update content, add photos & videos and integrate social media.
• Online Booking – Partners have the option of working with the state’s central reservation system and offering their inventory for online bookings.
• Related Content – based on location, attraction type and visitor interests, related content (including vacation packages, events and news stories) is automatically displayed on each detail page. 
• Interactive Trip Planner – any attraction, activity, event or lodging with a physical address can be added to the Trip Planner. Integrated maps show the location of attractions and visitors can drag-and-drop itenerary items onto a calendar which then automatically updates the maps.

During its first full month of operation, the average time per visit spent on the new TravelSD.com has gone up 22%, usage of the Trip Planner is up 57% and online sales are up 257% over the same time period in 2009!

Congratulations to Bob and the South Dakota Office of Tourism.

From travel and tourism to higher education, telecommunications to healthcare, 12 different Lawrence  & Schiller clients took home honors Saturday night, at the 44th Annual South Dakota Advertising Federation’s Addy Awards. The diverse collection of winners represent a 25% higher number of clients than any other marketing agency in the awards show.

Best of Class Mixed Media Addy award was presented to the University Center for its “At the Center of it All” campaign. Workplace Technology Center also won a Best of Class Addy. Its “English to IT”  took home the Best of Class Addy for Consumer or Trade Publication.

Lawrence & Schiller congratulates all of its clients who won at the Sioux Falls event. All together the group received 24 Addy Awards.

• South Dakota Tourism
• Midcontinent Communications
• Sanford Hospital
• Dennis Daugaard for Governor
• University Center
• South Dakoa Office of Highway Safety
• Workplace Technology Center
• The Golf Course At Devil’s Tower
• Visit Spearfish
• South Dakota Symphony
• Sioux Falls Green Project
• Lawrence & Schiller

It is not often that we get feedback from consumers on the effect our advertising has on them.  And even less frequent that we get positive feedback.

We had the privilege of receiving a letter from a Midwest Living magazine subscriber regarding the ads placed in the publication for South Dakota Tourism this year.  It read:

“May I share with you how much I have enjoyed Midwest Living’s South Dakota tourism ads?  I have framed each one and have hung them on my knotty pine walls in my northern Wisconsin cottage.  How serene! Will there be more?  Thank you!”

Marilyn P from Wisconsin 

Additionally, she attached a Polaroid shot of the six ads she had clipped and framed for her home. 

Kudos to the team for developing such powerful copy and imagery to evoke strong emotion; strong enough to move the magazine reader to cut out, frame, and hang them in her home.  More powerfully, to move her to write a letter (not send an email) to the publication asking them for more.  

Now, that is marketing that will move the needle!

The Framed South Dakota Tourism ads

South Dakota’s Small Business Administration and the Small Business Development Center Network provides programs and services to help businesses start, grow and succeed. This month, the small business education series will venture into marketing and how, in today’s changing business environment, it can help your small business survive and thrive.

“Marketing Matters,” a four-week educational web series, kicks off July 9 to educate business owners on the value of marketing plans, social media and other ways to better position themselves in today’s economy.

As a leading regional advertising and marketing firm, Lawrence & Schiller is proud to support the: South Dakota’s Small Business Administration and the Small Business Development Center Network to help lend insight and experience to the conversation.

Thursday, July 9: Roadmap to Marketing Success: Simple Steps to Writing a Successful Marketing Plan

• Courtney Davidson and Micah Aberson, Lawrence & Schiller
• Wayne Wagner, CFGear

Thursday, July 16: Google Matters: How Does Your Website Measure Up?

• Krista Gussiaas and Eric Ellefson, Lawrence & Schiller
• Greg Jasmer, DAKOTACARE

Thursday, July 23: The First Impression: Building a Positive Customer Experience

• Natalie Eisenberg and Courtney Lotzer, Lawrence & Schiller
• Michele Slott, Prairie Berry Winery

Thursday, July 30: Social Media Marketing: How to Start Your Online Conversation

• Robin Temple, Lawrence & Schiller
• Paul Ten Haken, Click Rain

Sessions are free and begin at 10:00 am (CST) via webcast. Learn more and sign up by calling the SBA at 605-330-4243 and press 0.

@robintemple and @ericellefson lead our sixth webinar about the marriage between SEO and SMM – both strategies are equally important to making sure your website, and ultimately your brand, is visible and relevant to your core customers as they search online. As a site owner, you need to understand how the search engines of tomorrow will rank site content and give engaged sites/consumers the upper hand.

Here’s a brief overview of how build a great foundation to support your digital search strategy:

Make Your Website Relevant: Content is King

On-page Elements (Techie-details)

SEO – Understand that your title tags, headers, image title, bold text and use of keywords are all influential on search engine rankings.
SMO – Coding and tags are not so important, while visual attention grabbers make a bigger impact.

The Meat of Your Page: Rich Content

SEO – Quality content is important in order to rank well.
SMO – Quality content is important in order to hold the readers’ attention and win their approval.

Socialize Your Website: External Content

SEO – Trusted domains will have a positive effect on all pages, including new pages.
SMO – Power profiles on sites like Digg can keep traffic flowing with new submissions.

Relationships with the Right People: Targeting

Know Your Audience

SEO – Provide keyword-rich informational content
SMO – Starting/joining conversations that lead to building relationships.

Research

SEO – Research and Analyze to apply changes that will impact (positive or negative) site rankings.
SMO – Research and Analyze to know what types of content draws interest.

Defining Success:

SEO – Success can be achieved by applying the same practices every time.
SMO – Success lies in knowing the social media audience and engaging in a unique strategy every time.

Measuring Goals

SEO -  In-house URL tracking.
SMO – External content engagement tracking.

Plan Your Attack: Engagement

SEO – Success can be achieved by applying the same practices every time.
SMO – Success lies in knowing the social media audience and engaging in a unique strategy every time.

Integrate and Improve Your Content: Link Building

Be Linkable:

SEO – Inbound links lead to success.
SMO – Links are a result of success.

Capitalize on titles and descriptions by making sure they relate to the content. Doing so increases relevance and increased relevance = your message will spread.

Accept Failure and Try Again

The truth is, even after you’ve followed the rules faithfully, your first dozen (or two) attempts probably won’t work. It takes time to create the momentum you need to establish yourself in the various communities. However, once one of your message does resonate, you’ll understand what all the fuss was about and why social media optimization is worth all the hard work.

You also can’t let up once you get that first taste of success. If you want to maintain the traffic you are receiving, you have to continue to participate. Your success in search engine rankings will wholeheartedly depend on user engagement within social media spaces.

Talk about mobile marketing and most people will picture text messaging or web browsers on smart phones. But for the South Dakota Office of Tourism it has another, very literal meaning.

Full-size, semi-tractor trailers have been wrapped with South Dakota images. Now the rolling billboards are traveling from coast-to-coast raising awareness of the Mount Rushmore State.

Here is the story behind this unique form of outdoor advertising.

So you have started to monitor to the conversations and social activity after Week Three of our Social Media  Bootcamp, and you have an idea of what conversations are happening, where people are postings, and what the tone of the conversations are.

But like everyone else, you’re looking direction about how to engage and become part of a digital community’s conversation in an effective and acceptable manner that can help your business without alienating the passionate members of the community you’re trying to reach.

What is a digital community -   a communication system of social networks whose participants share a common interest, idea, task or goal that interact in a virtual society across time, geographical and organizational boundaries and where they are able to develop personal relationships.

Growth cycle of a digital community:  Tend to grow slowly at first – people are more motivated to provide content and contribute as the size of the community grows.  As potential audience increases, so does attraction of writing and contribution. 

Who are the citizens that make up a digital community?

• Peripheral  (lurker) – observes.  An outside, unstructured participant. Usually visits community in response to the prompting of others.
• Inbound (novice) – newcomer, just beginning to engage in community.  Starts to provide content.  Tentatively interacts in a few discussions.
• Insider (regular) – fully committed participant; consistently ads to the community discussion and content. Interacts with other users.
• Boundary (leader) – Recognized as a veteran participant.  Connects with regulars to make higher concepts into ideas. The community grants their opinion greater consideration. 
• Outbound (elder) – Leave the community due to new relationships, new positions, new outlooks; community may have moved in direction they don’t agree with. 

 Why you and your company should be engaging with Digital Communities:

1. Education

• Get the inside scoop – be the first to know what is going on
• Ask and answer questions – participate in the conversation
• Stay up to date on your industry trends

2. Networking

• Meet like-minded people
• New hires/staff
• Business opportunities

3. Public relations

• Know what people are saying about and how reacting to your brand
• Respond to press quickly
• Plant a story/lead
• Influence public opinion

4. Fundraising/Philanthropy  

• Tie into a cause – ask to join
• Special offers for those that participate – Incentives

5. Brand Awareness

• Around events and sales
• Reviews, ratings
• Tell your story

6. ROI

• Can track web traffic, click-throughs, RRS subscriptions, offer redemptions, digital mentions/conversations, downloads, customer surveys, subscribers, referrals, links

Some might say there are no rules of conduct within the realms of social media. And they’re right. Hard and fast rules haven’t been adopted.

At the same time expectations of etiquette clearly do exist. 57% of the people attending Week 4 of the Lawrence & Schiller Social Media Boot Camp webinar series say they consider etiquette every time  the post online.  The remaining 43% think about it occasionally.

What are the behaviors to avoid? What things must you do? And what workplace considerations should you take into account? Click on the player below to view the recorded archive of “Social Media Dos and Don’ts”. Or scroll down for a brief recap along with poll results collected during this webinar.

Social Media Don’ts

• Social Media isn’t show & tell. Don’t use it to brag about, or worse yet, exaggerate your experiences and accomplishments.
• Don’t be pushy. No one wants to be spammed or read a post stuffed with keyword phrases or follow as your status is updated every five minutes or be invited to every Facebook group under the sun.
• Don’t be a headcase. Social media can be a place to vent (in moderation) but it isn’t therapy. Not a good place to complain about your boss or swear how much you hate your job.
• Don’t be sinister. Don’t try to hide behind someone else identity and be careful with the party pictures.  Snapshots uploaded after you’ve had too many shots will come back to haunt you.
• Don’t be offensive. “Funny” is subjective. Your sense of humor may not translate well online. Don’t cross the line into offensive. When in doubt, don’t do it.

Social Media Dos

• Do showcase your personality. This is what makes you interesting and fun to follow. Remember there is a difference between showing your personality and giving out too much personal information.
• Do consider limiting the number of groups you join. If you can’t keep up with all of them, it may be time to scale back.
• Do manage your tools. Take advantage of the applications which connect your blog or tweets to Facebook… IF your audiences are similar and the message is appropriate for all destinations. Learn more about Connecting the Dots in week 7 of our webinar series.

Workplace Considerations

• There is no privacy. Especially if you’re using a workplace computer.
• You represent your company online even if you’re posting on your personal account.
• If you work for a publically traded company, your tweets and blog pots can fall under SEC jurisdiction.
• The FTC is proposing guidelines for online marketing.

Bottomline, if you wouldn’t say it in person to your boss, you probably shouldn’t say it online.

Admittedly, we first have to ensure there is dialogue. If you participated in the third part of the L&S Social Media Boot Camp, then you know that we experienced a couple minor technical difficulties – but luckily @markmorgan was able to join the conversation for questions and answers at the end.  Thanks to @courtneylotzer who continued through like a champ and our participants who stayed with us during the bump and if you missed all the excitement, you can watch the updated version of the webinar here or use Twitter Search and query for #TheExtraMile.

Here’s a brief overview for those who missed Tuesday’s webinar.

Where to Start?  Listen. There are numerous tools and online resources to measure and listen to all sorts of conversations online. To start listening, to help filter all the noise, we suggested a few free tools that we find valuable.

• Trendrr
• Quarkbase
• SocialMention
• Technorati Search
• Google Alerts

These are all great tools for providing a snapshot of what people are saying in the online space. Trendrr is probably the most comprehensive (look beyond your initial confusion, just stick with it for awhileJ), Google the easiest and others are fun to play around with if your geeky like our team is!

Lawrence and Schiller uses these tools in addition to our subscription based tool, Radian6. As a company we looked at many different options for our social media monitoring tool of choice.  We debated between Radian6 and Sentiment Metrics. We liked Sentiment Metrics because it automatically assigned sentiment to each post. After researching it further, we came to find out that statistically, the sentiment metric was only correct up to 40% of time, so we chose Radian6 because of its ease of use and functionality.

With the Radian6 measurement platform, you can find your brand on millions of blog posts, videos, reviews in forums, sharing of photos, twitter updates. It is real time monitoring of mentions about your company, product, issues and competitors, and has the ability to quickly find the most important relevant conversations.

Free tools are great for initial competitive review, building broad insights of topics from a general audience and checking your “gut” instincts.  We prefer to use an in-depth tool such as Radian6 for trend analysis and quantifiable ROI measurement.

I’ve listened. Now what? Define your goal, then the tool. We can’t say it enough. Social media should always start with understanding, and agreement, of what you are trying to accomplish with your overall marketing and/or communication efforts.  Measurement of social media is the same. Understanding your goal is the key to defining and selecting an accurate metric for ROI.

And finally, start engaging online and offline (use traditional marketing to promote your online efforts). If you don’t engage on behalf of your company, someone else will. If there is a void someone will step up and fill this role when there is a need for it.

Deserved or not deserved a single negative review or mention can taint a brand for a long time. It’s important to take a more proactive role in protecting your brand before it’s too late. You have the tools, now you can start monitoring the digital space for mentions of your brand, either positive or negative, and it’s the best way you can actually cultivate relationships, too.

Would you be surprised that 40% of marketing professionals don’t use a formalized marketing communications plan? Maybe not…especially if you’re one of them.

When you don’t know where your brand is heading, it doesn’t matter which way you go. But when you have a defined objective, you want the most effective path there. That’s why marcom plans are such a valuable asset.

Personally, I like to think of them in terms of news.

News tells the stories of the day, and in the same sense, your marcom plan is how you’ll tell the story of your brand. It identifies the 5 W’s of your marketing strategy: the who (target audience), what (branding and creative), when and where (media planning) and why (research and overall strategy). But unlike news that’s printed and quickly becomes history, your marcom plan is a living document, adapting to the needs of your brand and the factors in flux around it.

Today’s newest plans are even more flexible. They’re measurable in real-time, so marketers can make adjustments and see results immediately.

Think about it. Without a dashboard in your car, you’d never know how quickly you’re approaching your target destination or how much fuel you have to get there. It’s the same with marketing. Without dashboards, you don’t really know where you’re going and how quickly you’re getting there…if at all.

At L&S, we’re actually measuring ROI as it relates to marcom plans through real-time dashboards.

This set of metrics can be defined by you and is displayed on an online “blackboard” where you can quickly evaluate the success of a marketing plan or campaign.

What they measure is up to you. But most dashboards include:

- Digital inputs, like web visitors, referrals or quality metrics

- Traditional and non-traditional media responses such as impressions, click-throughs, call center volumes or other inquiry types

- Sales metrics communicating how customers move through the sales funnel (online or offline) including leads, sales, product types, geographic and timeline sales trends

- Other engagements consumers might have with a brand during a campaign

By evaluating these measures, you can track ROI from the beginning of a campaign to any defined point in time, pushing you to set initial campaign goals and look at immediate benchmarks.

With dashboards like these, you can gain a real-time picture of what’s happening with your brand. Without them, you might be simply driving in the dark.

South Dakota Tourism’s “All Aboard South Dakota” campaign was honored as a finalist at the Minnesota Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Awards on March 27. The awards banquet attracted over 300 communications professionals from large-scale agencies, corporations and non-profit organizations.

Selected as a finalist in the Integrated Communications Services category, the “All Aboard South Dakota” campaign stood next to work from global organizations like Doremus (Omnicom Group), Fleishman-Hillard and Carmichael Lynch.

“All Aboard South Dakota” commercials, print ads, web banners and emails connected visitors with travel deals exclusive to Minnesota residents. Trains on the Minneapolis Light Rail were wrapped in stunning South Dakota imagery, and six authentic cowboy re-enactors roamed downtown Minneapolis, talking to commuters, attending local events and handing out sheriff’s badges to kids. Eventually, the Light Rail train conductors were shouting, “All aboard…next stop: South Dakota” and taxi drivers were humming the state’s jingle as they drove past.

The train wrap garnered an estimated 30 million impressions, and the campaign earned 1.6 million impressions from media coverage by MN Public Radio and the MN Star Tribune. As a result, vacation inquiries from Minnesotans were up 22% during the peak tourism season.

Minnesota PRSA is the tenth-largest chapter of the PRSA, the world’s largest organization for public relations professionals with nearly 32,000 members. Since 1978, the Minnesota PRSA Awards have honored the best in the public relations field.