Measuring Social Media

There is fierce debate about how to measure the effectiveness, ROI and impact of social media. No one can deny SM has become a credible and ubiquitous channel to connect with everyone: customers, potential customers, the media, the government, your old school, and of course your friends and family.

Brands are spending serious amounts of money building communities, paying bloggers, creating Facebook pages, developing smartphone apps, and many types of “campaigns” using SM as a channel/platform. Naturally marketers are enthusiastic about the new possibilities to earn a paying customer. Now we want the tools to be able to more accurately measure the results.

The ultimate goal of all this “connecting” is to achieve a sale. How the customer became aware, interested and eventually purchased from you is often a complicated combination of online and offline touchpoints. Many solutions try to track the sale through those touchpoints – an uncertain process at the best of times.

Developing a practical solution should start where the sale is recorded: your CRM.

CRM databases are getting better at storing social media profiles, but that is static data. The missing link is that SM platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube don’t allow business accounts to use the activity data from their channels. Data such as followers, mentions, likes, shares, comments and subscribers should be accessible to import into CRM systems so it can be analysed and linked to leads/sales.

Imagine the power of a CRM that provided marketers with end-to-end analysis: from a Facebook ‘like’ to a website visit to an e-newsletter subscription to a brochure request to a store visit to a sale. That is when SM ROI will come of age.

What other aspects of social CRM must be considered? Will the big SM players ever allow their commercial account holders to extract useful data (even for a price)?

What it takes to discover your social star – iMediaConnection.com

“This article provides a great summary about the role of a social media specialist inside an organisation. “

Looking to hire a social media specialist? Here’s a list of key skills to look for, and the tasks your social media manager should — and shouldn’t — be expected to tackle.

View >>

Paying for Twitter

It’s a question on most digital marketers minds: will Twitter survive without a revenue model to underpin it’s operations and expansion? Asked another way, what will be the revenue model that Twitter will adopt to ensure it’s long term survival?

As a committed user I have come to rely on Twitter for news, updates, connections, information, and to follow the fortunes and activities of companies, brands and people. It’s often the first web site I visit each morning, and the last of the day. Using Tweetie on the iPhone makes Twitter easily accessible when I’m on the move.

So could I, and millions of others like me, live without it now?  The short answer is no. It got me thinking “what would I pay to keep using it”?

The value that Twitter adds to my professional and personal life is well worth paying for. By way of example, I have had more success resolving Optus phone and wireless issues by using their Twitter account than by phoning their call centre. Professionally I have connected with some smart people who are supportive and willing to provide real business opportunities.

I would also prefer to pay for an ad-free Twitter. My threshold is about A$25 p.a. Assuming that this was an option, how much would you pay? Answer the poll below and also let me know your thoughts on paying for Twitter.

10 Marketing Ideas For Any Sized Business

I was thinking about how marketing seems to be getting so complicated these days. So I decided to draw up a list of marketing tactics that can reignite a stagnant marketing plan.

1. Set up a survey/poll on your web site. If you don’t have a web site (and why not??) then send it via email. Offer a prize/incentive to people who respond. Ask questions of your customers or prospects that extract useful information to be used in your next marketing strategy or campaign.
2. Make a special offer to your top 5 or 10 customers. It could be as simple as making them aware of a special price you have, or an incentive to make their next purchase sooner rather than later.
3. Select a person to use your product/service for a short period (say one week or month) and ask them to write a blog diary of their thoughts and experiences. Promote this to your target audience on your web site, advertising, social media, etc. and encourage others to comment on the diary. Analyse the comments to look for useful material to use in future marketing plans.
   
4. Run a sale with a difference; use a reverse auction (ideal for retailers). If you’re unfamiliar with reverse auctions read an explanation on the NineMSN site. There are established web sites such as Limbo and Low Bids that you can use to run the auction so it does not require you to invest in new technology.
5. Arrange a spectacular event or buy group discounted tickets to a show, invite your best (and maybe some of your worst) customers. Also include your staff if possible; use the event as a performance incentive.
6. Give your e-newsletter a complete makeover, with a new design and more customised content. If you don’t have an e-newsletter then start one (a good first step is to start collecting customer emails in a database that you can send bulk emails from).
7. Create an online treasure hunt for your customers (only if they’re adept at online interaction). Use social media tools to place clues and publish outcomes on your web site or blog.
8. For businesses that rely on last minute/impulse buying decisions, try using mobile phone messaging to entice your customers to make a purchase. Text them an offer and say they have been chosen to receive a special deal with their next purchase (e.g. a gift or discount).
9. Sponsor a local community event. provide a prize, give a speech, talk to the local paper. provide special offers in conjunction with the event. All with aim of getting publicity in your local area.
10. Set up a blog. If you’re not comfortable writing this, hire a professional to plan and execute this properly so you get maximum benefits of this tactic.

Of course there are many hundreds of ways to market your products or services. Most business owners intuitively know what works best for them. I’d love to hear your suggestions, especially additional ideas to make this a more valuable resource.

I hope this list sparks some new ideas for your business. You’ll note that I have included a wide range of activities that do not all fit neatly under the ‘marketing’ umbrella. Remember that everything you do to create a sale opportunity is marketing – so get out there and make a sale!!  Be sure to let me know if you do action an idea or two, and tell me how it goes.

Blogging as a Marketing Tactic

Marketing strategies and tactics have multiplied in the past decade, due largely to the Internet becoming a bona fide marketing/media channel. One tactic starting to become popular is blogging. This post explores the rationale behind writing a blog to promote a company or brand.

As with all marketing tactics, a blogging plan should be developed within the overall marketing strategy, that dictates the online marketing plan and specifically a social media strategy.  Everything is integrated and a blog is an ideal platform to create content for use in other SM channels such as Twitter (tweet announcements of your latest post), Facebook (link a post to your Facebook Wall/photo album/etc.), or YouTube (support a post topic with a video). A blog also boosts SEM through an increased online presence.

Blogs require regular posts, usually daily or weekly. A blog post must focus on one topic and provide insights, opinions, links and other relevant material on that topic. The benefit of a blog is that it creates a dialogue with readers so the author of the blog can learn what people think about the topic. They are a simple and effective research tool to tap into the minds of people who care enough about your company/brand to respond to the post.

A blog about a company or a brand would be aimed at existing and potential customers. It can describe interesting features of the company/brand, behind-the-scenes information, anecdotal stories supplied by customers, or  news about upcoming launches or updates. In fact anything that gives the public something more than they would normally find on a company web site or an advertisement. Often they are quite conversational in tone and not ‘hard sell’; from this point of view it can serve as key element in customer relationship management.

Writing a blog requires copywriting skills. It should not be left to a junior staff member – or the CEO/CMO who has grand visions of his/her own writing skills. Think of it as if you were publishing a magazine and employ professionals to handle the briefing, writing, editing and publication of the blog.The research is starting to indicate how much blogging is helping SMEs to market themselves. A 2009 study of 1500 clients by HubSpot revealed some startling statistics; read about the results here.

I found a delightful example of a small town cookie company that was literally saved by a blog. Do you know of any company/brand blogs that are achieving success in some way? Or is there a blog that is not performing too well? Please share your experiences and examples here.

Measuring the ‘sociability’ of a company

There is a need for a professional measurement criteria to determine how “social” a company is – or isn’t.

Below I have begun thinking about an approach to this issue by identifying the numerous reasons, or strategic rationales, why a company would want to be connected to it’s customers, prospects and the wider community.

1. Listen

Various social media channels allow companies to set up “camp” online and listen to what people are saying about them. It may be a Facebook fan page, a blog, a specialist forum site, a YouTube channel, or a Twitter account. There are numerous listening posts and some of these should be a foundation of a social media strategy.

2. Converse

Actually saying something of value to the community of friends/fans/followers/etc. is the next tangible step a company can take when they’re “being social”. This can take many forms and requires qualified and intelligent company representatives to be responsible for online publishing (this seems obvious but its amazing how poor some company/brand communicators are).
3. React

One of the biggest areas of opportunity to constructively use social media is when a crisis or negative issue arises. The banks, telcos, airlines and other major service-based organisations are the prime suspects in this matter. How a company responds to the issue via public social networks is often as critical to the outcome as the actual compensation or redress they offer the aggrieved customer.

4. Crowd-sourcing

An increasingly popular form of “being social” is to reach out to the community via social networks to invite ideas and feedback about a specific topic. It might be to come up with a new product name, or a home-made advertising campaign, or to conduct a test marketing program. There are many opportunities to use social networks to reach out to the community with the promise of rewards and publicity for those who “win” or have their entry broadcast to a wider audience.

5. Integrate

An essential element of a successfully social media strategy is how well your conduct in social media networks aligns your company or brand with all other customer communications. It’s potentially disastrous to act online as a highly “social” organisation if this does not match up with behaviours in other areas such as customer service, product availability, price competitiveness, green and philanthropic credentials, etc.

Can you nominate other strategies or tactics that a company can be put into action using social media? What other ways can a company “be social” online?

The Internet is Changing The Workplace.

The Internet has become vitally important to every part of an organisation, not just the marketing folks. The sales team need it to generate leads and locate customers. The customer service people need it to listen to what customers are saying and to connect directly with customers. Managers need it to make better decisions. IT needs it to do many of their tasks. Gen Y employees need it to socialise and be entertained.

Looking at all parts of a company identifies the many ways to better manage the Internet as a vital cog in your business. Some of the tools that may be relevant to use in your company are:

• Micro-sites focused on a single idea/product/service
• E-commerce to facilitate online sales
• MSN, Skype or Twitter
• Facebook, LinkedIn or Plaxo
• E-newsletters
• Company Wiki
• Mobile-optimised web site (WAP)
• Online polls and surveys
• Blogs and forums

For any business thinking of expanding their Internet presence, it pays to think about how all of your business needs to access and share information online. My advice to clients is to step back, take a ’1000 feet’ view of how, why and where your company can take advantage of the Net and then draw up a cohesive plan to harness the power of online communications.

How is the Internet changing your company’s business practices? Can you add to my list above, or share a good example from your own experience? Post your comments and experiences below.