I recently found a nice article at OPENforum written by Erica Swallow ( Twitter @ericaswallow )  pertaining to the inclusion of social media links on your business card. This is a comprehensive article with a number of really good examples, so after you read my summary go ahead and check out the whole thing for yourself at http://bit.ly/aGRACQ .

Erica notes that more and more people are including social media links such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Yotube and others on their business cards. After all in web 3 point oh we want to meet people where they are not force them to meet us at the place of our choosing. In other words simply directing people to your website might not be enough. Ask them to meet you where they like to hang out.

As I have said time and again your business card is simply a convenient way to communicate your contact information so include as many points of contacts as it makes sense to do. Do you have images to share? Maybe it makes sense to direct folks to your Flickr account. Showing videos? Maybe your YouTube channel is the place you want them to go.

Curious whether your business cards are driving traffic to your website? I have heard of some people using bit.ly tiny.url or unique domain names that identify the link as coming only from their business card – - interesting approach.

So don’t be anti-social invite your face-to-face contacts to meet you on the web wherever they are most comfortable. After all it is called “social networking”.

Guest Blogger Alan Chumley

Guest Blogger  – - Alan Chumley

Folks chatting or tweeting about social media measurement love to apply cute acronyms or use alliteration to articulate their thinking or their model on how to measure social media.

Generally, I find that approach lacking.  Great for marketing hyperbole, but light on oomph and methodology.

Prime example:
I read a tweet yesterday about the Four Is:

All were ambitiously and interestingly expressed as a return on…

Insight — Interaction — Investment — or Impact.

Okay.  I am feeling the need to break my own rule and reciprocate with the Seven C’s of social media measurement:

C1.  Counting (site and search metrics–all the appropriate stuff we can and should count)
C2.  Content (analysis, that is.  quantity and quality)
C3.  Conversations (as I like to sometimes call them conversationships)
C4.  Cohesion (are folks agreeing with you – -  with each other – - or  more importantly, are they coalescing around a core theme; idea; or call to action?)
C5.  Community
C6.  Connectedness (via network analysis:  how interconnected, interrelated are the highly engaged; the key influencers; the advocates in a conversation?  How centrally located are those highly engaged; key influentialsl; band advocates?  How far and and how fast is the spread?)
7.  Conversion (Or as I like to say “the so what factor”…getting beyond the output and outtake into the output or impact zone. Here I do not strictly mean conversion to a tangible such as  sales – - it could be conversion toward any measurable MarCom or PA/issues/advocacy-based objective.  Hint on method:  have a look at Tealium or Sysomos Audience.

So how do you measure all this?

 Combine several approaches (such as content analysis, search and site metrics, network analysis, primary research), and have those approaches be flexible enough to account for – - prioritize – - weight,  different objectives and campaign types.

Your thoughts? 

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Alan Chumley has twelve years experience in corporate communication / measurement industry including senior-level, in-house corporate communications roles for leading blue chip organizations such as Bell Canada,  as the Director of Measurement  for Hill & Knowlton, and Vice President at Cormex Media Content Analysis.       

Alan holds an M.A. in communication and culture with research focusing on media effects and uses, audience analysis, reception studies and best practices in PR management and measurement.

In addition to being an adjunct instructor (of research and measurement) at two universities in Canada, Alan is a frequent industry speaker, blogger and tweeter.  

Follow Alam on Twitter @alanchumley