Two dimensional QR codes have been alive and abroad for several years and yet, the U.S. hasn’t quite taken to them.  Customers and users still aren’t sure what to do with them or why they’re on packages and posters. The early adopters didn’t spread as quickly as other technologies that were more tangible.

Marketers must educate the public about using the QR codes, why they are useful and why they are integral to our mobile world. Perhaps they’ve been marketed wrong or not at all – there certainly was no debut like the unveiling of the iPad2 so the codes have largely fallen under the radar. B2B Magazine found that “1% of U.S. mobile phone owners and 5% of smartphone owners had used a 2D barcode scanner in the previous three months” (B2B 3.14.11, p.11).

The importance of the QR code is its ability to act as a bridge between our physical and printed world to the virtual world. The 2D codes offer a direct line to further information for consumers. Post™ Cereals, Macy’s and art museums now sport the codes as another way to attract their audience to the continued conversation (discounts, events, consumer appreciation, surveys, give-aways, contests) and further strengthen the feedback loop. The inherent risks of the technology are broken links, codes that aren’t compatible with users’ mobile devices and thus loss of interest. Given time to develop and greater accessibility this could be the new technology with which the U.S. finally gets on board.

A huge SNAFU happened a few weeks ago with two large companies, Chrysler and AFLAC, all thanks to two individual Twitter accounts.

An employee at New Media Strategies let slip an f-bomb and slammed Detroit drivers in what they thought was a personal account and turned out to be the @ChryslerAutos account. Regardless of which account was used, the tweet was a red flag warning for agencies and companies.

Gilbert Gottfried whose famously grating voice has been tethered to the AFLAC duck was released from the position for insensitive tweets following the devastation wreaked by tsunamis that hit Japan several weeks ago.

Some may argue that there is a steep learning curve for social media but I’d like to bring back the old adage “If you wouldn’t want it published on the front page of the New York Times, then don’t say it”. The employee did not verbalize these thoughts but social media is the new dialogue, the new conversation.  Facebook, Twitter and blogs are our second generation vocal cords with which we communicate with one another.

Judgment was swift: New Media Strategies was down an employee and Gilbert Gottfried was no longer quacking his way to insurance holders. Now the debate rages: who should control a company’s social media messaging?  The break-down of silos between marketing, communications and public relations is the key to successful messaging. Without complete integration and constant communication, a company’s messaging can run into snags which global media outlets will happily document.

Since its advent, savvy business people have known that there was great value to be tapped by using social media as a way to promote, grow and raise awareness for their businesses.  The problem has long been the ability to justify spending on an area that many feel is not able to be accurately measured.

Contrary to that belief, it is possible to calculate the ROI of social media campaigns accurately, and with full details.  Jamie Turner, chief content officer of the 60 Second Marketer, writes on Mashable.com,

“If you’re going to calculate the ROI of your social media campaign, you’re going to have to know math. That may come as a disappointment to people who thought social media was only about accumulating Twitter followers or monitoring Facebook ‘Likes,’ but it’s true. The future of social media is about math, metrics and monetization.”

Three Categories to Measure

According to Turner there are three categories of social media measurement that you need to be aware of in order to fully understand the value a social media campaign is bringing to the table:

• Quantitative metrics
• Qualitative metrics
• ROI metrics

Each social media stat should be accompanied by a follow-up question: What action can I take? At LoSasso Advertising Inc., we make it a priority to use these metrics to show our clients how their social media campaign is performing.  We track the metrics, run reports and monetize the value of a social media campaign in order to accurately show our clients how it can provide a valuable return on investment.

Here are a few of the metrics LoSasso’s social media team analyzes when it comes to measuring social media campaigns.

Quantitative Metrics

• Outbound Tweets
• Followers added or lost per week
• Retweets by followers
• Click-throughs
• Customer service correspondence
• Mentions of brand name
• Reach
• Engagement
• Blog posts per week

Qualitative Metrics

• Reason for Retweets
• Who is Retweeting your message
• Number of lists you’re on
• Loyalty
• Positive/Negative mentions
• Content visualization with StreamGraphs

ROI Metrics

• Conversions
• Direct sales

Driving content to the web continues to rise through corporate blogging. The adoption of this strategy can be leveraged to drive brand interaction and lead generation. We have found that a strategic focus on this activity improves opportunity in many areas of online marketing. The most successful marketing efforts are those that benefit the customer. When you tie solid content into a well defined online marketing strategy, you multiply the value of your marketing from your customers point of view. With the right approach, your use of social media, search marketing, email, and online advertising will become a valuable source of information and will position your brand as a resource to your customers.

e-Marketer has just distributed some statistics that suggest that this is catching on.

Mediaweek reports that the Chicago Tribune is launching a new website combining social media, e-commerce, blog, news content and advertorials in one, convenient platform.

According to the video promo, “Chicago Now” is being described as “Huffington Post meets Facebook for Chicago.” It will be a way for users to engage with each other and advertisers in real-time.

The site is expected to go live in June and is intended to feature local celebrities like Steve Dahl—a popular radio personality—to draw in viewers.

The site will use targeted advertising techniques such as e-sponsorships, e-commerce and advertorial campaigns rather than traditional banner and display ads.

With the addition of “Chicago Now” to the Chicago Tribune brand, the media outlet hopes to capture 35 percent of local web traffic.This is an aggressive attempt by the Chicago Tribune to stay relevant as emerging competitors like ESPNChicago and the Huffington Post continue to gain valuable traffic. The video promo boasts that, to date, no media company has created anything like “Chicago Now.”

As consumers continue to choose online media options over traditional forms of media like print newspapers, news sources are forced to search for new ways to stay profitable.

Just last month Denver’s Rocky Mountain News closed its doors after 150 years. According to Time, 10 other major newspapers are on the brink of closing or switching to online production only.

Seattle’s Post Intelligencer is one of many newspapers considering switching to online-only versions in order to stay in business. The newspaper parent company Hearst will likely stop printing if they have not found a buyer by March 10.

According to an article on mashable.com Seattle P-I may try releasing an online Version of Newspaper. Some believe that the online-only local newspaper has a better chance surviving in today’s market than conventional newspapers.

This would significantly reduce a lot of the costs associated with operating a traditional print newspaper. It would completely do away with the costs of printing, delivery, and travel for its reporters. By keeping a local spin on content, the Seattle P-I should be able to maintain a solid reader base and also bring in ad revenue from local businesses.

The Chicago start-up,The Printed Blog has another take on how to bring the newspaper into the 21st century. According to an article in the New York Times The Printed Blog “plans to reprint blog posts on regular paper, surrounded by local ads, and distribute the publications free in big cities.”

The creator of The Printed Blog believes that by printing a newspaper that consists entirely of blogs and other user-generated content, they can tap into the boom in success of online news sites.

This concept embraces the concept of the free, user-generated content of the internet that has become so popular, but provides it in a more traditional print format. Like the Seattle P-I, they also plan on raising ad revenue through local businesses. They believe that the local focus will ensure they stay relevant to their readership.

According to another article on mashable.com the UK’s Guardian has also updated its business model by providing its content free for anyone. This method is called the Open Platform. They will let anyone use their content on their site or web service. They will maintain a revenue stream by attaching ads directly onto the duplicated content.

It’s too early to say which business model will be more successful, but as newspapers continue to suffer in these difficult times it is clear that change is in the air.

As companies struggle with funds and advertising budgets are cut, more corporations are gravitating towards the strong pull of Social Media.

I recently came across an article called, “Presenting: 10 of the Smartest Big Brands in Social Media.” The following is a list and brief description of the top five.

1. Will it Blend?
Blendtec created a YouTube series called “Will It Blend,” where Tom Dickson, Blendtec CEO attempts to blend different objects in their blender. The successful series led to a five-fold increase in sales.

2. How much is a Whopper worth to you?
Burger King launched a Facebook application that awarded users a free Whopper for every ten Facebook friends they sacrificed. Over 233,906 friends were sacrificed in less than a week.

3. “My Starbucks Idea”
Starbucks created a site that allows users to post suggestions and vote for their favorite ideas. The most popular suggestions are submitted and reviewed. There’s even a blog—“Ideas in Action”—that gives updates on the status of suggested changes.

4. The CEO Blog.
Jonathan Schwartz, CEO of Sun Microsystems, kept a blog on the company’s website. The site received an average of 400,000 hits per month its first year. The site’s main appeal was its openness; Positive, negative, and ridiculous comments were all approved and posted.

5. IBM’s Blog Network.
Instead of creating a single blog, IBM created an entire network of blogs, allowing their employees to write about their experiences. Readers were offered business and technology expertise and an uncensored look behind the scenes.

Click Here to Read Them All!

Oscar Mayer recently ran this full-page ad in Newsweek.

It seems to be working.

Many bloggers are asking why the company would run an ad aimed at Generation X in Newsweek, a magazine read by the older crowd.

Think about it. It wasn’t aimed at Generation X at all. Words like “blogworthy,” are thrown around like crazy in publications made for younger readers, who rarely raise a brow. The ad probably came as a surprise to the Newsweek readers, who are more familiar with ads for phone companies, health care, and higher education. (And who doesn’t love surprises?)

But, more importantly, it also may have caused a chuckle…perhaps even a momentary feeling of hip-ness. This ad leads me to the painful memories of my father proudly learning the chorus to “Who Let the Dogs Out,” and singing it whenever my friends came over. The Newsweek readers are proud of themselves for getting the joke, and they’re blogging to prove their coolness.

Nonetheless, I do find it surprising that Oscar Mayer didn’t take this as an opportunity to mention their own blog: The Hotdogger Blog, where many delight in following the Wienermobile’s journey across America. The classic company has filled the company with new media like Twitter, Flickr, and Google maps. I even found a beautiful collection of desktop backgrounds!

Who would have thought Oscar Mayer would be such a leader in the new media revolution?

Hmm…Perhaps I’ll teach my dad how to download an MP3 next time I see him. I haven’t heard the Oscar Mayer song in forever.

You know it’s time to get on the social media bandwagon when even the Vatican has its own YouTube channel.

The channel features video and audio footage of Pope Benedict XVI’s speeches and news available in four different languages.

The 81-year-old Pope wisely said, “You must find ways to spread—in a new manner—voices and pictures of hope, through the internet, which wraps all of our planet in an increasingly close-knitted way.”

Amen to that!

Respective channels have been made for President Obama, the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, Queen Elizabeth, the UK Parliament, and Queen Rania of Jordan.

President Obama’s use of YouTube videos to address the nation seems to be the 21st century’s version of FDR’S “Fireside Chats.” After a successful campaign, with over 1,800 YouTube videos propelling him to victory, Obama has decided to deliver a four-minute message over the popular web service every week.

I wonder if he’ll ever allow comments.

There are tens of millions of blogs in the world churning out countless posts every day – a tsunami of information. A good RSS feed reader can assist in keeping track of blogs once you find them, but with so much noise in the blogoshpere, finding the best blogs on the topics that interest you can be daunting.

That’s where Alltop.com comes in. Billed as an “online magazine rack” of popular topics, Alltop lists the 5 most recent posts for the top 50-100 blogs on each of the various topics covered. The searchable list of topics runs the gamut from politics to astrology – social media to fantasy football. You can click through to the full post or (delightfully more time saving) mouse over and read the first paragraph of each. This is why I can’t get enough of Alltop – it’s a remarkable tool for keeping up with the flood of information in a remarkably short amount of time. So simple, yet so useful.

If you already know about Alltop, you know what I mean. If not, it’s definitely worth looking into.

David Fabbri is Creative Director of LoSasso Advertising Inc., a Chicago based interactive agency specializing in content marketing strategies and customer acquisition for leading B2B and consumer brands. (See more posts by David)