1. I use it to monitor what’s being said.

By using custom ‘saved’ searches you can easily monitor in real-time any keyword or brand mention. For example if somebody mentions University of Saskatchewan or usask, I am always following to see what’s up in the twitverse.

2. I save time by having other people reccomend reading for me.

I’m interested in a few narrow topics: marketing and fly fishing. I love being connected to people who have similar tastes as I can stay on top of my reading by having my friends make recommendations to me. Nine times out of ten I enjoy the links that get shared.

3. I use it to share posts with my tweeps, hoping they will find value in what I share.

I also spend a fair amount of time reading content that I stumble upon. The odd time I share for others to enjoy too.

4. I help others build traffic by sharing their links and tweets.

Nothing adds value to your tweeps more than helping them spread their message. Retweeting is sometimes more fun than tweeting. Give unto others and they will give unto you.

5. I use it to build traffic for my blog posts.

My blog receives more than double the traffic when I post my links on Twitter. It’s definitely a great way to attract readers.

6. I use it for networking. Tweeps feel like ‘old friends’ when you run into them offline.

There is a kinship among tweeps. We are drawn to each other at conferences. We seek each other out at coffee shops. Online relationships turn into offline friends and colleagues.

PS – Sometimes I use it to tell people what I had for dinner. But, only if it was really, really delicious.

What do you use Twitter for? Leave a comment and add to the discussion.

The digital landscape is complicated and wildly interconnected.

Trying to make sense of this space, from a communications planning perspective, can be a daunting task.

I’ve provided a quick illustration of this; although I only put you in the center of the chart to make you feel good…the reality is the conversation is happening all around you, and you/your organization is probably one of the smaller nodes to the side.

How do you make sense of it all?

The key is to tie your activities back to your original objectives. You need to choose the right tool(s) for the job.

And, a good approach to this is to look at each tool and evaluate which tools are best suited for either building advocacy, raising awareness or driving product trial.

So if the goal is building awareness, you are generally looking at a tool that allows you to ‘interrupt’ your audience. It’s about saying, ‘hey pay attention to me’. In traditional media billboards, newspaper ads, television ads are all aimed at awareness building. Typically your message is short and frequent. The goal is to drive a large amount of traffic into the top of the funnel. In the digital landscape, tools such Google Adwords, Facebook Ads, or even Twitter can be used for this purpose (of course you should also be engaging on Twitter for building advocacy as well).

Once you get a large number of people paying attention to you, the goal is to get them further engaged with you. It’s about building advocacy, and any tool that allows you to connect on a deeper level with an audience is really suited for this task. Most social media tools fall into this category. A blog and LinkedIn are good starting points for most consultants. For businesses you may also want a Facebook fan page.

And, finally, if your goal is increase product trial then you may want to look at offering tools that allow your customers to rate or review your product. Many e-commerce solutions offer this ability and depending on your industry you may look to tools such as Yelp etc.

We all know that setting objectives is the first step in developing a marketing plan. Unless you know where you are going, it really doesn’t matter how you get there.

But, how do you know where to start with setting your marketing objectives?

One useful tool to use in diagnosing your marketing problems and setting your marketing objectives is the marketing effects funnel.

The basic premise of this model is that customers move from some state of unawareness to one of purchasing your product and ultimately becoming loyal advocates.

In some impulse products people move through this funnel very quickly (a good model for low involvement products is AIDA – attention, interest, desire, action) and other times, usually with more expensive or complex products, it takes a long time (think: purchasing education or a car). But, in all cases it’s a logical flow. It’s impossible for somebody to purchase your product without first being aware of it (even in an impulse buy).

So typical marketing objectives should follow the funnel.

But, before you jump into setting objectives with the funnel tool you need to ensure your objectives follow the SMART model:

Specific – Use the model to be specific about which problem you are trying to solve
Measurable – Your objective must be measurable. Every one of the levels on the funnel can be measured.
Achievable – Can you do something about your problems? Yes, you can.
Realistic – Do you have the resources necessary? What would it take?
Time-Bound – Sometime in the future doesn’t work. Set a deadline.

With that out of the way, let’s move on to setting objectives using this model.

Before you get started you need to understand your market. You need to understand who you want to target and where they are in the funnel model.  To do this you will likely need to survey your audience. I won’t get into the details of the surveying methods – you’re likely going to need help from a professional surveying supplier. But, let’s assume you have this information.

The situation: You just launched a new product (product x) and only 20% of your market (Canadians between 15-30) has even heard of your company or your product. Out of that 10% of your market know the benefits of your product, and less than 0.5% have purchase, and liked your product enough to repurchase.

Your objectives might look like this:

Objective One:

Increase awareness of product x from 20% to 40% with 15-30 year old Canadians during 2010-11.

Objective Two:

Education your market about the 3 primary benefits of product x. By the end of 2010-11 20% of your market will be able to cite at least two benefits.

Objective Three:

Increase trial of your product from 0.5% to 10

% within 2010-11.

Once you have the objectives set…it’s time to build the plan. What would you need to do to make all of this happen?