DISQUS

@Greg - While I'm not sure how much investment the Library of Congress has made, having double digit comments on any blog is a good indication that it is the on the right track. Looking at the social technographics ladder, the majority of the US are spectators of content, while few (some say about 1% of site traffic) actually comment.
With this in mind, as well as my experience with both large and small brands - it is unsafe to assume interaction based on the size of the US population or even the size of the consumer base. The "build it and they will come" theory is just as inaccurate as the "build it and they will interact" assumption.

Craig - While I agree that the blog may be promotional from time to time, I think the reason for its minute audience is all because of promotion. I had to dig to find this, it wasn't even promoted on the Clorox homepage.

Also, I tend to think that the content is headed in the right direction. Talking about anything but laundry wouldn't make sense for clorox, and I tend to think there are a lot of unanswered questions about how to take particular stains out (if you'll notice the answers aren't always bleach).... At least, I'm a new wife so learning how to get car grease out of a shirt is of interest to me all of a sudden.

Good social media marketing should be on brand, but it should overall provide value to the end consumer. This isn't "cheerleading" to any extent, the point is to take a look and learn how companies are using social media.

To make this conversation more interesting, I'd love to hear your ideas for how you'd take this execution to the next level, or what ideas Clorox should have considered. If you've ever worked with big brands, you'll know that sometimes execution can be a bit off, but is something to work towards (they have to start somewhere).

Look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Lisa Braziel from Ignite's last blog post..As E-Mail Open Rates Plunge, Social Media Marketing Makes Even More Sense

@ Ari - I think there are some efforts within social media that you may consider "pushed content", but I don't consider the Laundry Scavenger Hunt in the same way - since it provides users with a fun experience, with no sales push involved. Sure it has a clorox logo, but it is a fun game for Cafemom users.

On the other hand, I do see a need for Clorox to engage with their customers on a closer level. The blog attempts this, but it has barriers to entry (you have to submit a question via email, and then it is hand selected). A closer look at the group on cafemom, which is managed by CafeMom and it seems evident that they just haven't invested the time and resources into this type of approach. One possible reason for this is that the budget is currently owned by the marketing department, who may not be able to cross efforts with customer service. To me, it appears that Clorox needs a little help from Ignite :-)

Shailesh - Thanks for your comments. Unfortunately, I think there is a difference between social media marketing and traditional marketing, and that difference also includes metrics.

If you measured the success of this by traditional metrics, it is easy to come to the conclusion that there may not be a measurable correlation with offline sales. While I agree there is an opportunity for Clorox to connect the dots (connecting this online widget with an offline reward like coupons), customers are still interacting with it on a very large scale on Cafemom. This to me, shows that Clorox used this to give back to the community, and in turn build its brand value. It's a soft sell, but this can be measured in the number and type and frequency of interactions with the widget, downloads, and the involvement members have with the associated group.

I wish I had numbers to give, but if I did I'm afraid this would devalue the types of conversations and interactions customers are now having with this brand. I agree that numbers should be used to show value (after all, we have clients!) , but I do feel as if success in social media is even more apparent through the qualitative data we see in user participation.

@ Shailesh - I think it is more about the type of content on the venue itself. I think it is awesome they made the effort, but it seems they have tried similar approaches each time. What I find more appalling is the expense of this branded You Tube channel versus the amount of traffic it receives.

@ Shane - After reading your comment I did more investigating and did find that they have an Animal Planet podcast too! Here is the link: http://www.discovery.com/radio/podcasts.html

@ Amanda, Thanks! We are putting the finishing touches on it right now, but when we have the finished copy we'll need to trade!

@ Brandon - Thanks for your sharing your thoughts, I think you hit the nail on the head and drove the point home.

@ Debbie - Good to see you are putting social media marketing to work, and taking a good look at yourself beforehand :-)

Whew ! I got a little behind on my responses I've been meaning to post :-) Thanks for all of your comments!

I like what you said about the hesitation for companies to move into social media, due to do the risks involved. At this point, many companies used to seeing measurable ROI from traditional advertising. With a portion of these budgets being used for social media, many companies are only willing to jump in if social media can offer the same return.

What I think will happen is that the future buzz within social media will be focused primarily on measurement, as the demand increases for it. There are currently tools out there that try to measure the effect of social media, but few that pull all aspects of measurement (both qualitative and quantitative) together.

Great post. As a social media marketer, this is a question in which clients aren't ready to hear the real answers for - and that is: measurement is going to include qualitative, and quantitative is still evolving.

I hope marketers read this post and start to form social media campaigns with this in mind.

@ Deb - Often times we have experienced this. Often times we will draw a comparison of social media marketing compensation with traditional PR compensation. The two are similiar: while most of PR is free, what you pay for is time and expertise.

Another word of advice is to stick to your pricing. At this point, many companies don't fully understand the amount of time social media marketing requires until either they try it for themselves or increase in understanding. Resist the temptation to undervalue your services to try to win business : this will only perpetuate the misconception.

@Jeff. Your comment had me rolling with laughter. Now if you really become a millionaire in 6 months, I'll be rolling in my grave :-)

@ Pat - Thanks for pointing this out! Now it goes to the right place :-)

Dominic,

Thanks for your feedback. It is interesting that you point out that this process isn't any different from normal strategic marketing process - because my intention wasn't to differentiate the two but to shed light on how a marketer can apply these tactics within social media.

Unfortunately, social media marketing is often looked at as an "experiment" rather than a strategic communication approach - and this applies to budgeting as well. Instead of allocating funds according to specific objectives, many companies set aside social media budgets based on the "leftovers" that exist from traditional marketing budgets.

-Lisa

@ Howard - I'll be at TIMA, so I'll see you there!

It will be a full day of social media :-)

Can't wait to see everyone there...

@Kin Lane - As you can imagine this depends entirely on the client and can vary drastically by project. Most clients who are relatively new to this space or have a product that has legal restrictions for their corporate communications, tend to be more heavily involved.

Overall, we typically require more upfront involvement from a client , as this is the time where we are doing intensive amounts of research and brainstorming to make sure that the campaign is on target and on strategy.

@ Martin - Thanks for sharing some of your thoughts. I hope you'll continue to share your experiences at Martin Bowling. In this space there is definitely a unique working relationship with every client :-)

@ DJ (not really sure if your name is DJ or those are just your initials, so let me know what to call you....)

My twitter is lisamcneill - look forward to connecting...

-Lisa

@ DJ and Robin - Thanks for reading and responding. It's great to hear feedback from those with backgrounds in SEO, who can also see the value in targeting the right audience

as you can see, I couldn't help but to visit both of your sites :-)

Thanks for all of my new Twitter friends!

On a side note, I hope you'll ride your bike over here soon :-)

Thanks Shana. Can't wait to read it- I love all the stuff that you do!

-Lisa

Thanks for your input Teri. Adding to my list right now.....

@Mike - Perhaps you misread my comment - while my tone may have been less strong (because I had already made my points) - I never stated that they had it together. In both, I am still saying that while a blog is a good idea, they still have a LONG way to go.

Irregardless I think that you will find that most companies right now don't have it all together. While we need to shout at them for it, we also need to guide them with meaningful, actionable steps. At least, that is the business we are in.

@ Glen - Well we we certainly will keep you in mind. Just getting the word out so when we are ready we can expand..... Keep in touch!

Andy-

Thanks for your response.

I'm curious to these seminars that you are going to have - are you planning on opening these phone/web seminars to outside non-members? Also - how are these vendors/experts selected? Are they paid sponsorships or are they selected by you and your team? I'm just curious.....

As far as the blog goes, I was thinking that perhaps your site could pull in feeds from your member's blogs, or at least provide links to them. I think it would be beneficial to at least have those member blogs promoted if you weren't going to have a blog of your own. Just an idea.

Thanks for reaching out.

-Lisa

@jason Thanks for your response. Just wanted to let you know that your "Mustaches for Kids" campaign is ingenius and the release for it had me rolling. Let me know if you are on Twitter, I'd like to keep in touch.