Getting beyond the buzz: Is your social media working?
Companies need a Social GRP to measure and manage the business value of social media.
- October 2012
- By Rishi Bhandari, Jonathan Gordon, and Andris Umblijs
Authors
When General Motors pulled its ad dollars from Facebook, it set off a firestorm of debate about the value of social media. Executives in many C-suites today are asking: How do you compare the effectiveness of a Facebook comment with an ad that runs on TV? Or a tweet with a glossy magazine spread? Am I getting my money’s worth? Good questions, which until now have been impossible to answer.
In a recent survey, we found that 91 percent of companies believe social media doesn’t significantly impact sales. The reality is that it’s hard to say for sure because, in our experience, nobody has demonstrated that they can measure the return on investment (ROI) on social. This metrics blind spot means CMOs can’t make informed spending choices between social and traditional channels.
We believe that social media can have great value as part of a company’s marketing mix – not because of some gut feel but because we can measure it. At one large packaged goods client, for example, we proved that digital had an MROI (marketing return on investment) that was, on average, six times greater than TV. After isolating the effects of digital display from other social content (such as user comments and viral activity), the analysis also found that social media had much higher impact than other digital media. As a result, the company is shifting more than 30 percent of its TV budget to social media.
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Comments (5)
Submit a commentAll in all this is a good article, Social Media has become increasingly important to all kinds of Businesses.
The difficulty of not being able to exactly link ROI to social activities is something Marketers have to get used to. The simple fact that social Campaigns can increase not only Followers and Fans but also people talking about your business shows the success and the potential in Social Media.
But the most important fact for enterprises to accept is that the times of only self-created content is over – customers are now in charge.
Businesses should be focusing on satisfying their clients and the content will automatically be (mostly) positive!
What methodology do you use to quantify the ROI of a social media branding campaign? Is it good old media mix modelling?
The real issue with social media is: are you prepared to take the consequences? (They’re not all good.) Unlike your own websites and social profiles, you can influence social media but you can’t control it. From a C Suite perspective, corporate reputation and branding demands control of all aspects of online presence, including sociability. This means only enterprise-generated content in the top Web and social results positions. From a sales and customer relationship perspective, however, it may be considered desirable to have pages and profiles from outsiders in some of those valuabe top search spots. This leaves the brand open to negative comment, competitive response, brandjacking and more.
Most businesses are just not very good listeners, and Social Media engagement is two-way. Many simply haven’t yet gained the vocabulary and tactical knowledge needed to discuss strategy. Or the corporate culture simply is not supportive enough. One silly-sounding but effective way to master something like blogging is to run a personal blog about a beloved interest/hobby for 3 months. This exercise can create awareness that helps the corporate team be more effective – and a lot of previously-abstract social media concepts are made real. My role as a consultant is to demystify the core concepts… after that, the corporate team tends to run with it.
Social Media is the new buzz today. Every business wants to use it improve their business. One big reason is because it is Free. However, it is a dangerous double edge sword with nearly uncontrollable viral effects. In my opinion, social media marketing comes at a much later period in the life cycel of a business. It works to multiply good vibes from customers and add incremental business. But this happens when the business has all other ingredients right or near right, like a desirable product, right price and delivery mechanism. Experimenting social media too early on may be waste of effort, hopes and can be irreversibly dangerous. It is still a tool for the mature and complete kind of business and should be seen as force multiplier than a stand alone marketing tool.