We’re in the service industry, you and I. That means our consumers’ needs come before our own; that means our primary goal should be to better understand their needs and wants – from the point of inquiry to the point of purchase.

Consider those points and the time and place in which consumers are introduced to you through digital platforms.

Are they visiting your Facebook page before or after they buy your product? Your fan page may not affect their purchase process in the slightest. Or perhaps they intend to do so because you’ve entertained them so well.

78% of women in the US use the Internet for product information before making a purchase. Do your consumers spot a Google search ad, then click through to your website pre-shopping trip? The click-through process can make or break a sale (think: barriers to entry).

Are they information-seeking as they stroll down the grocery aisle? Aren’t we all?

Today, the “social consumer” is a redundant phrase. Limiting our involvement to specific platforms (e.g. Facebook), if only because our own definition of “social” is stunted, seems quite ignorant.

The challenge for us service industry folk is to integrate opportunities for peer-to-peer interaction at each point in the journey. Today, perhaps integration closest to POS is most important. It’s not Facebook; it’s service.

So-cial (adj) (n): Tending to form cooperative and interdependent relationships with others; marked by or passed in pleasant companionship with friends or associates.

With this week’s Internet Armageddon – when websites, influencers and everyone in between decided to “take a stand” and black out content in protest of SOPA and PIPA – I wondered how many of these folks know what they’re standing for and against?

NYU Professor Clay Shirky breaks it all down in this great TED talk. Don’t want to watch the whole thing? Just know this:

“Because the biggest producers of content on the Internet are not Google and Yahoo, they’re us, we’re the people getting policed…The real threat of the enactment of PIPA and SOPA is our ability to share things with one another.” –Professor Shirky

Have any thoughts to share on the topic? I’d love to hear it. #knowSOPA

Portrait of America Travelers, a recent study by the Ypartnership/Harrison Group, predicted birthdays and anniversaries to be the single greatest driver of leisure trips in 2012. How can savvy tourism marketers explore and leverage this trend? How can we create unique getaway packages to help travelers celebrate milestone occasions? This MediaPost Marketing:Travel article (by yours truly) identifies a few ways to tap into the “cele-cation” – whetting the appetites of experience-hungry consumers and, ultimately, winning their business.

It doesn’t seem so long ago when you and I were discussing simple ways to optimize your social content. But it was, in fact, last year! Allow me to introduce an overdue second installment of content creation tips for successful Facebook engagement.

Questions get tiresome. Find a new way to ask.

Turn your query into a statement, and then have some humility.

- “I’m starving and can’t think of a single thing to eat alongside my chips…Help!”

-“Forgot our carrot sticks at home (darn!). Need a recommendation for a mid-afternoon healthy snack, stat!”

If your post has a question in it, put the mark at the end.

Sounds silly, but it’ll make a difference. The last thing your fan should read is the content you want them to respond to.

Do this: “Oof, long day at the office. How are you winding down tonight?”

Not this: “How are you winding down tonight? It’s been a long day at the office!”

Try to use only one question at a time.

Your great aunt comes over for dinner and barrages you with inquiries: “How are you? You’re looking skinny. Have you lost weight? Or is the lighting in here bad?” Nobody likes it in real life, so don’t do it on social.

Do this: “We’re big fans of Gruyere and olives. What goodies adorn your favorite antipasto platter?”

Not this:  “Cheese? Olives? What goodies adorn your favorite antipasto platter?”

Try for 80-100 characters!

This is a repeat, but it’s worth reiterating. People glaze over more than two lines of text in their newsfeeds…don’t you?

If you’ve got a long question or post, consider turning it into a poll.

Changing up the format makes the response feel and look much simpler for folks – one click, instead of doing all that thinking stuff.

Feed their ego. Seriously.

-“We don’t like to brag, but our fans really are the best.”

-“Wow! In less than an hour you correctly guessed today’s riddle. We must have some cleaning-savvy friends.”

-“Humbled to be nominated as the Tea Store’s Best Tea of 2011. We know full well we couldn’t have done it without YOU!”

Don’t forget we’re supposed to be humans too.

Consider cultural topics today. Your fans are probably on Facebook talking about the crazy elections or the season finale of some show. If it’s not relevant or appropriate for your brand, don’t go there. But if you’ve got room to play, tap into these topics when applicable.

Behind-the-Scenes. Always works.

You may be thinking you have nothing special to offer your fans, because you don’t have a giveaway running or a coupon to offer. Not true! You’ll be surprised at how satisfied your fans will be with just a little insider access.

Show ‘em a little somethin’.

To that end, we’re all visual creatures and multi-media is settling most of the social real estate today (consider the new Facebook timeline). Don’t overuse imagery, but if you’ve got a photo, show it off!

Find any of this second round of optimization tips useful? Show a little love. #OptimizeSocial

With a new year nearly upon us, Maxwellites are in the thick of conversations related to digital initiatives and content strategy. We’re reviewing, what’s working and what’s not, and we’re planning according to subsequent unearthed opportunities from within our communities. As you’re taking a look at your own social audience, in particular, keep in mind the following community management insights. Consider them a holiday gift, courtesy of Buddy Media and the Maxwell geek digital team:

1. Give content a chance: Test timing

Although most brands on Facebook post between the hours of 8 am and 5 pm, engagement tends to increase post-work day. Make sure to take a look at your Facebook demo geo-location data (via Insights). More than likely, you have fans on mountain and east coast time, along with some other countries. If you post one week at 9 am PST and the next week at 2 pm PST, do you see a difference in reach and engagement level?

2. Be more succinct

Posts with 80 characters or less can get +66% higher engagement. Although Facebook recently increased the limit for your text box, don’t be fooled! Keep it short and sweet – folks have lots of content to read in their newsfeeds, most from their friends whom they like more than you. Make sure your posts are engaging, yes, but also digestible.

3. Don’t forget text

Albeit you want to vary content (Please do! Engagement with multimedia is weighted more heavily by the Facebook gods via the EdgeRank algorithm), don’t forget simple text posts, ie. no link, no photo, no video. They can get up to 94% higher engagement. Remember the genesis of this whole social media thing? Oh yea, it was conversation.

4. Ask for what you want

Do you want a Like or a Comment or a Share on your post? Don’t abuse it, but don’t be shy about asking. Calls to action are honest and authentic, if they’re not used to spam your fans.

5. Watch for Wednesdays

In the whole wide Facebook world, Wednesdays trend as a day for high engagement. No need to change up your content schedule just yet; your fans could be more active on Tuesdays or Fridays. When you’re reviewing your Insights at end of month note the days when your folks are online and engaged more than others. Keep an eye out for trends.

Find any of this useful? Show a little retweet love (see number 4). #OptimizeSocial

If you’ve dipped your toes into the digital marketing waters, be it the Facebook page pond or something more like an integrated consumer promotion ocean, you’ve probably heard the term “UX.” For those of you whose feet are still on dry land, that’s shorthand for “user experience.”

Wikipedia defines UX as the way “a person feels about using a product, system or service.” Along with the very basic functionality of the interface, UX also “highlights the experiential, affective, meaningful and valuable aspects of human-computer interaction and product ownership.”

Consider how you use your iPhone, how you navigate a site, and how you feel about doing both of those things; this is UX.

Users/consumers/fans/followers want to easily and intuitively explore the online worlds we’ve created but they also want a story; they want to be reassured; they want to feel cooler and smarter for visiting and using those worlds. Marketers, does this sound familiar?

As one of those marketing folk, it is my lofty goal to make consumers feel good about themselves and concurrently sneak in a sell message. Okay, too cynical, but I, too, want to tell a story.

Herein lies the intersection of marketing and UX: Graphic designers and digital architects as marketers, designing very tangible messages with each tool bar, drop down menu and increased font size; marketers as designers, concerned with the experiential aspects of their customer’s online journey, i.e. brand interaction with each click.

UXers and marketers should be working together to produce more successful experiences with lower physical and psychological barriers-to-use; to tell stories that resonate more intimately with our users. In fact, I see no reason for these two “departments” to be separated, and I present a challenge to my loyal readers (Hi, Dad!):

Name one reason why marketing and UX should be separate departments in any agency that produces consumer-facing work.

Chances are you have taken a friend shopping with you or recommended something you’ve bought to a friend. Yes? Okay, and you probably have a Facebook page. Right again? Well, have you ever purchased something on Facebook? What, not yet?  You are not alone, but chances are you may soon be helping contribute to Facebook commerce, also known as F-commerce.

While manufacturers are making it pretty easy to purchase through Facebook (it’s usually just a Facebook tab and credit card number away), there are a few concerns stopping some Facebook fans in their tracks. Not surprisingly, according to a study from JWT, 75 percent Facebook users are worried about privacy and security.  Another study by Ogilvy and Mather asked online users which brands they trusted most with their mobile payments. Credit card companies came out on top, while Facebook came in dead last with only 12.1 percent of those surveyed trusting them with their information.

Interestingly enough, according to the JWT study, 48 percent of millennials want their favorite shops to sell to them directly via Facebook.  So, will millennials be the ones to drive commerce to Facebook? Maybe. I did a little social window shopping and found that many of the brands promoting their goods and services on Facebook are favorites among millennials:  Express, Lady Gaga, Urban Outfitters and Old Spice to name a few. That’s not to say that only brands that target a younger demographic are selling on Facebook. Coldwater Creek, for example, has their full line available on Facebook. There’s just much more activity on some of these younger brands.

Part of the trust issue could be that many millennials don’t remember a time without online buying. Perhaps millennials, are simply more comfortable buying from Facebook because they are more familiar with technology than older audiences. But the question remains: will millennials help bridge the “trust gap” with Facebook, and drive more retailers to post their goods on their Facebook pages? Like all things on Facebook, you can bet that 750 million Facebook user newsfeeds will likely tell the tale of where and how they shop. It’s just a matter of time.

So what do you think? Would you buy on Facebook? Have you bought on Facebook? Is it a matter of trust or convenience?

Popping bottles at 9:30 a.m. is usually reserved for a Las Vegas vacation. Recently, it represented the kick-off to the Harvest Table media day we planned with our client, Argyle Winery.

A bubbly bunch of journalists from Seattle, Portland and San Francisco joined Argyle staff and Maxwellites on the trip for a behind-the-scenes look at the operation. Catering to wine aficionados and novices, the event was a great success. As demonstrated, here are a few recommendations for hosting a stellar media outing:

Be hands-on: Picking grapes from the vine and checking sugar levels from the juices engaged the group.

Have fun: During aging, lees (a thick, yeasty sediment) form and collect in the body of the bottle. The solution? Disgorging wine with a simple flip, thumb and 45.

Provide a keepsake: Each participant blended his or her own signature cuvee from three Pinot noir varieties. It was then bottled and sealed as a take-home gift.

Next time you plan a media event, prepare to keep your audience buzzing. Luckily for us, the 17 delicious varieties of sparkling, red and white wines also helped.

Viticulturalist Allen Holstein checks the sugar levels



Kerry showers the audience during a disgorging demonstration

Julien carefully blends her masterpiece from three Pinot noirs

Photo by Brian Kimmel

September is one of Oregon’s most beautiful months; the weather is sunny, the grapes are ripening and client Travel Oregon celebrates the harvest season with its Oregon Bounty promotion. This year’s campaign is anchored in a culinary influencer program – focused on food blogger relations and an editorial partnership with Tasting Table – managed by Maxwell.

Full On Oregon
Last week Travel Oregon hosted 25 food bloggers and writers to visit Oregon and experience what makes our state taste so good. Working with our consultant colleagues Greg Robeson and Emily Crowley, we organized food bloggers into small groups and took them on amazing Full On Oregon outings, including crabbing at the Oregon Coast, whitewater rafting the Rogue River, foraging on Mt. Hood and wine tasting in the Willamette Valley. Bloggers were taken behind the scenes to make and taste chocolate, fruit and vegetable preserves, tea, charcuterie, ice cream and cocktails. Some of Portland’s top chefs prepared Oregon Bounty meals using fresh local ingredients. For a taste of the weekend, check out this video. A true sense of community was fostered, as you can see on the Twitter feed and this example blog post.

Oregon’s Tastiest Trails
Just two days after Full On Oregon wrapped, Tasting Table launched Oregon’s Tastiest Trails with recommendations for where to eat, explore and stay in each of the state’s seven regions. Consumers are encouraged to peruse Tasting Table’s content, including a colorful photo gallery, and enter to win an Oregon Bounty getaway. The campaign is being promoted through dedicated emails in key cities.

Have we whet your appetite for an Oregon Bounty adventure?