Four leading brand marketers joined FOCi Group during the Brand Innovators Panel at digiday:SOCIAL. I had the pleasure of moderating top talent from Dial Corporation, Mattel, POM Wonderful and Publishers Clearing House. Each executive was very candid about their strategies, challenges and successes in utilizing social media within their marketing mix. As part of a series of columns, we'll recap the panel highlights. Today's insight: How POM Wonderful Tracked Blogger Outreach to a Clearly-Defined ROI

Andrea Scott, Manager of Interactive Marketing for POM Wonderful, shared how the brand created "bloggers-as-advocates" through targeted outreach efforts. POM shared their passion for pomegranates, educated them and asked them to trial the product.

Because of their focus on transparency and honesty, POM was able to build real relationships with blogs like Living Healthy in the Real World and Choosing Losing (even when certain elements of the outreach rubbed some bloggers the wrong way).

The culminating feature of the year-long program was the POM Wonderful Harvest Tour which invited 14 bloggers on a three-day tour of the POM orchards and processing plant. 

Brandon Gutman: What are some hurdles you encountered on the way?

Andrea Scott: The biggest challenge was how to measure the results and success of the program. Management wanted a clear demonstration of return on investment (ROI). We achieved this by setting specific goals of:

• How many posts we hoped to receive (measuring reach)
• How many comments per post (measuring viral success and additional reach)
• Overall indications on increased brand awareness/education, product trial and sales as inferred through comments on posts

What were the key takeaways from the strategy?

1. Transparency and honesty are essential in building a relationship between a brand and blogger. We were able to go beyond a “blogger product review” and gain brand ambassadors by building a trusted partnership over time.
2. For this type of initiative, keep the number count down. While it was tempting to go with a large group, there was a concern a smaller group may not get us the “bang for our buck.” It was more about the quality of the relationships.
   

Brandon Gutman is a Founding Partner of FOCi Group, a Digital Brand Management™ consultancy building and optimizing digital practices for the Fortune 500 community.  Follow Brandon on Twitter at http://twitter.com/brandongutman.