We all know that businesses are taking the web more seriously thanks to social media and the ability to interact with customers and product fans, but more and more I am finding that while their web presence is successful their infrastructure, or more specifically their franchises, aren’t quite ready for the change.

You might remember last March when Quizno’s Subs launched the million subs campaign which gave away free sandwiches.  The campaign was a huge success and drove over 2 million visits to millionsubs.com.  However, customers were outraged when they found that most of their local sub shops wouldn’t accept the coupons.

I recently ran into a similar issue with Subway’s My Sub My Way promotion which offers a free 6 inch sub with the purchase of a 6 inch sub with a drink.  I understand the whole franchise aspect of things and that many of these businesses are simply not honoring the coupons because the independent owners don’t want to front the loss.  However, in my personal experience it seems that more and more of these businesses are completely unaware that the online promotions even exist.

With an online presence and social media comes responsibility

If your company allows independent owners to opt out of your national online campaigns then go a step further and help your customers by establishing who has opted out before launching the campaign and giving your customers the opportunity to search for a location near them that is honoring the promotion.  There is nothing worse than handing someone a coupon or promotional print out just to have the employee look at you as though you were trying to pay with foreign money.

If you’re a local franchise or independently owned business get with the times and stop fighting so vigorously against these online campaigns. I understand it may take a little off the top, but in the long run your customers will thank you and probably return to your location again in the future.  The overall value of a satisfied customer is three fold that of a customer who shows up just to be told you won’t honor the promotion.  If you can’t afford to honor the promotion, then at least make sure your locations are familiar with the promotion so that customers aren’t treated like they are in the wrong for participating in these campaigns.  I can’t count how many times I have personally been looked at like a fool or seen someone ridiculed for trying to use some of these coupons or participate in these promotions.

As online business evolves companies need to start looking at how their infrastructure and business strategy is going to evolve with the change. You may have to revisit policies and processes that have been in place for ages, but in the end the time invested in this change is time invested in your customer.

These days more and more people are talking about social media engagement and how brands need to embrace social media resources like Twitter, Facebook, and the like.  But when you look at sites like Digg, Mixx, Reddit, and StumbleUpon, you are looking at a whole other playing field.  A lot of people feel you can jump on these site and just start submitting whatever, whenever and magically the traffic floodgates will open. If this is your mindset you are dead wrong.  Like with any social media strategy, social submission sites have an audience and demographic to consider.

I was recently drafted to help build a social media strategy and one of the focus’s being considered was using sites like Digg, Mixx, etc. to help establish the company as an authority in the industry.  Their hope was to share both outside and internal resources about the latest news in the industry, however there was no rhyme or reason to the process.  At the time the goal was simply create profiles and start submitting.

When considering this sort of social media strategy it’s important to do some research to establish what networks are going to best benefit you and your company.  Why waste the time and resources if there isn’t going to be any benefit or return from it? Do some research to find out which audiences will benefit you and your company best.

Search social sites for some of the top industry keywords and buzz words

Look at your search results and see if people are actually submitting stories about your industry and if the site users are actually voting and engaging the stories. If a site has a large number of search results, but very little engagement it’s probably best to assume this community of users really isn’t that interested in your subject matter.

Digg will actually help you to further understand trends by providing the total number of results, submissions from the last day, 7 days, and 30 days, as well as a trending graph that shows you the submission trend since 2006. If you’re seeing a downward trend this might be a red flag, on the other hand if submissions are on the up and up Digg might be a valuable source.

Consider the demographic

Gather demographic information. While it’s not usually a defining factor it gives you a good idea as to where to start. Do you market primarily to women?  Research the network and try and find out who is using the network most.  Knowing who you are engaging can have a significant impact on your strategy.

Pay attention to the content submitted

While working on this particular social campaign I noticed on Reddit that their industry got some decent attention, but the subject matter tended to lead to the more historical and political side of things.  I brought Reddit to the table as a possible resource, however I made sure to mention the types of submissions that seemed to get the most love.  If what you see doesn’t fit your overall plan for the content you’ll be sharing then perhaps the network won’t give you the full value you are looking for.

Be aware of what the community dislikes

Sites like Reddit, StumbleUpon, and Digg all let you vote against, thumb down, or bury a story they feel is spammy or simply not worth the communities time.  Pay attention to things like this, by paying attention to user engagement you can learn from the mistakes of others and make sure your strategy doesn’t include submissions that might get similar treatment.  Another thing to consider is why the submissions are being disliked. Are they really spammy, or do they look legitimate to you as an industry expert? If they look legit the community simply may not understand the topics or simply isn’t interested.

Search for niche specific communities or groups

One of the nice things about the social web is that more and more communities are popping up every day. That being said if you do a search for social media or social bookmarking sites in your industry you are bound to come across some sites that might adore your content. If you’re looking to become an authority in the industry, what better place to start than among your peers.

These are just a handful of things to consider when putting together an overall social media strategy, but if you’re thinking about getting involved in communities like these they are definitely some important steps in finding the most value. While you’re at it you might also want to check out Tamar Weinberg’s StumbleUpon Etiquette Guide and Social Media Etiquette handbook, both some great reads that might help you engage your community once you’ve joined.

It’s no surprise that the first week into the year our RSS readers, twitter streams, and Facebook walls have been overflowing with posts looking back on 2009 and looking ahead to 2010.  Throw the Google Nexus in the mix and it was nearly impossible to find a signal shrouded in all the noise, but believe it or not this week actually had a decent chunk of decent posts.

2009 and Looking Ahead to 2010

While you’ve been pelted in the face with these all week, there were definitely a handful of these posts that deserve a read.

A Decade of 21st Century SEO – It’s hard to focus on what’s ahead of you if you don’t know where you’ve been.  In the last decade SEO has come a long way, and Jill Whalen does a great job looking back at some of the highlights of the search industry over the last decade.

Best Internet Marketing Posts of 2009 – One of my annual favorites, Tamar Weinberg has again put together an extensive list of internet marketing posts from the last year. The ideas and concepts shared in these posts are almost always timeless and a great resource to hold on to.

Link Building Trends for 2010 – The Link Week writers over at SEL pull together to give their thoughts on link building in the year to come and things you should seriously be considering and thinking about.

100+ SMB Blogging Ideas to Kick Start 2010 – Not sure what to write about over the next year? Lisa Barone’s got you covered with over 100 blogging topic ideas for the year to come.

David Harry’s Everything Search 2009 Recap

I remember Dave doing an outstanding job in 08 recapping all of the important search patents from the year and bringing them together in individual posts, but this year he hammered us with an arsenal of posts looking back on 2009 with the Top Picks of 2009 series.

Top SEO posts from 2009
Google Search Patents 2009
Yahoo Search Patents
Microsoft Search Patents 2009
SEO News 2009
Local, Social and Tools 09
SEO Videos 09

Social Media

Professors Teaching Social Media – As social media becomes more mainstream, we’re left to wonder how it will tie into a marketing or web based college curriculum.  Samir Balwani has been exploring professors who teach social media and has begun a twitter list to showcase some professors already in the field. From the time of the post Samir’s list has already begun to grow.

SEO

Advice for the Newbie In-House SEO – We’ve all been the new guy or gal at some point or another, and sometimes it seems impossible to figure out where to start. Patricia Skinner outlines some key concepts to have in mind when starting your new in-house SEO gig.

You Can’t Optimize Cardboard – A great post that explores the value of trust in regards to SEO. You can SEO a site all you want, but at the end of the day you need to call a spade a spade and if your online presence is absolute garbage, the consumer and the search engines are going to recognize you as just that.

Tools to Use and Learn hCard Format – While a lot of search marketers are still torn on the value of microformats and hCard’s there’s definitely a lot people still exploring their value, especially in the local search realm. Ann Smarty shares some great tools for mastering hCard format.

That’s it for this weeks Flashback Friday, hopefully you’ve found a post or two that flew under your radar this week and you have found to be valuable.  If you have any additional posts that you found of interest over the week please feel free to share them in the comments. I always love reading new things and discovering new search and social blogs.