Ford recently deployed idle-screen advertising via mobile phones and devices to help drive interest in its 2010 Taurus. From September through November 2009, the idle-screen ad racked up an enviable 20% average click-through rate. Working with Mobile Posse Inc., a provider of mobile marketing services, Ford increased purchase consideration and referred consumers to the Taurus mobile Web site, where they could view product videos, find a dealer and receive more information.

We recently spoke with Alex Hultgren, who manages digital media planning and budgets at Ford, about the underpinnings of the idle-screen strategy. Here’s a snippet from the full interview on eMarketer Total Access. (Read more…)

If you accept that your company needs to be involved in social media—as most marketers do—then it’s important to figure out where social media fits within your organization.

Tempting as it might be to compartmentalize social media, most companies find that it gets assimilated into various functional teams, including marketing and communications, sales, customer service, human resources, IT and executive management. Firms from Ford Motor Co. to Dunkin’ Donuts to Hewlett-Packard describe social media as a cross-organizational discipline that touches a wide range of functions.

Best Buy, for example, encouraged hundreds of employees to engage with customers who have questions about the company and its products through Twitter. Dubbed Twelpforce, the feed not only deals with customer service issues that arise through social media, but also functions as marketing vehicle, resulting in tweets like this:

While some businesses, like Best Buy or HP, have attempted to integrate social media across the organization, that doesn’t mean that there shouldn’t be a dedicated social media department, or at least an individual in charge of the company’s overall social presence. This is essential, particularly at larger companies with complex structures. This person or team needs to work closely with other departments that participate in the social media effort. Promotion and customer service on Twitter is good, but disseminating information learned from Twitter across the organization to drive results is better. See this recent article from our newsletter for more on measuring ROI on social efforts.

In my recently published report, “Where Does Social Media Fit Within an Organization?,” I discuss in detail how different companies have weaved social media into the corporate fabric and demonstrated success at a variety of levels. A key takeaway:

More and more opportunities will present themselves for companies to use social channels to increase their business. The landscape will change rapidly, so tactics that might have seemed irrelevant in 2009 might be on the table in 2010 or 2011. Stay tuned as social channels evolve and be creative in how they are used within an organization.

Total Access subscribers, log in and view the Insight Briefs now. Learn more about an eMarketer Total Access subscription today.

Ford’s social media chief Scott Monty uses yesterday’s eMarketer article (“Hopes and Fears of Social Media Marketing”) as a jumping-off point to list his “5 Stages of Social Media Grief.” Here’s stage 1:

Denial – first stage of social media grief in which the marketer refuses to acknowledge the existence of social media. This was the case early on in the industry’s development. Luckily, I don’t think there are many companies left that think like this.
Common phrases: “It’s just a kid’s thing,” or “It’s just a fad.”
Common behaviors: avoiding the Internet, putting hands over ears and singing “I can’t heeeeeaaaarr yoooouuuuu. La la laaaaa.”

I think companies are finally moving away from the next stages — anger and bargaining — and toward acceptance. But there’s that pesky “depression” phase to watch out for in between. Where are you in the stages of social media grief?