At 451 we regularly work with startups and so I’ve witnessed many of the most common startup mistakes first hand (we are often brought in to help with the clean up). Recently we met with a select number of finalists in the MassChallenge and I’m reminded how relevant these issues remain. I posted the question “What is the single biggest PR/marketing mistake startup companies most often make?” to the PR and start-up categories in LinkedIn, to get additional buy-in from peers, and the consensus on the #1 offense is…..

1. The ostrich effect – Most startups are so focused on developing their products/services that they ignore marketing completely. Here’s the problem: you’ve spent so much time with your head in the sand building out your offering that when you finally pop up for air and are ready to start marketing efforts you quickly find out your target demo isn’t as excited as you are. In fact, many times they ignore you completely. I’m not advocating spending a significant chunk of your seed money on marketing early on- that would be a mistake too. But like all things in life, balance and preparation are key. You can have the most brilliant, valuable product in the world, but if you don’t have a solid go-to-market strategy and messaging in place, no one will ever buy it because they either won’t care or won’t know about it. This leads nicely into the second biggest startup mistake…

2. Drunk on Kool-aid – We get it; you drink the company Kool-aid. And you should, nothing’s more attractive than a passionate CEO. However, the rest of the world didn’t spend the last three years in your mother’s basement or in the MIT labs growing to love your offering. The most successful startups have a multi-faceted, segmented, messaging strategy in place. Have you developed profiles for each of your customer types? You should. You need to identify the pain points for each unique buyer and customize your benefit message to address each individually. By doing this work early on, you’ll be set to easily craft a targeted media campaign down the road, when you are ready for PR.

The first two mistakes identified here are the most common, egregious, startup offenses. Following up these are: failing to find and exploit your niche, not maintaining brand consistency across media channels, targeting too many markets (hint: pick a vertical, demonstrate success and show it’s repeatable- investors will love you), over-promising to potential customers or press (product timing, availability, etc.), thinking you don’t need media training, and missing the opportunity to position yourself as an expert in a specific area of your business.

Are you a startup that’s made one of these mistakes? How did you recover? If you are attending WebInno27 in Cambridge, MA on Sept. 13th and would like to discuss this topic in person or have other PR questions, please reach out to me so we can met up there! @karynmartin You can read all of the LinkedIn contributor responses here http://linkd.in/b2KQkZ.

According to a Nielsen study released last week, social media and online games are now more popular than email.

The study found that Americans spend nearly a quarter (23 percent) of their time online posting comments, pictures and videos on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, making it the most popular online activity among Americans.

Nielsen found online gaming is the second most popular online activity, accounting for ten percent of online use, while e-mail ranks third at a little over eight percent.

As a 23 year old working at a social media marketing firm, I’m not surprised by these findings, but I’m sure many people are! Hopefully, these findings are a wake up call to corporations that are reluctant to get involved with social media. There is so much opportunity for businesses in every industry to connect with target audiences on social networking and online gaming sites as well as through email campaigns. Knowing who your audience is and from which outlets in particular members are consuming information, is the most important starting point. This is knowledge is key to building an effective and integrated social media strategy.

What do you think? Are these findings a wake-up call for businesses?

Nearly all businesses are using social media marketing in their marketing plans. Social media marketing is a hot topic that is increasingly popular. College grads are expected to understand every aspect of social media as they enter the workforce. The problem with this is that many colleges have not established social media courses designed to prepare students for marketing jobs. How are students expected to know the ins and outs of social media marketing, if they can’t take a course focused on the topic? Sure, we all know how to friend someone or tag pictures, but we can’t learn how to market businesses effectively through standard Facebook use. (And that goes for other social media outlets as well) Many colleges are starting to explore the same notion, and are beginning to develop a curriculum centered on social media. Colleges are now starting to realize that social media is not just a trend, and that there is real opportunity for students to learn and excel in future jobs, if they are equipped with an understanding of social media.

Respected business schools, including Harvard and Columbia, added courses in social media to their MBA curriculums. These courses are taught by leading social media experts in the field. This is a great start for social media education, but is it really enough? Without the proper knowledge in undergraduate studies, marketing and businesses students are missing out on an important area of marketing. A lack of social media marketing knowledge can be a huge issue for students entering the work force. I propose that students who are interested in a career in marketing should be required to take at least one social media class in their undergraduate studies; not only would this prepare students for the workplace, but it would help evolve the field.

What do you think? Is there enough social media in marketing programs? Are professors educated enough to teach the subject?

-Becky Greenwood

We have entered into an age where almost everyone depends on the Internet to support his or her daily needs. Whether it’s to look up directions to a new restaurant or to chat online with an old friend, we’re constantly using the Internet. Let’s face it; we’d be lost without the web. It’s interesting to think about life before the Internet, when there was only print, radio and television to keep us entertained and up-to-date with current events. But now, the Internet has altered our traditional habits and has even changed the means by which professionals and businesses are approaching new ways to enhance their marketing strategies.

Businesses are now more inclined to use the Internet to reach out to consumers because it provides various ways to establish valuable connections with people they would not have met otherwise. This instant link creates the potential to communicate freely with their intended market and clients of interest. Many have found social media marketing to be a viable source to use to advertise their efforts and gain the right clientele.

One of the many reasons why social media is such an effective medium of communication is that it isn’t overly expensive as compared to traditional forms of advertising. While it does takes a significant amount of time and patience to navigate your way through various social media sites, the effort put into establishing a strong social media presence is incomparable to how much it would take to advertise through other media forms.

Social networking has developed significantly over the years and websites such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other social media sites are still continuing to grow. Social media has exceptionally changed the way people interact amongst themselves and with their media. Millions of people are online managing their social media sites on a daily basis. This provides the perfect opportunity for advertisers to grab the attention of new consumers. Social media has left its mark and drastically changed advertising forever.

Do you agree? What do you think about the impact of social media on advertising?

- Elaine Nip

Nielsen ratings have been the industry standard for determining TV ratings for years, but in today’s powerful social media landscape, Nielsen ratings are becoming increasingly outdated.  Consumers are viewing TV online, and therefore, new measurements are being developed. SocialSenseTV is a measurement tool that monitors billions of interactions on blogs, social networking sites, discussion forums and other online sources to determine how much social media buzz TV shows are generating. Guess what TV show was number one on their recently released Top 20 List. LOST! Interestingly enough, LOST is only ranked in tenth place on the Nielsen ratings

Aside from the fact that I’m a huge LOST fan, this is exciting for a couple of other reasons. LOST’s high ranking on the SocialSenseTV Top 20 List is a testament to the power of social media and a sign that as the population ages and the average age of social media and internet use grows, new metrics such as SocialSenseTV will come to play an more prominent role in understanding how people interact with media. This understanding will most likely effect how TV show marketers spend their budgets in the future.

What do you think LOST’s ranking says about the power of social media? Will social media discussions about TV shows impact future social media marketing initiatives?

It works like this: A potential customer followed an ad from a paid Google search listing, but while on the page of that site, she decides not to commit to finalizing the conversion. She leaves the page and continues browsing within Google’s content network. Then, AdWords’ Remarketing kicks in and a similar ad for the same product/service pops up.

AdWords publishers who are running these ads are hoping that the ads will follow a potential consumer so much that user will change her mind and finalize an ad conversion.

The AdWords’ feature allows a publisher to embed a code into her website that triggers her AdWords ad to show related ads to a potential customer after leaving her site without converting, provided that the user goes on to visit another Google site.

What do you think of Google AdWords’ Remarketing? Will you use it?

Over the last 6-12 months, many organizations added a social media strategist or social media director to existing marketing departments. They actively executed social media activities with customers, fans and prospects. They tied actions directly to real business objectives, and many of their campaigns were very fruitful.

As many companies are now involved in social media, and with the economy showing signs of improvement, what happens when these social media directors decide they would like to explore other opportunities at other organizations? What happens when the organization’s activities are focused mainly around one individual who decides to leave? If the company does not have internal personnel (besides the person leaving) experienced in planning or executing specialized activities, is the company not putting itself at great risk?

I think as companies become more involved with social media they need to think about putting contingency plans in to place surrounding the loss of key personnel. At the very least they should have multiple people working on initiatives (internal and external) and they should answer clearly all “what ifs.”

I would be really interested to hear how you might have addressed or how you plan to address this topic at your companies. What planning have you already done?

-AJ Gerritson @ajgerritson

The Holiday season is underway and Thanksgiving will be here before some of us even had a chance to think too much about it. That’s never a good thing during the one time of the year that you should be ready to express how thankful you are for what you have (instead of complaining about what you don’t)!

Usually when you stop to think about these types of things you reflect upon the past year that was. For the team at 451 Marketing, and for everyone out there who energizes and inspires us by the work that they do and share on a daily basis, the past year has been consumed by the continued emergence and power of social media. In the past twelve months we have seen a dramatic increase in the growth and mainstream popularity of Twitter, witnessed countless examples of individuals, businesses and other organizations utilizing social tools for valuable purposes and we have all continued to reflect on how these tools and channels improve the way we communicate with each other both on-and-offline. In the coming year, we should only expect to see the social web evolve to the point where every communication that a brand (including ourselves) makes, becomes social.

With that being said, while last week the team at 451 compiled a list of the Top Social Media Strategists to watch for in 2010, we thought we would start the Thanksgiving celebrations and reflections a bit early and share with you some of the social media-related tools, benefits and trends that we are thankful continue to be a valuable part of our everyday personal and professional lives.

Without further ado, we’re thankful for:

• The intersection of social media and PR. As experienced communicators, we’re continually amazed by the way that social media so readily complements, and optimizes, a typical PR campaign. The ability to leverage social media to help us to identify and interact directly with our audience, without the traditional filter of the media, both inspires and challenges us on a daily basis.

• The ability to make our own “media.” Social media fosters and facilitates the creation of own content, whenever and wherever we want it. For our own personal benefit, or on behalf of our clients, we have the ability to tell stories, engage relevant audience members, influence and nurture a community and a following. We also now have so many tools at our disposal (e-mail campaigns, videos, podcasts, blogs, etc.) to help us create content that drives action and facilitates business. Traditional PR, advertising and marketing tactics are no longer the only means to an end. We have so many different channels to help us “get the word out” and be creative and have some fun while doing it.

• The incredible value of Twitter. By following individuals that motivate us to action through engaging conversations and/or the insightful news, tips and strategies that they share, we continue to sharpen our skills sets, build our networks and open our mind to new ways to look at things. Congruently, we are just as thankful to have Twitter available for own purposes. Twitter’s allowed us to systematically identify and interact with individuals in a positive way that builds our own credibility and trust, and eventually our influence (as well as that of our clients).

• The personalities that shape the social web. Yes, we let you in on our list of our favorite social media strategists last week (and enjoyed your helpful comments and additions), but we would be remiss not to mention our vigor for watching other folks out there that leverage social media to their, and our, advantage. We’re talking the scores of other voices out there, “Mommy Bloggers,” sports bloggers, foodie bloggers, political bloggers, etc. who capitalize on these new platforms to share views and insights (in a longer format than Twitter) that changes the way we receive information (and reflectively motivates us to act in kind and share our own thoughts). We’re talking about those “offline celebrities,” sports stars like Chad Ochocinco or music stars like MC Hammer, that utilize social tools to not only provide their fans with a glimpse into their lives, but also to interact with them and occasionally offer opportunities like all-access tickets. It’s the little things like Ochocinco’s active Twitter feed, including his pre-game tweets and photos, that have led to the creation of his popular iPhone application and a revitalization of his personal brand. People who probably never gave “85” any regard at all are now supporting him and rooting for his team. Results like that inspire our own social media campaign work.

• The ability to use the social web to help us make all kinds of decisions, as well as elicit feedback. Why purchase any new product without first searching through Twitter or related-blogs to get a sense of the product’s problems, benefits and issues? You don’t need to just rely on official third-party reviews or the experiences of your friends to help you make your decisions. You have access to a social web of opinions that can save you time and money. On the other side, individuals have the ability to build their own trust on certain topics or products to become relevant decision-making influencers; The go-to “super users” of the social web, if you will.

But even more importantly, we’re thankful to have the ability to access real-time feedback that can be incredibly helpful to our work and strategies. What WordPress themes do people like best? What do you think about LinkedIn-Twitter integration? What are your thoughts on the whole T-mobile situation? Either by surveying our own networks, or doing our own digging and listening, we’re able to receive real-time information that helps us to better navigate the complexities of social media tools and interactions.

• The value in sharing. Sometimes, even a lot of times, it’s not all about the content you create or the connections you establish. Sharing news, blog posts, videos and other insights can be so much more valuable to community building. By sharing the good stuff that in no way reflects upon your own work (or your company’s or your clients), your continuing to build trust, authenticity and the likelihood of reciprocal behavior. We learn the importance and benefits of sharing early in life, but we’re just starting to relearn its value for business and networking.

• Converting our online connections to offline friends. This may be the best part of it all. We enjoy learning and strategizing about how to utilize these tools and networks to deliver value to ourselves and our clients. That being said, at the end of the day, converting these genuine and authentic interactions into friendly relationships and real-life connections can be all the more valuable and long-lasting.

So what about social media are you most thankful for this holiday season? Let us know. We’re thankful to have you here to share your own thoughts with us.

-Jeff Benanto and the 451 Marketing team

Chris Abraham (@chrisabraham) is the President and COO of social media marketing firm, Abraham Harrison LLC. He focuses on how memetics and emergence affect culture. Abraham specializes in Web2.0 technologies including content syndication, online collaboration, blogging and consumer generated media. He also works as an internet analyst, web strategy consultant, and adviser to the industry’s leading firms.

David Armano (@armano) is a senior partner at Dachis Group. His personal blog, “Logic + Emotion,” was ranked by Advertising Age as one of the top media and marketing blogs. Armano’s previous work includes leading creative strategy for agencies such as Digitas and Critical Mass.

Josh Bernoff (@jbernoff) is the SVP of idea development at Forrester Research. While at Forrester, Bernoff created Technographics, a system that groups customers by their use of technology. He is the co-author of “Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies.” Bernoff also contributes to the Forrester blog, Advertising Age and Marketing News.

Rohit Bhargava (@rohitbhargava)is a founding member of the 360 Digital Influence group at Oglivy. He wrote a guide called, “Personality Not Included,” which details how to use personality to reinvent marketing strategies. He continues to write the “Influential Marketing” blog, ranked in the top 50 marketing blogs in the world by Advertising Age.

Toby Bloomberg (@tobydiva) is the founder of “Diva Marketing Blog,” a fun and exciting outlet focused on marketing and social media. Bloomberg serves on the board of Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association, and is on the advisory board for DivineCaroline, an online women’s community.

Edward Boches (@edwardboches) is one of the original partners of Mullen and the founder of the blog/online magazine, “The Next Great Generation.” Boches is currently the Chief Creative Officer and Chief Social Media Officer at Mullen.

Jason Breed (@jasonbreed) is the senior director of business development at Neighborhood America, a consulting agency that focuses on social media strategies in business. Breed leads social media and online community initiatives on a corporate, media and government level.

Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan) has been working with social media to build digital relationships for businesses, organizations and individuals for the past 10 years. He is currently President of New Marketing Labs, a new media marketing agency that hosts Inbound Marketing Summit conferences and Inbound Marketing Bootcamp educational events. He helps large and mid-sized companies improve their marketing, PR and business communications through the use of social software, community platforms, and other emerging web and mobile technologies. Brogan’s blog, “chrisbrogan.com,” is among the top ten of Advertising Age’s “Power150.”

Christopher Carfi(@ccarfi) is the co-founder of Cerado, Inc, which helps companies understand how to reach their customers with marketing and social media software. Carfi was also one of the first members of the RosettaNet Board of Directors. He regularly writes on his personal blog, “The Social Customer Manifesto.”

C. C. Chapman (@cc_chapman) is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Advance Guard, a media consultant group. He creates radical marketing programs using emerging technology and community platforms. In his podcast and blog, “Managing the Gray,” Chapman provides new media strategies and information on technology in simple terms.

Adam Cohen (@adamcohen) is a partner at the digital agency, Rosetta. He currently works as the leader of the Search, Online and Social Media unit at Rosetta. For the past couple years, Cohen has tackled topics such as interactive marketing and social media in his blog. His blog, “A Thousand Cuts,” also discusses how businesses leverage technology to drive and sustain value, and provides tips on team building.

Mack Collier (@mackcollier) is actively engaged with social media as a consultant, trainer, and speaker. His blog, “The Viral Garden,” highlights his position as an expert on social media as it continually has a monthly readership of 175,000.

Angela Connor (@communitygirl) is the Managing Editor of User-Generated Content at WRAL.com. Her job includes managing day-to-day content direction, long term planning strategies and driving user engagement. Connor is the author of the book “18 Rules of Community Engagement: A Guide for Building Relationships and Connecting with Customers Online.”

Todd Defren (@tdefren) currently works at SHIFT Communications. The company is a hybrid PR firm in Boston that works with clients such as Club Med, Virgin Mobile, Bing and Wells Fargo. Defren is a co-founder and Board Member of the Social Media Club and an Advisory Board Member for the SmartBrief on Social Media. He is credited for creating social media releases and social media newsrooms, and his blog, “PR-Squared,” is a regular in the top 20 of Advertising Age’s “Power150.” Defren is also a “40 Under 40” honoree, a Fellow of the Society for New Communications Research and a frequent speaker on the topic of social media.

Dave Evans (@evansdave) is the co-founder of a strategic marketing service and specialized software application that supports social business strategy called Digital Voodoo. He is also the co-founder of HearThis.com, a podcast service firm focused on social media and marketing. Evans is the author of “Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day,” which defines guidelines for using and measuring social media as part of an integrated marketing plan.

Sally Falkow (@sallyfalkow) created the POWER branding formula, and is an accredited member of the Public Relations Society of America. Falkow is the author of the books “Your Brand of Expansion – How You Can Use PR Strategies to Expand Your Business,” and “WebSense: Effective Website Marketing Strategies.”

Jason Falls (@jasonfalls) gained his experience as a new media specialist by leading a national advertising agency’s interactive and social media efforts and working with various Fortune 100 brands. He is a social media strategist and an independent consultant in the social media industry. He is the Co-founder and President of Social Media Club Louisville, and currently serves an advisory role for Network Solutions, a leading domain name, web hosting and online marketing company.

AJ Gerritson (@ajgerritson) is a founding Partner at 451 Marketing (full disclosure, we work for AJ, but we truly believe he belongs on this list) and has been in the interactive strategy space for 12 years. In addition to overseeing the sales and marketing team at 451, AJ is a frequent speaker on the national circuit for social media marketing, social media strategy development, online lead generation, and search marketing. We expect him to lead 451 to big things in 2010!

Nathan Gilliatt (@gilliatt) is a Principal at Social Target, a consulting group focused on social media practices. Gilliatt is the author of the “Guide to Social Media Analysis,” a how-to on the tools and importance of listening to social media. Gilliatt also created the business blog, “The Net-Savvy Executive,” as a means for companies to explore new media strategies.

Paul Gillin (@pgillin) is a Research Fellow and a member of the advisory board of the Society for New Communications Research, as well as a co-chair of the social media cluster for the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council. He is the author of “The New Influencers,” and regularly writes for BtoB Magazine and Ziff-Davis Enterprise. Gillin is currently in the process of writing his new book, “Secrets of Social Media Marketing.”

Seth Godin (@sethgodins) is the CEO and creator of Yoyodyne, a leader in interactive direct marketing. Along with being an accomplished writer and the author of ten bestselling marketing books, Godin is a successful public speaker. He was ranked as one of the “21 Speakers of the Next Century” by Successful Meetings. Godin is a contributing editor for Fast Company Magazine, and created his own marketing blog, “sethgodin.com.”

Phil Gomes (@philgomes) is the SVP at Edelman Digital, where he advises on social media. He is also the Senior Advisor at the Society for New Communications Research. Gomes is considered the first person in the PR field to start a blog.

Beth Harte (@bethharte) is the Community Manager for MarketingProfs. She not only maintains a blog of her own called, “The Harte of Marketing,” but also she regularly contributes to Marketing Prof’s “Daily Fix.”

John Hingley (@crushdirect) is the founder of Andiamo Systems, a brand and media measurement company. He is also the CEO and founder of Crush Direct, a marketing and advertising agency for both B2B and consumer related services.

Jackie Huba (@jackiehuba) is the co-founder of the Society for Word of Mouth, which encourages members to embrace the power of word-of-mouth in business.  She is the co-author of the books “Citizen Marketers: When People Are The Message,” and “Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become A Volunteer Sales Force.” The blog, “Church of the Customer,” which Huba co-writes, is one of the world’s most popular business blogs.

Tom Humbarger (@tomhumbarger) is a social media and community strategy consultant. He gained his expertise in marketing, by working as the community manager for Catalyze Community, a B2B group for professionals who design software applications and websites. Humbarger has his own blog, “Social Media Musings By Tom Humbarger,” which he updates regularly.

Shel Israel (@shelisrael) is a senior fellow of The Society for New Media Research, and is on the advisory board of the Social Media Club. He is the author of “Twitterville, How Businesses Can Thrive in the New Global Neighborhoods,” and the co-author of “Naked Conversations- How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers.” Israel also started the consulting firm SIPR, which he ran for several years.

Mitch Joel (@mitchjoel)is President of Twist Image, an award-winning Digital Marketing and Communications agency. His book, “Six Pixels of Separation,” named after his successful blog and podcast, is a business and marketing bestseller. He is also a blogger, podcaster, passionate entrepreneur, and speaker on digital marketing and personal branding.  In 2006, he was named one of the most influential authorities on blog marketing in the world. In 2008, Mitch was named “Canada’s Most Influential Male in Social Media,” one of the top 100 online marketers in the world and a “Top 40 Under 40.”

Max Kalehoff (@maxkalehoff) is currently the Vice President of Marketing at Clickable. He is credited for starting the blog, “Attention Max,” and writes a weekly column in MediaPost. Kalehoff gained his marketing experience at Neilson BuzzMetrics and comScore Media Matrix.

Christina Kerley (@ckepiphany) is the Founder of CK Epiphany. She regularly contributes to MarketingProfs, an outlet that targets 270,000 marketers and professionals. Kerley created the first-ever marketing book club and her blog, “ck-blog.com,” ranks in Advertising Age’s “Power150” as well as in Viral Garden’s “Top 25.”

Peter Kim (@peterkim) is the Managing Director of the North America division of Dachis Group, a social technologies firm. Kim previously worked as an analyst at Forrester Research, where he won an award for his work on social technologies and marketing plans.

JD Lasica (@jdlasica) is president of SocialMedia.biz, and the co-founder of Ourmedia.org. He is also a member of the Intel Insiders social media advisory group, and a board member of the Media Bloggers Association. Lasica is the author of “Darknet: Hollywood’s War Against the Digital Generation.” He regularly contributes to SocialMedia.biz, Darknet.com, and Real People Network.

Justin Levy (@justinlevy) is currently the General Manager of New Marketing Labs, a new media marketing agency that specializes in helping businesses learn to use social media tools, blogs and community platforms. At New Marketing Labs, Levy teaches businesses about new media marketing and explains how to utilize listening tools to drive business value. Levy is also the General Manager of Caminito Argentinean Steakhouse. He routinely speaks and blogs about how new media has contributed to the success of the restaurant.

Charlene Li (@charleneli) is the founder of Altimeter Group, a consulting firm focused on new technologies and digital strategies. Prior to this she served as a vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research. Li is the co-author of “Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies.” Her next book, “Open: How Leaders Win By Letting Go” is due for 2010.

Valeria Maltoni (@conversationage) is an expert blogger at Fast Company, a magazine focusing on the conversation between marketer and customer. She also contributes to websites such as Marketing 2.0, Social Media Today, and The Blog Herald; as well the eBook, “The Age of Conversation.” Maltoni’s marketing blog, “Conversation Agent,” is regarded as one of the best of its kind.

Ben McConnell (@benmcconnell) published two books on the strength of customer loyalty: “Citizen Marketers: When People Are The Message,” and “Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become A Volunteer Sales Force.” He is also the co-founder of the Society of Word of Mouth, and the “Church of the Customer” blog, which has a daily readership of over 120,000.

Marc Meyer (@marc_meyer) is a leader at Digital Response Marketing Group and co-founder of “hashtagsocialmedia,” a series of Twitter chats with social media gurus. Meyer consults with myriad of consumer product companies on how to achieve enhanced business results through marketing, sales and online efforts. Meyer previously worked as Director of Internet Marketing and Director of Social Media at Emerson Direct where he gained his background in social media.

Scott Monty (@scottmonty) is currently employed as the Global Digital and Multimedia Communications Manager at Ford Motor Company. Monty shares his knowledge about advertising, marketing, and PR in both his blogs, “The Social Media Marketing Blog” and “The Baker Street Blog.” Recently, Monty was named one of iMedia’s “25 Top Internet Marketing Leaders and Innovators.”

B.L. Ochman (@whatsnext) leads the creative team of whatsnextonline.com, and publishes the “What’s Next Blog.” She also created the blog, “Ethics Crisis,” which explores corporate ethics and global business practices. Ochman is the author of the books “What Could Your Company Do With A Blog,” and “Press Releases From Hell and How To Fix Them”.

Lee Odden (@leeodden) is the CEO of an online marketing blog called, “Top Rank” that serves companies with online marketing strategy, consulting, implementation and training services. In 2008, he was named #15 of “Top 100 Online Marketers.”

Jeremiah Owyang (@jowyang)is a strategy consultant for emerging technology at Altimeter Group and previously worked as a Senior Social Media Analyst at Forrester Research. He writes a regular column for Forbes Magazine and regularly writes for his own blog, “Web Strategist.”

Shannon Paul (@shannonpaul) is the Communications Manager for PEAK6 Online, a parent company of OptionsHouse.com, OptionsNewsNetwork (ONN.tv) and WeSeed.com. She manages the integration of social media communication into PR and marketing strategies. She gained her experience in communications by designing the social media strategy for the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings. She currently has her own blog, “Shannon Paul’s Very Official Blog,” which she updates regularly.

Christopher Penn (@cspenn) is the Founder and Producer of the multi-award winning “Financial Aid” podcast and co-founder of the PodCamp New Media Community Conference. He currently holds the position of Chief Technology Officer at the Student Loan Network.

Jeremy Pepper (@jspepper) is Director of PR and Social Media at Palisade Systems. Pepper has spent over a decade working in integrated communications and has won two Silver Anvils. His personal blog was named top PR blog in 2006 by an advertising blogging network.

Joel Postman (@jpostman) is currently Principal at Socialized, a consultancy that helps companies make effective use of social media in corporate communications, marketing and PR. Postman is also the author of “SocialCorp: Social Media Goes Corporate,” a handbook targeted to corporate executive and large companies that want to adopt social media strategies.

Mike Sansone (@mikesansone) works as a ‘blog coach,’ by helping companies and individuals create and maintain successful websites. Sansone previously helped build various online communities such as America Online and the Real Fans Sports Network. He currently works through his blog, “ConverStations: Blogs and Social Media as Conversation Stations.”

Robert Scoble (@scolbleizer) currently works for the IT hosting company, Rackspace, where he created Building 43, a community for people who love the Internet.  He is the co-author of “Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers.” Scoble regularly writes for his personal blog, “Scobleizer.com.”

David Meerman Scott (@dmscott) gained his experience and familiarity on social media by working as Vice President of two publicly traded companies. He currently works as a marketing strategist, keynote speaker, and seminar leader. Scott just completed his fifth book, “World Wide Rave.” His third book, “The New Rules of Marketing and PR” was a BusinessWeek bestseller.

Peter Shankman (@skydiver) is the founder of Help A Reporter Out (HARO), the largest free source repository in the world and the CEO of the boutique Marketing and PR Strategy firm, The Geek Factory, Inc.. Shankman regularly updates his blog, “shankman.com,” and is the author of “Can We Do That?! Outrageous PR Stunts That Work and Why Your Company Needs Them.”

Brian Solis (@briansolis) is a Principal of Future Works, an award-winning PR and New Media agency in Silicon Valley. Solis is also the co-founder of the Social Media Club and is an original member of the Media 2.0 Workgroup. Solis writes for his own blog, “PR 2.0,” which is among the top 1.5% of all blogs tracked by Technorati, and regularly contributes to TechCrunch, BrankWeek, and WebProNews.

Liz Strauss (@lizstrauss) is a social web strategies and community builder and works with businesses, universities and individuals to help them understand the world of the social communications. She is the Founder of the business bloggers conference, SOBcon. She was featured in the “Top 100 Social Media & Internet Marketing Bloggers,” the “Top 100 Most Influential Marketers of 2008,” the “50 of the Most Powerful and Influential Women of Social Media,” and NxE’s “Fifty Most Influential ‘Female’ Bloggers.” In addition, her own blog, “Liz Strauss at Successful Blog,” is listed on Alltop Social Media and Alltop Twitterati.

Greg Verdino (@gregverdino) is currently employed as Chief Strategy Officer at Crayon, a group that specializes in strategic marketing. Previously he served as the VP at both Emerging Channels Digitas and Aribitron NewMedia. Verdino produced studies on consumer online media usage behavior and the impacts of convergence of traditional media channels. Verdino’s blog, “gregverdino.com,” is known as being one of the most influential marketing blogs on the Internet and his book, “Micromarketing: A Breakthrough Approach to Building Brands by Thinking and Acting Small,” is set for release this summer.

Tamar Weinberg (@tamar) is a freelance writer and internet marketing consultant specializing in blogger outreach, viral marketing, and social media. She is also the author of “The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web,” a primer to social media marketing. Tamar is also Mashable’s Community and Marketing Director.  She has been recognized as one of the top most public influencers of the web in New York City by NowPublic, one of NxE’s most influential bloggers, and was featured in the “Top 100 Online Marketers” list. She blogs about her thoughts on social media at her personal blog, techipedia.com.

Lena West (@lenawest) is the CEO and chief strategist at xynoMedia, a web-development and consulting group dedicated to assisting women-led companies with social media and Internet based objectives. West has been honored with several awards, including The Network Journal’s “40 Under 40,” and the “Entrepreneurial Champion for Women” by The Women’s Congress.

Dan Zarrella (@danzarella) is a communications specialist with expertise in web development, social media and blogs. He is currently the Inbound Marketing Manager of HubSpot and considers himself a social, search and viral marketing specialist. He is in the process of finishing the book, “The Social Media Marketing Book.” Zarrella shares his comprehensive understanding of social media by contributing regularly to blogs such as “Mashable,” “Copy Blogger,” and “ProBlogger.” Zarrella is also credited for developing applications such as Link Attraction Factors, TweetPsych, TweetSuite, and TweetBrandSponsers.

Linda Zimmer (@lgzimmer) is president and CEO of MarCom:Interactive. She sits on the Advisory Board at Web Wise Kids and is a consulting council member with the Gerson Lehrman expert network. She regularly updates her blog, “Business Communicators of Second Life,” where she discusses topics such as social media and ethics for marketers, communicators and agency professionals.

Add your picks for top social media strategists below!

1. What are some basic SEO tips?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the best marketing techniques when it comes to increasing the online visibility of a website, and is critical to any company that wants their website to be seen and found by their target audience. The actual process of optimizing a website is long and involved, but here are 5 quick and easy ways to start improving your online visibility today:

1. Use strategic keywords to find your audience –When someone wants to find something they will search for it in Google, or another search engine, by using keywords to describe what they are looking for. You will want to pick strategic and relevant keywords for every page on your site that describe what your services are all about and how they provide solutions to your clients challenges.

2. Use your title tags –Title tags are what appear in the title bar of your browser, and are one of the many pieces of data that search engines scroll when determining what the content on the page is all about. Use the strategic keywords you selected and give each page a unique title. Try to limit your titles to only include one or two key phrases to avoid keyword saturation.

3. Don’t forget about your Meta information – Every page on a website should be treated individually and should have its own unique description and Meta tags. Write a sentence or two that best captures the content of that page, and try to include your keyword in it. Try to limit your descriptions to 180 characters or less— the shorter the better!

4. Quality Content – Ensure that constant generation of fresh, interesting and relevant content is one of your top priorities. Get your keywords into your content wherever and whenever it makes sense. The key here is to keep your user experience in mind; do not flood your content with keywords that do not fit logically.

5. Links, links, links…and more links – Think of a link as a vote of confidence or quality that search engines use to determine the relevance, and therefore page rank, of a page on your website. The more votes, the higher the rank. Good places for links are article and news sharing sites, directories, and other similar sites.

2. How can you use Facebook to increase your brand awareness?

Create a corporate Facebook Fan Page and be social. A Fan Page is a way to connect with clients, prospects, communities and stakeholders, as well as to extend your brand reach, but it has to be interactive to succeed. CC Chapman, a well respected social media strategist, explains this in his About Face white paper, “[Facebook Fan Pages] offer a unique opportunity for brands to engage consumers, providing viral hooks to recruit new Fans, and recurring opportunities for existing Fans to re-engage. But to take advantage of this, brands MUST be social – creating content, sharing status updates, posting photos, hosting events and making regular contributions to the Community.” Opportunities on Facebook Fan Pages allow companies to engage and interact with Fans in a meaningful way. The applications allow for brands to promote their brand in a way that users can connect with and appreciate. Facebook marketing is a combination of interacting with Fans and contributing to a community, rather than broadcasting promotional messages.

3. How are you measuring the effectiveness of your social media marketing initiatives?

Any social media effort should be tied directly to an objective or goal for using social media. These goals are measurable. For example:

1.  If you are using social media to increase awareness, look for online brand mentions, retweets, your increase in followers/friends/fans etc., back-links to your website of Blog, or website visitors/traffic.

2.  If you are using social media to increase sales, track purchases made online (consider running specific promos only offered through social media), the number of captured sales leads, the number of people that signup on your website for a product demo, the source of web visitors through a free service, like bit.ly (http://bit.ly/), and the number of people you get to signup for an event where there is going to be a sales opportunity.

3.  If you are looking to use social media to aid in recruiting, track the number of candidates hired by your company that had originated through using social media. Compare that cost to what you had previously paid (or currently pay) in agency or job board fees.

4. If you are using social media for customer service, calculate the cost of responding to a customer’s request through normal channels (e.g. response time, resolved requests, etc.) and compare that to the calculated cost of using a social media channel to do the same job (response time, resolved requests, etc.). Also, with the increased ability to respond to customer requests, consider factoring in the increase in brand approval ratings.

There are also ways to measure how social media can be effective in reducing operational costs, and for employee retention and trainings. Contact us directly for more of a detailed explanation of the above topic.

4. How do I drive more traffic to my blog?

These five basic elements are crucial to driving relevant traffic to your blog.

1. Design an engaging, organized and stimulating blog. Timely content and catchy titles are important, but remember that an image is worth a thousand words. Many people respond favorably to stimulating visuals, so if you can find colorful, unique graphics that compliment your blog posts, you can attract and retain more readers.

Separating posts into categories is crucial to your blog’s organization. Blog readers want to find good information quickly, so it’s important that your blog is easy to navigate. Having clear categories with your posts properly tagged and organized into categories will make it easy for readers to find the posts that they’ll want to read most.

2. Make sure your blog has clear, basic information that is visible to all visitors

You want to make sure that your brand (personal or corporate) is represented on your blog and that your background information accessible.

Imagine a person who doesn’t know your business, your industry or anything about you at all. Blog with that person in mind.

3. Write fresh compelling content. Your blog should highlight timely, concise and engaging information, and should invite visitors to provide their feedback. If you’re not writing material that your audience is interested in, and you’re not writing it clearly enough for them to digest it quickly, then your blog will not be an effective tool in reaching and connecting with your audience.

4. Make your contact page highly visible and user-friendly. If you want your blog to have a significant ROI, you need to make it easy for your audience to contact you. Ensuring that you are easily reachable is essential to maintaining an open dialogue and interacting with readers in a meaningful way.

5. Your RSS and ‘Share This’ features should be highly visible to visitors

You’re starting a blog with objectives in mind and you know that it is going to take some time to gain a following of trusted readers. You need to make it as easy as possible for others to find you. The best way to start that process is to make it as easy as possible for people to subscribe to your blog via RSS. Social bookmarks increase your reader’s participation and allow them to view themselves as part of your “community.” Once you’ve gained their trust, and their “buy-in” to your blog’s message, they will start to share your thoughts with their peers and your readership will continue to grow.

-AJ Gerritson