Marketers, here is a social media recipe with some zing. You can build an opt-in network of followers for just about any objective you want: new product launch, latest bargains, thought leadership, consumer engagement. The ingredients are all here if used with healthy amounts of honesty, transparency, and interaction. Let’s take a comprehensive look at a handful of technologies that will make a succulent dish and we’ll use one of my favorite places to shop: the outdoor recreation retailer REI. Disclaimer: I’m also an REI member, but so are thousands of other people. I don’t own stock and they don’t pay me for anything. Here’s a recipe I’d love them to try:

1) Create a Twitter profile for REI Outlet and build a following. Dell Outlet did it (http://twitter.com/delloutlet) and received an award from the Society for Ne w Communications Research. REI can build a larger following in 2008 across its wide variety of constituents: campers, cyclists, kayakers and on and on.

2) The Twitter piece can tie into a microsite with a combination REI expert- and user-generated content for REI Adventure. Right now, www.rei.com has nice photos and text, but I’m at a loss as to why they are not taking advantage of a variety of media to embrace the visitor. Give us more: more personality, more views, more experience. REI is all about outdoors — take us there.

3) Then REI Adventures (their travel packages division) can use Utterz and Flicker to create instant posts of audio, video or pictures from hikers on its Zion National Park trip, with its unique hoodoos rock formations, or other campers photographing a grizzly in Denali National Park – from a safe distance of course. Bring the trip to life for customers’ family and friends, those researching on REI.com and those following REIcamping or REIcanoeing or REIhiking on Twitter, Utterz or any other site built for easy content creation. I bet some of REI Adventures customers have twittered from a trip already. Some have posted on YouTube like this REI Costa Rica cycling trip.

4) Then, enhance the Web and in-store experience by creating “buying guide” podcasts and/or vidcasts (with RSS feeds, of course) by area of the store. These could be downloaded to portable devices or played on the Web site. I realize the REI Web site is full of great information, but are you asking the customer to print stuff and bring it in? That’s not very green. Instead, post audio and video to download, which will add even more “green” to the REI marketing effort.

5) Lastly, bring all of these aspects of REI together with a social network, either on the REI site or another location like Facebook, Ning or MySpace. At the very least, by using blogs on the REI site, enthusiasts can share their experiences together under the REI banner.

As an REI enthusiast, I’d love to see part or all of this implemented. The interesting part of social media is that people can do this themselves without REI’s blessing, but I believe the store and brand are such a strong presence, that it is missing an opportunity by not participating in social media. Now what do you think about that?

Time 32:16

Plenty of attention is given to participating in blogs, join the conversation, be open, be authentic, yada yada yada. The early adopters have tested the social media space with ample case studies for dozens of new books and information for panel discussions.

The hidden winners in the blogosphere who get a fraction of the fanfare are market researchers. This podcast is dedicated to the corporate executives who are skeptics of joining the conversation, but as you’ll hear here, have considerable reason to at least listen to it, it being first the podcast and then the thousands of conversations taking place on the web daily.

Look at just one segment of commentary and social media, www.tripadvisor.com, they have more than 10 million reviews of hotels. Forrester research shows that 36 percent of travelers look at reviews and of them, 73 percent report the reviews affect their choices. More from an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer – It’s just the tip of the iceberg known as the blogosphere, but in reality is a bunch of people talking just like they do at parties, conference rooms, or ball games. The only difference is online, you can listen in on them.

This podcast is the second and concluding episode of a conversation with Umbria founder Howard Kaushansky. Umbria, at www.umbrialistens.com is one of a handful of companies that provide detailed insights into what people are taking about in blogs, and reviewers’ comments on the web and to a great extent who is saying it.

The bottom line is this

1) There are millions of comments being made on the web about nearly every industry or profession.
2) Even if your company has no intention of starting a blog, the comments that exist can provide significant insight into your company, your competitors, and your market.
3) Blogs and social media is not just a playground of the younger generation, middle age baby boomers use social media, blogs, and travel sites just as much as the 18 -24 year old set.

On another note, Marketing Edge listener Alison Coffey is the winner of the Join the Conversation book drawing. Our next book is Paul Gillin’s The New Influencers. To throw your name in the drawing send me an email at marketingedge@providentpartners.net with the words New Influencers in the subject line.