While social media is on the rise (acquiring new customers and increasing brand awareness), few brands are using social media channels for customer-service objectives. Surveyed top-brand senior-level marketing executives consider the most important objectives for social media to be:

• New Customer Acquisition: 30.10%
• Drive Brand Awareness: 26.50%
• Retain Existing Customers: 24%
• Other: 18.10%
• Offer Customer Service: 1.20%

“Going green”: a concept that is spreading like wildfire (in the best sense of the phrase, of course). As people are becoming increasingly aware of the state of our environment, many are eager to pitch in and do what they can.

Thanks to our project manager and our creative director, that now includes our office here at Interactivity Marketing. No, we’re not all driving hybrid cars or using solar power, but we are making one tiny—yet important—change: recycling. Water and soda bottles, plastic cups (including fast food products), plastic silverware, paper, and boxes/cardboard are all placed into a separate container and sent over to a local recycling center. It might not seem like much to some, but hey—it all contributes to the big picture.

Here are some other ways that you can “go green”:

• Cut down your energy costs: set that thermostat a few degrees lower in the winter and a few degrees higher in the summer. Save yourself a few bucks by bundling up with a blanket in January and using those ceiling fans in August.
• The same concept applies to your clothes: use cold water whenever possible (as 85 percent of the energy used to machine-wash clothes goes to heating the water) and use a drying rack instead of your dryer.
• There are three major reasons to walk or bike instead of drive: exercise (which everyone could use more of!), gas costs (use that $30 per week toward groceries or bills), and less air pollution. If you have to drive, carpool. If you have the time to walk, do.
• Buy locally raised, humane, and organic meat, eggs and dairy whenever you get the chance. In addition to the health benefits, purchasing from local farmers keeps money in the local economy. Your body and your wallet will thank you.
• Avoid bottled water. I repeat: avoid bottled water! Purchase a re-usable water bottle (preferably aluminum rather than plastic) and fill it up with tap water whenever you need it. Your teeth will get the fluoride they need and you’ll avoid contributing to the large amounts of container waste from bottle water.
• Instead of tossing your old cell phone or computer, recycle it. E-waste contains mercury and other toxics, and is a growing environmental problem.
• Make your own non-toxic cleaning products; it’s simple to do! Baking soda, vinegar, lemon and soap will do the trick and you will save yourself money.

It should come as no surprise that companies are using blogs. A lot. In fact, blogs fill a specific niche that other forms of social media do not. It is estimated that this year just over one in three companies have a public-facing blog used for marketing (which is expected to rise to 43% by 2012). Studies have come to show that marketers perceive blogs to have the highest value in driving site traffic, brand awareness, lead generation and sales.

Let’s face it: we all like to succeed. And our social media is no exception; while it can be easily measured with various indicators such as voice, reach, retweets and comments, measuring without an overall objective won’t bring you any closer to success. You need to be able to gauge its success, measure it, and see that it remains healthy.

To get the most out of your social media measurements, follow these seven steps:

1) You need a goal. Know why you are engaging in social media in the first place to help you dictate not only what you do, but how you measure what you do.
• If your goal is to drive awareness, you will be looking at metrics like share of voice, reach, readership and engagement with content (measured in action vs. views)
• If your goal is to create better products and conduct market research, you will need to focus on top market trends and satisfaction with various competitive products

2) Your departments need to be on the same page. Necessary departments need to work as units toward a common goal to ensure success; this means communicating and sharing the right metrics with the right people on demand (for example, creating a dashboard that’s easily visible by every department).

3) Context must be considered. Always make sure to look at metrics over time and inside of a competitive landscape (if you know your share of social media conversation is 35, what does that mean compared to your competitors’ shares or their change over time?).

4) Choose the correct platform. Consider aspects such as data (determine which channels you are going to measure?), reports (identify how you want to share and present information), budget (figure out whether you have a budget or can only afford free tools), and ease of use (consider productivity-boosting alerts and workflow modules, automation and advanced analytics).

5) Audit social media. Note where you and your competitors are today and use this as a baseline against which you will measure at least once per month.

6) Research your channels. To get the most out of your social media analysis, you must dig deeper: evaluate performance by channel, for yourself and for your competitors, to find which selections are performing well and to help give your numbers specific context.

7) A/B testing. If you have several campaigns out there and are curious about what content is getting the best response, social media measurement can help you to conduct the right analysis to figure out what’s working and what isn’t. You can measure the public’s opinion of things you try.

Social network usage, which has rapidly increased in popularity, will rise sharply in 2010. 127 million people (roughly 57% of all domestic internet users) will visit social network sites on a monthly basis in the United States by the end of the year. A 16% increase since 2009, it is projected that by 2014, 65.8% of Americans will regularly visit these sites.

Move over, Google: Ask.com is reverting back to their old methods. The site, which is beta-testing a new version, is going to have users type in a question to ensure an answer (which was their initial method when the site first started). While Google may point you in a general direction, Ask.com is determined to provide you with a direct answer.

Despite global recession, one particular company is still able to stay on top. Through strategic marketing, demographics, and increased brand awareness, Walmart has managed to trump all. Under new President and CEO Michael Duke, the company has managed to rise above high unemployment and increased gas prices with their international sales, which stand for nearly 25% of their income.

Surely when you think of searching for something on the internet, you don’t take the time to research it anymore: Google is one of the first words to pop into your mind. And when a question arises, we all find ourselves saying “Google it!” without giving it a second thought. Fast and reliable, this powerful company has taken off in recent years as a global giant. And what does that giant do upon realizing that they are on top? They expand, like any smart business would.

With an increase in advertising and the release of new technology (such as cell phones), Google has now revealed plans to expand their ever-popular company in three major ways: mobile, television, and Social Advertising. The company seeks to eliminate difficulties associated with advertising for major publishers by creating effective ads, increasing sales and awareness, and resulting in increased value for Google (and increased money). They see potential in their next three expansions, because, let’s face it: we are a society that is constantly connected to modern technology.

Cell phones: glued to any passerby’s hand at any given moment. Whether checking email, searching directions or simply chatting on Facebook, the internet availability on a cell phone is a major marketing tool. Advertising possibilities exist 24/7, and the location capabilities are phenomenal: if looking up directions for a specific area, Google could easily slip in an advertisement for local fine dining or shopping opportunities.

Television: a major source of relaxation and downtime. While sitting on the couch watching your favorite show, you’re exposed to a large number of ads via commercials. The GoogleTV idea has the ability to take off: with TV content now beginning to turn to IP services (such as cell phone/wireless companies), Google is interested in helping them receive increased revenue from advertisements.

Perhaps the smartest idea (with the ability to succeed the most) is Social Advertising. Facebook, Twitter, MySpace: familiar worldwide names that have taken off in the past five years. The demographic for these three moguls is an opportunistic mixed bag, ranging from pre-teens to senior citizens. This presents all sorts of advertisers with unlimited options and the chance to significantly increase brand awareness, reputation, and revenue. Though specific details have not yet been released in terms of Google’s game strategy, it is not out of the question to picture them starting their own social media site that could reach Facebook and MySpace status. You just never know.

Google, an already major name, has the ideal situation for now, with the possibility of us seeing even more significant moves from them in the near future.

Gary Henderson is teaching SEO at HGTC on Tuesday, March 2 2010.