Have a social media wish list? This could help ...

What if there was a way to make a wish for a new feature in your favorite social network?

What if your wish is for a whole new social network to fill a gap in your life?

What if there was a way to take the best features of several social networks to make your own custom network?

You’d likely need a social media fairy godmother to make this happen and while that may seem like a fantasy there is a way to spread the word on your social media wishes … The Social Media Wish Factory.

The Wish Factory is a panel that I and two others are proposing for the SXSW Interactive event in Austin next year.

The idea behind The Social Media Wish Factory is that it would be a place where the panelists would kick off a discussion about new ideas for social media, but very quickly they’d get the audience involved too. If anyone is looking for new ideas for apps or new ways to leverage existing social networks this would be a panel to attend.

The panel might try to answer such questions as ….

Why can’t I sort my Linkedin connections into two, three or four levels of trust based on how well I know them? For example, there is a big difference between someone I once met at a conference and someone I worked with for 20 years.

Why isn’t there a simple way to bring all my social networks together to pay tribute to someone? For example, what can I do if a person I admire passes away and I want to send a message of condolence on all my networks or someone I know does something outstanding and I want to acknowledge that across all my social networks?

What one improvement of a major social platform would make it 100, or 1,000, percent better? For example, why can’t I set alerts on some updates and not others on my favorite social networks?

This is a just a small sampling of what will, I hope, be hundreds of questions and suggestions that spring from this session  at SXSW.

The two people I invited to be panelists are smart, renaissance thinkers about social media and have great ideas about what is still needed in social. They are:

Aaron Strout is  a 20+-year marketing veteran who specializes in the convergence of mobile, social and digital marketing. Aaron is Managing Director at W2O Group where he helps customers with social and mobile strategies. In addition, Aaron is on the advisory board of the Social Media Club and is co-author (with Mike Schneider) of Location-Based Marketing for Dummies.

Deirdre Breakenridge is the CEO at Pure Performance Communications and a veteran in PR and marketing. She has counseled senior level executives at companies such as Hershey’s, JVC, Kraft and Marketwired and is the author of five books (her most recent being Social Media and Public Relations: Eight New Practices for the PR Professional). Deirdre blogs about PR 2.0 strategies and is the co-founder of #PRStudChat, a dynamic Twitter discussion scheduled monthly for PR students, educators and PR pros.

So, there you have it: A panel discussing everything that still needs to be done with and by social media. Would you help such a panel by voting for it? I hope so.

To help make your social media dreams come true please take two minutes to vote here for the The Social Media Wish Factory.

You can also use the comments area here to leave suggestions for the discussion…. Thank you!

Social Marketing: Understand engagement, says Deirdre Breakendridge of Pure Performance

What are the most important social media marketing skills that graduating college students need to understand?

I’m asking three questions of some leaders in the field of social marketing and this is what I learned. This is the tenth in the series (see the links below for other posts in the series).

Deirdre Breakenridge

Today: Deirdre Breakenridge, CEO at Pure Performance Communications, author of several books - including Social Media and Public Relations: Eight New Practices for the PR Professional and PR 2.0: New Media, New Tools, New Audiences - and she can be found on Twitter at @dbreakenridge:

"A successful social marketer knows why they want to engage in social communities," Breakenridge says, "and how a particular program will serve the needs of the audience in the community."

"Marketers who listen first and then develop their programs to solve a problem, change an opinion, create materials to help make decision, offer something exclusive to the members of a community, etc., stand out above the rest," she says.

"The social media marketers who have a well-planned process and a strategic purpose will also make the most impact for the brands they represent.

"They will do research first by listening carefully to the community, set measurable objectives and implement strategic programs to achieve those objectives," Breakenridge says.

"Of course, they also realize that social media creates accountability and these marketers evaluate their initiatives closely to determine if they've reached their social media goals," she says.

What skills are the most important for recent grads in social marketing?

One of the most important is a competency in technology, new tools, resources and applications, Breakenridge says.

"Technology enhances the ability to research and gauge public attitudes.

"Being able to navigate new social media communities and to use monitoring technology allows us to understand the perceptions and the critical issues of the people we want to reach," she says.

"We can hear their thoughts, opinions and concerns, as well as how they discuss topics with their peers."

"Technology also allows professionals to set up detailed metrics to capture measurement that reveals everything from high impact engagement to lower level community participation."

She adds that other important social marketing skills include writing for social media channels, starting a dialogue and engaging directly with customers and influencers, and learning how to listen, evaluate and respond properly to comments that may lead to negative sentiment.

"Social marketing is becoming an increasingly important part of the marketing mix," Breakenridge says.

"From millennials to adults over the age of 65, the number of consumers participating in social media is on the rise.

"However, you have to be cognizant of where your audience congregates," she says.

"Knowing when and how to reach the public is critical to the success of any communications program, whether it's through more traditional or social media channels," Breakenridge says.

"As such you also have to remember that social media measurement doesn't stand alone. You will need additional data to determine how social media contributes to valuable business outcomes or the ROI of an entire marketing program."

Breakenridge says working outside of silos enables PR, marketing, advertising and the web to integrate their programs and to see how social media creates impact as a part of a company's comprehensive marketing plan.

What do you think? How important will social marketing be in the future and what MUST graduating students know?

Related posts:
Social Marketing: Make communication 'special,' says Eric Miltsch of DrivingSales
Social Marketing: A good marketer 'walks the talk,' says Kodak’s Jennifer Cisney
Social Marketing: Its 'part of a nutritious breakfast,' says Christopher Penn of WhatCounts
Social Marketing: Make music to an audience’s ears, says Mahei Foliaki (@Iconic88)
Social Marketing: Clearly connect business objectives, says author Aaron Strout
Social Marketing: Don’t be timid, says Ford’s Scott Monty
Social Marketing: Communication is the key, says Cheryl Burgess of Blue Focus Social Marketing: Hubspot's Sam Mallikarjunan Tells All
Social Marketing: Mark Schaefer on What Students Must Know