Hello Ladies.

OK, me typing it is not the same as the Old Spice Guy saying it, but those two words have worked their way into our vocabulary quickly.

A lot of us in the viral marketing world are struck with Old Spice Guy envy right now. And I don't mean just over his abs.

Some are calling the campaign the most successful viral campaign ever. Why? Well in just a few short weeks the campaign can claim

• Nearly 90,000 followers on Twitter, including a host of celebrities.
• 100 million views and 100,000 subscribers on YouTube
• 666,000 fans on Facebook

A great campaign? By the above measures, absolutely.

Then today, news breaks that Old Spice sales have dropped 7% since the campaign started and critics are out in force talking about how viral marketing doesn't equate to sales.

Having worked with more than 100 clients over the last 4 years, we've learned what the first question, last and middle question should be when sitting down with a client:

What is the goal of this campaign?

Initially most companies will tell you that it's all about revenue, they need to show an ROI. We love to hear that, and as an agency, we love to focus on that, but allow me to play devil's advocate:

• Sometimes driving ROI may mean messaging is inconsistent with your brand. If we say you sell "cheap laptops" we can sell a lot of laptops. But that phrase may make your skin crawl. It may drive qualified visitors via search, it may convert incredibly well from your ads, it may bring in hundreds or thousands of buyers via social media.  If your goal is to sell stuff, there will be some aspects of your brand you will have to let go.
• Understand the value of keeping something cool out of the hands of competitors. Is some marketing manager at Dove or Dial or Lever getting screamed at right now for NOT coming up with the Old Spice Guy campaign? You bet. About a year ago we presented a status update on a viral marketing program. I went on and on about the site's activity, membership growth and media attention. At the end, the VP of Marketing looked at me and said, "That's all great, but the biggest value of this campaign is that our competitor DOESN'T have it."
• ROI isn't always the sexy stuff. There have been times when a client has insisted that ROI is all that matters in a campaign. We do the research and identify where busy mom's in Chicago gather, we determine their top health concerns, we put together a program to reach them. We build the projections demonstrating an ROI of 30% when we reach the top influencers with a sampling program. The client looks at the plan and says, "We were thinking more Twitter." The fact is, the highest ROI campaigns may not use Twitter, Facebook or videos of monkeys.

Does this mean that ROI campaigns can't be true to your brand and sexy? Of course not. But my best advice is to have clear goals in order before you start a campaign. If the Old Spice folks defined upfront that they wanted a campaign to increase the online buzz around Old Spice by 100x, gain thousands of media pickups, build a network of fans and advocates and reach a new audience with its product, while being absolutely hilarious and immensely entertaining, this program was an overwhelming success. If the goal was to increase sales by 10%, the program failed.  Having the goals defined upfront keeps all stakeholders on the same page and allows for a very clear call on the success of a campaign.

Now look back at me.

A few weeks ago at a conference, someone told me he was learning to play guitar by using search. I asked what search engine he was using and he replied, "Every day I go to YouTube and search for a lesson on a new song and learn to play that song."

YouTube? A search engine? You bet. In fact, more searches are conducted every day on YouTube than are conducted on Yahoo! or MSN. So yes, YouTube is a search engine, and a really important one.

Here's another discussion we've had before:

Us: "This customer made a great YouTube video about your product. It has had 20,000 views. It sent 5,000 visitors to your website and drove $35,000 in sales."

Client: "Yes, but our logo was the wrong color blue in video."

And while we're all getting used to letting go over our brand a little when it comes to content consumers are producing, it gets really hard when the social media content you produce internally is forced to break with your own brand guidelines.

You're asking yourself, "Why would I ever break with my own brand guidelines? Here is why:

1. Consumers don't care about your marketing meetings. Maybe you sell integrated electronic study aids. You absolutely don't sell "cheap online text books." Guess what? No student on Twitter, Facebook or any other social network is ever going to search for "integrated electronic study aids." But I bet a lot of them are looking for "cheap online textbooks."
2. Not only are more of us using social media as search engines, Google is showing search results based on your social media connections. Stay with me. You and I are connected on LinkedIn. You search Google for "Ohio search engine optimization agency." If I'm doing a good job in all my social media activity, Google will say to itself "Google (that's what it goes by back home), this person is connected to Bill Balderaz. Bill uses the keyword "Ohio search engine optimization agency" frequently on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Then Bill links to www.webbedmarketing.com. This searcher just searched on "Ohio search engine optimization agency." Therefore, I'm going to rank the website www.webbedmarketing.com very high for this person. A side note? From a branding perspective, I would never call Webbed Marketing  an "Ohio search engine optimization agency." Our clients are all across the US and we execute integrated online marketing strategies. But guess what? No one searches "nationally recognized integrated online marketing strategy agency." So, I let my pride go. Let the branding go. And focus on driving business.
3. Your very best customers come to your site...maybe once a month? Really, is there a reason to come more often? Guess what? They spend about 14 minutes on Facebook every day. If you're in their news stream talking about the things they care about, they will find you. If you're giving your corporate blah blah over Facebook you'll never make the connections.

You may have a patent on a cutting edge nutritional supplement that promotes holistic wellness for young adults. You may cringe when I say, "Oh, you sell children's vitamins?" You have a laundry list as long as your arm as to why your product is absolutely not a children's vitamin. You refuse to put the term "children's vitamins" anywhere on your social media sites because it fundamentally goes against your brand.

And I would argue that you need to talk like your buyers talk, even if your ego says that you're so much better than what they call you.

Am I saying that Tweets should be as impersonal as title tags? No. But don't write in your Twitter bio that you offer lifestyle communities for young professionals, say that you build condos. Don't write a blog post saying you offer a unique health centered environment for female executives, say that you run a gym for busy women. Don't have your LinkedIn profile say that you're a strategic leader in go-to-market best of breed solutions because that's just stupid.

Twitter has how many users? Facebook is used by how many businesses? LinkedIn ranks where in terms of social media networks? Catch all new updated stats and information on social media tomorrow at 2 pm EST. Register for our free social media webinar.

Never start a blog post with "sorry it's been a while since I blogged" and never Tweet "what should I Tweet about?" We need to save our electrons.

When we talk with clients about Twitter they often ask us "What do I have to Tweet about? We market OSHA training." This is especially odd if the client doesn't actually offer OSHA training.

Our rule is this... if your company, products or services are of interest to anyone. And if you search Twitter and find those anyones are some of Twitter's 100 million uses, then you have something to Tweet about.

For example:

1. Join the conversation. Just make sure to avoid cliches like "join the conversation". Somebody is out there right now talking about OSHA training. Comment back to what is out there. Agree. Disagree. Retweet things that are meaningful. Build on active discussions.
2. Tweet about what every one is talking about. Discuss how oil companies do OSHA training. Talk about BP's safety and training records. Make sure to use a hashtag so your Tweets can be found. Looking for the most popular topics? Try Trending Topics or TweetStats.
3. Tweet about what no one is talking about it. If you can be the first to break news the retweets are all yours. Got a scoop on an industry event? Hearing a big announcement at a conference? Have a truly innovative way to do something that your followers care about? Did you do something very funny, outrageous, edgy or useful? Break news on Twitter first, chances are it's your best communication channel to spread the word fast.

While keyword ranking isn't dead, it's not feeling well.

We've said for years that keyword ranking doesn't really matter; generating more sales, leads, voters, donors or members from search engines is what matters.

Now we've reached the point where not only do rankings not matter, they can't be tracked. If you and I do the same search right now, we'll get different results.

On different interfaces.

With different tabs.

In fact, I'm seeing so many options on Google, there is no longer a "normal" Google interface. For example, today I search Google on the term "Branding" and I got the "Wonder Wheel." In geek speak, the Wonder Wheel looks like a way Google is tying terms to related searches based on common search patterns, use of words close to each other on web pages and other patterns. It's what the SEO folks refer to as semantic association.  

Then I get results for people in my social circle and see some of my pals like Jason Mlicki and Lara Kretler talking about branding.

Now look how smart Google is. It knows Jason Mlicki and I are connected via Twitter. And then, rather than linking me to Jason's Twitter profile, Google is smart enough to link me to Jason's website.  

Or maybe I want sites about Chinese restaurants that are physically close to me. I click the "nearby" link.

Or a timeline about the history of Home Depot.

Or sites with images, or shopping, or pages I've never visted. All these options and features elevate the discussion around search engine optimization and should get us all focused on the real goal: "Am I generated more business from Google?" and away from "Where do I rank on Google?" 

I really don’t mind that Facebook knows a lot about me. I don’t mind that Facebook uses this information to serve me ads. In fact, I like it.

Online advertising has come a long way. Just a year ago, we were punching the monkey to win an iPod or clicking here to refinance my home. That is, with a few exceptions, advertising was really, really bad.

Now a days, ads are really relevant. Today on Facebook I get two ads… one about deals in Columbus (I live here in Columbus) and one about Website Magazine, a geeky SEO/online marketing magazine that I really like. And targeting by job title and geography is just the 101 stuff. When I go to LinkedIn, I see an ad for a business credit card (I happen to be looking for one) and a web conferencing solution (we do about 8-10 web conferences a week here at WM).  Are these ads better than punching a monkey or home refinancing? You bet.

And while we all know that Google is the largest search engine in the US, not everyone knows that a whole lot of the ads you see on sites you visit every day, from the Wall Street Journal to your neighbor’s blog, are served by Google. Have you ever almost booked a trip to Mexico and suddenly started seeing ads for discounts on trips to Mexico, even though you were on a site about used cars? You say to yourself "Hmm.. what a coincidence."

That’s the magic of Google. While Google doesn’t give away its secrets, consider this- let’s say you use Google Talk, Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Docs. Going through these tools, a person, or a robot, could learn a whole lot about you….and serve up really targeted ads.

And yes, I know, you never click on ads; you also always leave Vegas with more money than you showed up with. But, for the rest of us, here are three reasons why I think targeting ads through the use of information consumers volunteer on social media is a good thing:

1. It’s good for consumers. If I love 80s music (and I do), I would love offers and deals about concerts, t-shirts and memorabilia related to the 80s. If I’m a CTO, sure, give me a white paper on cloud computing. If I’m  a mom with a newborn at home, I’ll take all the diaper coupons you can offer. These ads are a whole lot more relevant to me and my life than most billboards I pass on the highway.

2. It’s good for publishers. Hey, I don’t want to run crappy ads on my site. And if I’m running ads, I probably only make money when someone clicks an add. So please, don’t send me “punch the monkey” ads to run on my site. And when ads are highly targeted, I can charge a premium.

3. It’s good for advertisers. If I’m selling concert tickets, or server virtualization, or diapers, I love that my messages are reaching wannabe rockers in Columbus, or CTOs in Chicago, or working moms in Tallahassee. And I’m willing to pay to reach that exact audience. I don’t care about millions of impressions, I care about the right impression to the right person.

I really don’t mind that Facebook knows a lot about me. I don’t mind that Facebook uses this information to serve me ads. In fact, I like it.

Online advertising has come a long way. Just a year ago, we were punching the monkey to win an iPod or clicking here to refinance my home. That is, with a few exceptions, advertising was really, really bad.

Now a days, ads are really relevant. Today on Facebook I get two ads… one about deals in Columbus (I live here in Columbus) and one about Website Magazine, a geeky SEO/online marketing magazine that I really like. And targeting by job title and geography is just the 101 stuff. When I go to LinkedIn, I see an ad for a business credit card (I happen to be looking for one) and a web conferencing solution (we do about 8-10 web conferences a week here at WM).  Are these ads better than punching a monkey or home refinancing? You bet.

And while we all know that Google is the largest search engine in the US, not everyone knows that a whole lot of the ads you see on sites you visit every day, from the Wall Street Journal to your neighbor’s blog, are served by Google. Have you ever almost booked a trip to Mexico and suddenly started seeing ads for discounts on trips to Mexico, even though you were on a site about used cars? You say to yourself "Hmm.. what a coincidence."

That’s the magic of Google. While Google doesn’t give away its secrets, consider this- let’s say you use Google Talk, Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Docs. Going through these tools, a person, or a robot, could learn a whole lot about you….and serve up really targeted ads.

And yes, I know, you never click on ads; you also always leave Vegas with more money than you showed up with. But, for the rest of us, here are three reasons why I think targeting ads through the use of information consumers volunteer on social media is a good thing:

1. It’s good for consumers. If I love 80s music (and I do), I would love offers and deals about concerts, t-shirts and memorabilia related to the 80s. If I’m a CTO, sure, give me a white paper on cloud computing. If I’m  a mom with a newborn at home, I’ll take all the diaper coupons you can offer. These ads are a whole lot more relevant to me and my life than most billboards I pass on the highway.

2. It’s good for publishers. Hey, I don’t want to run crappy ads on my site. And if I’m running ads, I probably only make money when someone clicks an add. So please, don’t send me “punch the monkey” ads to run on my site. And when ads are highly targeted, I can charge a premium.

3. It’s good for advertisers. If I’m selling concert tickets, or server virtualization, or diapers, I love that my messages are reaching wannabe rockers in Columbus, or CTOs in Chicago, or working moms in Tallahassee. And I’m willing to pay to reach that exact audience. I don’t care about millions of impressions, I care about the right impression to the right person.

I really don’t mind that Facebook knows a lot about me. I don’t mind that Facebook uses this information to serve me ads. In fact, I like it.

Online advertising has come a long way. Just a year ago, we were punching the monkey to win an iPod or clicking here to refinance my home. That is, with a few exceptions, advertising was really, really bad.

Now a days, ads are really relevant. Today on Facebook I get two ads… one about deals in Columbus (I live here in Columbus) and one about Website Magazine, a geeky SEO/online marketing magazine that I really like. And targeting by job title and geography is just the 101 stuff. When I go to LinkedIn, I see an ad for a business credit card (I happen to be looking for one) and a web conferencing solution (we do about 8-10 web conferences a week here at WM).  Are these ads better than punching a monkey or home refinancing? You bet.

And while we all know that Google is the largest search engine in the US, not everyone knows that a whole lot of the ads you see on sites you visit every day, from the Wall Street Journal to your neighbor’s blog, are served by Google. Have you ever almost booked a trip to Mexico and suddenly started seeing ads for discounts on trips to Mexico, even though you were on a site about used cars? You say to yourself "Hmm.. what a coincidence."

That’s the magic of Google. While Google doesn’t give away its secrets, consider this- let’s say you use Google Talk, Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Docs. Going through these tools, a person, or a robot, could learn a whole lot about you….and serve up really targeted ads.

And yes, I know, you never click on ads; you also always leave Vegas with more money than you showed up with. But, for the rest of us, here are three reasons why I think targeting ads through the use of information consumers volunteer on social media is a good thing:

1. It’s good for consumers. If I love 80s music (and I do), I would love offers and deals about concerts, t-shirts and memorabilia related to the 80s. If I’m a CTO, sure, give me a white paper on cloud computing. If I’m  a mom with a newborn at home, I’ll take all the diaper coupons you can offer. These ads are a whole lot more relevant to me and my life than most billboards I pass on the highway.

2. It’s good for publishers. Hey, I don’t want to run crappy ads on my site. And if I’m running ads, I probably only make money when someone clicks an add. So please, don’t send me “punch the monkey” ads to run on my site. And when ads are highly targeted, I can charge a premium.

3. It’s good for advertisers. If I’m selling concert tickets, or server virtualization, or diapers, I love that my messages are reaching wannabe rockers in Columbus, or CTOs in Chicago, or working moms in Tallahassee. And I’m willing to pay to reach that exact audience. I don’t care about millions of impressions, I care about the right impression to the right person.

Back in journalism school, I got to the point in the program where I had to choose between "traditional" journalism and public relations. The traditional side had a lot of great arguments. They were the watchdogs of society. They had a long history of upholding the public interest. They were the voice of those with no voice.

The public relations folks had a good argument too... they got to make up quotes.

Two years later, I graduated with my PR degree.

OK, that's a bit oversimplified. I truly do believe that public relations is a noble profession and that good practitioners help organizations communicate effectively. And every day public relations professionals write speeches, press releases and white papers in the voice of their clients and employers.

Can an executive, leader or senator be expected to write every release that is sent out on his behalf? Or every letter from the CEO? Or every internal communication or stockholder report? No.

Can that same executive, leader or senator be expected to be active in setting the tone of every piece of content that is produced in his name? Should he review and approve every word? Should he make sure that his beliefs truly align with every statement? Absolutely yes.

Today there is no shortage of social media consultants. Some came up through the ranks of public relations, others through technology, others from business, or design or marketing. As an industry, we disagree on a lot of things. On the top of that list is whether or not it is OK to have someone tweet, blog, or otherwise produce content on another person's behalf. Here at Webbed, we believe that it is in fact, just fine, as long as the person being represented is involved in setting the tone of the content, approves the content and believes in what is being said. Here is why:

1. Your home is really "your home." You probably didn't build it with your own hands. You may not fix the leaky pipes, and you probably didn't paint the pictures on the wall. But chances are, it still reflects who you are. You chose the carpet, you paid the plumber, you decided when the cabinets from the 1970s had to go. Your social media presence is no different. You are still you.
2. Being a really smart person doesn't always mean you are a great communicator. There are people in this world who are naturally great communicators. Then they go to school for 4 or 8 years to get even better. Then they work for a decade or two to hone their craft. My bet? These folks can take the thoughts and ideas of a great leader and help that leader communicate those ideas more effectively than the leader can by himself.
3. Smart leaders work with smart people. A CEO really, really cares about the finances of the company she leads. She cares more than the CFO, I promise. But she isn't the one working up the P&L statements. She also cares about the quality of products produced, but she isn't maintaining a list of product enhancements. She also isn't making cold calls, answering customer support calls or writing brand guidelines. But these things are all really, really important things that she cares about. Just like having a strong social media presence.

One last note, none of this is to say that a leader should not build his own social media presence. If the leader is a great communicator, dedicated to making social media work and eager to directly be part of the conversation, then by all means, that leader can and should manage his social media presence.

Amid the rash of celebrities, athletes and actors gaining publicity for drinking and Tweeting, Webbed Marketing would like to offer our guidance on the topic. Happy April Fool's Day.

Don't Drink and Tweet.