Twitter. Facebook. YouTube. Blogs. Digg. StumbleUpon. When it comes to social media, these are the tools and web sites that everyone seems to be talking about.

But there is another underlying set of Web 2.0 utilities that more people (businesses specifically) should be discussing — and using — for their ability to truly engage and mobilize a customer sales force.

Leverage Obama's Best Practices for Your Business

I’m referring to some of the companies, products and tips detailed  in the back section of the “Obama Playbook: How Digital Media and Social Media Won the Election,” a 30-page special report put out by MarketingProfs.com this month. I can’t list them all, but here are a few of my favorites (disclaimer: I helped write the report with the incredibly prolific MP.com staff writer Kimberly Smith)

• UserVoice – One of the best ways to get customers involved and engaged, is to give them direct feedback into your product or service. UserVoice makes it easy for customers to do just, allowing them to leave suggestions, and vote on the suggestions of others (wisdom of the crowds). Administrators can let consumers know the status of their suggestions, including whether any are being planned. People just want to be heard — UserVoice.com lets them do that.
• Pluck — These days, consumers expect some of type of social media interaction with nearly any site they visit. Pluck provides the actual tools to help provide these capabilities. Through its on-demand platform, Austin-based Pluck increases enagement through user comments, ratings, recommendations, reviews, photo and video sharing, forums, social networking profiles and more.
• Simplified Messaging –What, this isn’t a product! No, but for all its high-tech wizardry, the Obama’s success was rooted in something very simple: simple, clear, crisp messaging that resonates (hope and change anyone?). You can have the greatest product in the world, but if the messaging is muddled, getting your customers behind it is that much more difficult. As Obama campaign staffer Scott Goodstein notes, messaging that resonates gets pushed around a lot faster.

There’s much more in the report, including analysis of every part of the campaign, from Facebook to email marketing to mobile. There are also interviews with the Obama staffers who made history happen. Become a premium member of MarketingProfs.com today and get your free copy. Let us know what you think!

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