Can marketers behave themselves online?  As empowered customers traipse across the Web, they leave ever-juicier breadcrumbs of behavior in their wake.  Will the government step in to limit what marketers are allowed to scoop up?

The debate over marketing personalization and advertising targeted to consumers’ behavior is hardly new… search results for “behavioral advertising” date back to at least 2003.  However, a recent resurgence of criticism in Washington and in the media has revealed some interesting facts about what marketing personalization means for Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

The number of people embracing mobile social networking may reach 770 million by 2012, according to a report by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council and AVG Technologies that examined social-community vulnerabilities.  The figure is particularly compelling considering nearly 20% of respondents claimed to have been a victim of identity theft, and therefore understandably skeptical of the online flow of personal information.  If the report’s projections are accurate, and the incidence of identity theft remains unchanged, then approximately 154 million people can expect to have their identities stolen by 2012.

Are the dangers THAT prevalent?  A recent article in The New York Times suggested the possibility that Social Security numbers could be deduced by compiling and analyzing the standard biographical data posted by users of such popular services as Facebook and Twitter.  But, so far, this type of powerful data mining, which relies on sophisticated statistical correlations, is mostly in the realm of university researches.  Plus, companies like AVG Technologies, McAfee, and Symantec are continuously developing new methodologies and software to protect consumers from these risks.

Collected consumer information produces better customer response and reduces wasteful unwanted or uninvited mailings.  The information helps increase the relevance of those messages:  the data is analyzed, meaningful insights are extracted, and predictive modeling is developed to show what customers intend to buy or are satisfied with.  An example of the benefits of these tools is a message that might remind a senior citizen to reorder medication that is about to run out or expire.

Yet, even the most beneficial application of personal data will not eliminate the need for consumers to remain vigilant about privacy.  Always being mindful of what information you’re providing, how that information is being stored and protected, consumers must remain sensitive to the fact that there are some very advanced surveillance systems out there using algorithms to figure out things you wouldn’t expect could be figured out.

In mid-March, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held the last in a series of discussions consumer privacy.  According to the FTC’s Web site, the meetings were meant to “explore the privacy challenges posed by the vast array of 21st century technology and business practices that collect and use consumer data.”  These practices include social networking, cloud computing, online behavioral advertising, mobile marketing, and the collection and use of information by retailers, data brokers, third-party applications, and other diverse businesses.

“The goal of the roundtables is to determine how best to protect consumer privacy while supporting beneficial uses of the information and technological innovation,” the commission’s site says.  Where this back-and-forth will end is anyone’s guess, but meanwhile, the flow of consumer data continues to accelerate.

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	wendistry Marketers, Customers, and Big Brother http://www.wendistry.com/ow7
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“Your fans can be your best marketers, provided you do everything in your power to enable them,” says Lior Arussy, founder and president of Strativity Group and author of several books, including Customer Experience Strategy from which this post is adapted.

The Web provides an incredible opportunity to generate leads and referrals, and yet most of the corporate world has barely begun to leverage this potentially powerful resource:  the chance to create and host authentic brand evangelism. Stop thinking of your customers as utilitarian transactors and start thinking of them as partners.  This isn’t just opportunity… there’s easy and immediate payoff.

It’s one thing to ask a customer, “Are you willing to recommend?”  It’s another thing to actually generate a recommendation from them, which you can actually do quite easily on the Web with everything from voting on products, polls, giving services “thumbs up” or “thumbs down,” etc.  Because customers are already connected to their friends, colleagues, and acquaintances on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Plaxo, and so on, these links collectively form a massive recommendation engine, and tapping into that engine creates a positive forces that validates your company brand.

The people who will speak positively about you are out there, and you can help give them a voice.  To build a movement around them, design your Web experience with collaboration in mind.  For example:

• If you’re delivering a great experience online, invite customers to read what their peers are saying in an objective environment.
• Provide customers with a forum for discussing products, services, and/or your company itself among themselves.  Don’t censor feedback.
• Finish positive customer contacts by saying “Don’t forget to link to us on your Facebook fan page.” or “We’d love to be connected on Twitter.”
• Encourage customers to contribute ideas for improving products, services, operations, and support.  Celebrate customer commitment to making your company better.  Reward and recognize customers for their ideas… for example, place a picture and web URL link of a contributing customer on your corporate site.  Call them the “Customer of the Day.”
• Celebrate 1-, 5-, 10-, and 15-year customer-relationship anniversaries right on your web site.  Show these individual customers involved how proud and appreciative you are of the continued relationship.  Give them some public star treatment, and demonstrate to your other customers how much you value those who do business with you.
• Create  referral program and enroll everyone who interacts with your company.  Reward all references and referrals.  Hype the program by hosting an “Annual Referral Drive” during a specific week and surprise the top referral customers with added incentives and recognition.

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	wendistry Hey marketers, why not enable a "Tribal Evangelist Experience" http://www.wendistry.com/fhu
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	wendistry Tribal Evangelist Experience http://www.wendistry.com/fhu
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Finding complaints about your company’s products, services or marketing tactics online is increasingly quick and easy.  Knowing when, where and how to respond is at best an emerging science… or is it an art?  Not quite public relations, not quite crisis communications, but somewhere in between?  Factors to consider:

• How credible is the source? The tone and track record of the complaining consumer are among factors to consider.  A quick Google search of screen names or handles can often turn up a wealth of information on the track record of a particular commenter.
• How influential is the forum? Comments on thinly read message boards are one thing.  Comments on online retailer review sections, however, can last forever and influence purchasing (or not purchasing) decisions right at the point of sale… with a potential enormous impact on sites like Amazon.com and Walmart.com.
• How common is the complaint likely to be? A valid complaint is likely to be echoed fairly quickly by others, thought it’s also important to determine whether the same person is complaining under different screen names.  Correlating online complaints with call-center volume can help verify the scope of the threat.
• How serious is the complaint? People not liking an ad because of aesthetic or other creative reasons are one thing.  People not liking an ad because they think it demeans an entire race, gender or class of individuals is another, and potentially far more serious.
• How likely is my response going to make things worse? As a general rule, pulling an ad or discontinuing or recalling a product will produce news stories.  Complaints in and of themselves often won’t.
• How important is this issue to my brand’s consumers? Motrin’s “babywearer” ad offended a relatively small segment of consumers for an old, established brand with millions of consumers.  (Smaller impact.)  Method’s “Shiny Suds” ad offended a relatively small segment of consumers that loomed potentially large for a much younger, less-established brand.  (Potentially larger impact.)

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	wendistry You don't have to play with "mean girls..." http://www.wendistry.com/evn
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	wendistry Defending Brand Against Online Critics http://www.wendistry.com/evn
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It was an impressive week at the annual world’s premier wireless event.  Interesting booths and companies, for me, included Samsung’s Galaxy S (to launch this summer?), Blue Ant’s headset devices, and SkyFiber, from Bryan, Texas, is providing an interesting “last mile” option with optical wireless broadband.

Between AT&T’s Randall Stephenson’s comments on his company’s focus on mobility and being at the cutting-edge of the evolving world of converged communications and Samsung Electronics’ J.K. Shin discussing mobile consumer electronics and their impact on personal and professional communications, it was Geek Heaven in Vegas.

Here is the results of the latest semi-annual wireless industry survey, and some of the highlights are:

• Wireless data service revenues increased 25.7% from the last half of 2008 to reach more than $22 billion for the last half of 2009.
• There are more than 285 million wireless connections.
• More than 822 billion text messages were sent and received on carriers’ networks during the last half of 2009- amounting to almost 5 billion messages per day at the end of the year.
• During the 2009 calendar year, there were more than 1.5 trillion text messages reported on carriers’ networks.
• More than 1.12 trillion minutes in the last half of 2009, up 38 billion from the last half of 2008… and breaking down to 6.1 billion minutes-of-use per day.
• More than 257 million data-capable devices in consumers’ hands, up from 228 million at the end of 2008.  50 million of these devices are smart phones or wireless-enabled PDAs and nearly 12 million are wireless-enabled laptops, notebooks or aircards.

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	wendistry CTIA Wireless Industry event recap http://www.wendistry.com/ib8
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	wendistry CTIA Wireless Industry Recap http://www.wendistry.com/ib8
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You know your industry.  You know your audience.  But, do you know how to make your B2B web site start making more money for you?  If you rely on affiliate programs or pay-per-click (PPC) advertising for all or part of your revenue stream, you already know that the hours and dollars you spend on content creation and SEO (search engine optimization) will be spent in vain if the traffic you drive to your site doesn’t purchase from your affiliate merchants, click on your banners, or follow the links in your contextual ads.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of white papers and web sites offer tips for optimizing your content and driving traffic to your B2B site or blog.  Here’s eight surefire strategies for monetizing your B2B web site:

1.  Give the people what they want: Back in the days of Web 1.0, web site operators learned that the key to repeat visitation (the “sticky” factor) is to give your users a compelling reason to come back.  Today’s web sites take those lessons to heart, building member communities, incorporating RSS feeds, and offering specialized, frequently updated content that visitors are hard-pressed to find anywhere else.  But, what if you could apply the “stickiness”  principle to the revenue generating portions of your site?  You know that users of B2B sites go there in search of reliable information that will help them in their jobs.  Why aren’t you charging for papers, case studies, lessons, training, etc.?

2.  Preserve your integrity: Generating revenue shouldn’t mean compromising the user experience.  The messages and offers in banner ads and contextual links from consumer PPC networks can range from mildly off-target to downright embarrassing on a B2B web site.  To preserve your credibility with a highly specialized (and professional) audience, review the ad content on your site just as you would “real” content.  Depending on the placement and prominence of banners and ad modules, an advertisement may be the first thing visitors see when they arrive at your page, so be sure the offers and images presented fit the tone and topic of your site.

3.  Use your time wisely: Many site owners and content managers, B2B and otherwise, spend hours every week pouring over reports and switching out ads in an effort to maximize their site earnings.  While several major ad networks (and some small ones) offer automated widgets and contextual ad modules to help lighten the workload, the options for dedicated B2B networks are limited, and the relevance of consumer offers on B2B sites can be spotty at best.

4.  Take advantage of every touchpoint: Many advertising networks offer only one avenue for monetizing your audience… through the pages of your web site.  But, if you’re like most B2B site operators today, you also communicate with your users through RSS feeds, a blog, email newsletters, and occasional email “blast” updates.  Given the popularity of feed readers, the timeliness and accessibility of blogs, and the still-impressive response rate of legitimate email alerts, taking one-dimensional approach to promotions can mean missing out on significant opportunities to reach users… and leaving significant cash on the table.

5.  Share your expert opinion: Many B2B web site publishers have become trusted sources of information about topics relating to their field of expertise.  Visitors may frequent your site to get insights on industry trends, read the opinions of the site editors, experts or other community members, and keep abreast of happenings in their profession.

6.  Cover all your bases: Consider implementing Google AdSense, Linkshare, the Amazon associates program, or other affiliate-style networks for additional revenue on your site.

Whether your site is an established web presence or just building its online credentials, the key to maximizing your revenue potential is to make the most of the traffic you have.  If you can offer your site visitors revenue-generating content that’s just as valuable and appealing as your primary site content, your revenues will grow along with your traffic.

If you’re in the Dallas area, come check out John Pozazides of One Man’s Blog and founder of Woopra, real-time web site analytics!!!, tomorrow at the WordPress meetup.  He’ll be talking in greater depth about how to monetize your blog and web site!

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	wendistry Want to monetize your web site? Come hear @johnpoz tmrw at #Dallas #Wordpress meetup http://www.wendistry.com/973
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	wendistry Want to monetize your web site? Come hear @johnpoz tmrw at #Dallas #Wordpress meetup Mone http://www.wendistry.com/973
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The Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA) has just published its 70-page “2010 Digital Marketing Outlook” and here are some key takeaways:

Online Marketing Spending
* In 2010, two-thirds expect to spend the same or more than in 2009.
* Approximately 70% plan to increase (1-30%) or significantly increase (30%+) their unpaid/earned/proprietary media.
* The top priorities in 2010 will be social networks/applications and digital infrastructure.

Emerging Trends
* Customer experience will be more important than ever.
* Storytelling will evolve – location will become a key component; the speed at which stories are developed is crucial; and above all, emotional connections matter.
* The beginning of the end of the banner ad.
* Branded content syndication will replace some paid media.
* 40% of opportunity is mobile

Social Media
* Social is becoming increasingly mobile.
* Measurement will be more important than ever.
* Real-time search is inextricably linked to the “statusphere.”
* Forms of content consumption will continue to be fractured; the nimble marketer will need to be in as many places as possible.

In addition, the major trends will be Mobile, Location, Transparency, Measurement, ROI, and Privacy all wrapped up in social media looking less “social” and more exclusive… Obtaining value while filtering out the clutter.  Businesses will begin to leverage the wealth of data we share about ourselves to deliver individualized messages.