“I am here for a purpose and that purpose is to grow into a mountain, not to shrink to a grain of sand. Henceforth will I apply ALL my efforts to become the highest mountain of all and I will strain my potential until it cries for mercy.”

Og Mandino
(1923 – 1996)

This week’s question won’t take you more than a moment — a simple “yes” or “no” will do. If you have a Kids’ Club at your mall, do you plan extra programming for it during school holidays? If you want to respond in more detail, please stop by the comments section.

Last week we asked you about social media marketing. By and far, you use Facebook to market your shopping centers, which took 58% of the vote on its own. It certainly allows for the most back-and-forth engagement with your shoppers. Twitter was next, taking 30% of the vote. A small number of you use MySpace, Flickr, custom-built solutions and blogs. And no one uses Bebo (which is probably for the best, as it’s likely to shut down soon), Yelp, Wasabi, social news sites like Digg or social bookmarking sites like Delicious.

We also had a write-in for Kijiji, a classifieds site, and few for None, for those of you not interested in the social media revolution or not ready to commit to any of the above.

Thanks for answering last week’s poll. If you have a second, we look forward to hearing from you on this week’s poll too.

This week, we want to know which social media platforms you use to market your mall and events, and to connect with your shoppers. Please check all that apply, and add any we missed under “Other.”

Are there any social media platforms that have failed to live up to your expectations? Let us know in the comments.

Last week we asked you about prom. The most popular way you mark prom season is with a sales promotion, which took 23% of the votes. Contests, both online an in-mall, took 15% of the vote each. And girls and boys have an equal shot of getting a makeover at your malls, with each taking 8% of the vote. You can see the rest of the results in this week’s newsletter.

It’s prom time, and teenagers are anxiously and eagerly getting ready for their big night. We’re wondering what things you do to help them prepare at your mall. Do you offer makeovers for girls (or boys?), prom fairs, or dress drives? Take a few seconds to let us know, and we’ll tell you what everyone’s doing in next week’s newsletter.

In last week’s poll, we asked you about tourism marketing programs. You told us that you work with a number of partners for your tourism marketing programs, with the most popular being regional tourism boards (13%), municipal tourism boards (11%), and tourism media and hospitality partners (10% each). None of you partner with national tourism boards, however. Is an international reach simply too broad to bring shoppers to your particular mall?

Thanks for taking the time to respond to this week’s poll. We’ll get back to you next week with the results.

Do you plan or participate in tourism marketing programs? From retail tourism to staycations, tourism can be a boon for shopping centers. Who do you partner with to bring tourists to your town and your mall? Take a second to answer our poll, and make sure to select all the relevant options. There’s no registration required.

Meanwhile, last week we asked you about outsourcing. No mall marketer is an island unto him or herself, and many of you told us the areas where you get a little help from your friends.

The big two were Security and Santa. Each took 18% of the total response. There are a lot of great Santa Schools out there, so we’re not surprised to see that you turn to the experts. Relatively few of you outsource your public relations or media relations (6% and 3% of the response, respectively) – we expect that many of you Marketing Directors in the audience are the do-it-yourself types, taking it all on in-house. Of course, just because you don’t outsource doesn’t necessarily mean you’re doing it in-house, so we’ll have to ask about that soon. We also had one write-in answer: Grounds keeping.

If you haven’t yet, please take a second to answer this week’s poll. We’ll bring you the highlights next week.

Last week’s poll asked you about incremental income. According to our poll results, onsite advertising is your favorite method of generating incremental income, with special events sponsorships a close second. On the other hand, none of you have apparently sought out sponsorships of permanent amenities.

This week, we want to know about outsourcing. What services do you outsource? And let us know in the comments what you prefer to do in-house.

This week we’d like to know where you find opportunities to earn your center incremental income. Sponsorships, advertising, rentals? Check all that apply, and if we’ve missed any, fill in the blanks. It will just take a few seconds, and no registration is required. And if you have more to say, please share it in the comments.

This week we’d like to know about sales promotions. Are you a big fan of a sidewalk sales, or do you think they’re overrated? Check all that apply, and if you’ve had any great sales promotions we haven’t thought of, fill in the blanks. It will just take a few seconds, and no registration is required.

This week, we want to know what inspires you. Where do you get your marketing ideas? Please choose as many as apply, and feel free to write in with an “Other” response.