Top ideas from ad:tech San Francisco 2010

I was a little disappointed with last year’s ad:tech conference in Paris, but this year’s event in San Francisco was quite good. All the leading advertising technology companies were represented, and I enjoyed learning what they are working on.

Some highlights and thoughts from the sessions I attended:

> Why is social media a marketing function? We have traditionally designated the web, and now social media, as the primary responsibility of marketing, but to succeed online today, we need to abandon this thinking.

> When building your social media team, include person from every department: management, marketing, PR, product development, customer service, etc

> Social media is a feedback loop: before, during, after transaction. Engage at each point.

> Some ad agencies are now optimizing landing pages around ‘who’ you know, not ‘what’ you know. Including connections from networks like Facebook gives a personal connection to the company.

> Starbucks was used as a good example of listening to customer suggestions, and acting on them. Their contest to submit ideas for improvement generated 80,000 ideas, and they have implemented 200 so far. (That is 2 ideas, every week, for the past 2 years) Are you doing something similar?

> Tracking online reputation should not just be aggregating reviews. Use a tool that gives you insight into trends and patterns.

> ROI is difficult to compare across platforms. Instead, compare ROO – Return on Objectives.

> Social media is the richest focus group that ever existed

> Social ROI is from insights, not necessarily sales

> Segment your email list by personas (not purchase history)

> Don’t try to buy social media fans. Avoid the “campaign” mindset, and understand that forming the relationships for a great online community will take years.

I’ll expand on many of these concepts in the days to come…