Taking the Sizzle out of Social Media

Is your social media strategy something that's measurable? Hopefully its part of a MULTI CHANNEL approach and is an ENGAGING presence for your brand and not a cost cutting savior to winning new customers in a down economy (GDP growth was 1.8% last quarter). First email, now social media, mobile, what's next? All great tactics but everything has its place. Executing social media is becoming "the thing to do" — but is it relevant enough given your target audience and brand marketing objectives?

Consider the multi channel approach and view social media as an additional channel — part of your big picture strategy. Facebook might be your new landing page or micro site but how are you driving traffic there? Traditional media is not going away any time soon and neither is social media — so leverage both in unison to achieve maximum ROI. 

Think customer centric and engage your existing customers. Social media is a great way to keep up with and reward loyal customers who are already familiar with your brand — exclusive offers, promotions, and more. Your brand now has a chance to control the message, deliver more value and that is a cost effective form of engagement.

"Likes" and "Followers" are NOT a metric for measuring results. Kinda like how "hits" to your web site don't seem to add up. Doesn't matter how many you have its' all about converting those eyeballs into customers that drive real sales. Easier for some companies to measure than others but the effort needs to be made. Do you have a metric that converts "Likes" or "Followers" into actual revenue — if you've got one please send it my way ASAP.

"Clicks" from social media sites are LESS effective than search — I've got a stat for this one. Consider this study by emarketer:

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1008357

"Users" are NOT customers and that's a big difference/challenge for Facebook, Twitter, etc. Do you know the percentage of active users that are your potential customers on targeted social media sites? Trying to reach your customer when they are idle and not active will not yield results. Not every user is as plugged in or engaged as you'd think. In every way social media is still a niche channel and not a big Superbowl party. Some people feel social media is just too big not to turn a shoulder on any type of measurement and feel they don't need it right now — this type of "me too" strategy rarely leads to any success.

Looking to get a handle on measuring social media? Check out this report from Marketing Sherpa: 

http://www.sherpastore.com/SocialMarketingBMR.html

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