Comments on: The Biggest Lie in Social Media Marketing http://www.businessesgrow.com/2009/07/20/the-biggest-lie-in-social-media-marketing/ Marketing. Social Media. Humanity. Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:22:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Ross Hall http://www.businessesgrow.com/2009/07/20/the-biggest-lie-in-social-media-marketing/#comment-2413 Ross Hall Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:02:41 +0000 http://businessesgrow.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/the-biggest-lie-in-social-media-marketing#comment-2413 Agree 100% with this one. Unfortunately marketing people have gotten away with not being measured on financial success, but on some esoteric concept such as "page views" or "brand perception." Bottom line - my local shop doesn't accept "conversion rate" when I want milk.... Agree 100% with this one. Unfortunately marketing people have gotten away with not being measured on financial success, but on some esoteric concept such as “page views” or “brand perception.”

Bottom line – my local shop doesn’t accept “conversion rate” when I want milk….

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]]> By: Jeff Swanson http://www.businessesgrow.com/2009/07/20/the-biggest-lie-in-social-media-marketing/#comment-161 Jeff Swanson Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:18:08 +0000 http://businessesgrow.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/the-biggest-lie-in-social-media-marketing#comment-161 There does seem to be some misleading information about social media and ROI. An article I read today, which you can see below, is titled How to Track Your Twitter ROI, but never gets to a point where they uncover an ROI.<br /><br />The article basically tells how to track engagement using various tool. It explains this well, but tracking followers, etc. is no the same as ROI because money is not involved, as you have mentioned.<br /><br />http://om.ly/IFBB There does seem to be some misleading information about social media and ROI. An article I read today, which you can see below, is titled How to Track Your Twitter ROI, but never gets to a point where they uncover an ROI.

The article basically tells how to track engagement using various tool. It explains this well, but tracking followers, etc. is no the same as ROI because money is not involved, as you have mentioned.

http://om.ly/IFBB

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]]> By: Robin Cavonius http://www.businessesgrow.com/2009/07/20/the-biggest-lie-in-social-media-marketing/#comment-160 Robin Cavonius Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:20:14 +0000 http://businessesgrow.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/the-biggest-lie-in-social-media-marketing#comment-160 what a brilliant post!<br /><br />there are so many ways to measure the success of social media but ROI (financial) is not the way. In addition I think all marketers should remember that another massive benefit is that we no longer need to pay a research company millions of dollars to tell us what our customers want. Instead social media enables us to keep our ears clsoer to the ground and listen to our customers on an ongoing basis. <br /><br />Robin what a brilliant post!

there are so many ways to measure the success of social media but ROI (financial) is not the way. In addition I think all marketers should remember that another massive benefit is that we no longer need to pay a research company millions of dollars to tell us what our customers want. Instead social media enables us to keep our ears clsoer to the ground and listen to our customers on an ongoing basis.

Robin

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]]> By: thebrandbuilder http://www.businessesgrow.com/2009/07/20/the-biggest-lie-in-social-media-marketing/#comment-159 thebrandbuilder Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:49:43 +0000 http://businessesgrow.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/the-biggest-lie-in-social-media-marketing#comment-159 Thank you. It's nice to run into the occasional bit of common sense these days. I've been writing about this for several months now. <br /><br />You and I are going to get along. :) Thank you. It's nice to run into the occasional bit of common sense these days. I've been writing about this for several months now.

You and I are going to get along. :)

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]]> By: Ryan Taft http://www.businessesgrow.com/2009/07/20/the-biggest-lie-in-social-media-marketing/#comment-158 Ryan Taft Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:46:19 +0000 http://businessesgrow.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/the-biggest-lie-in-social-media-marketing#comment-158 Thanks Susan. Quick question - how do you go about tracking lifetime spend for each customer? I guess through e-commerce sites it can be relatively easy. For brick & mortar stores, I'd imagine they'd have to have some type of key card - think ur grocery store card that tracks who they are and how much they're spending, correct? Thanks Susan. Quick question – how do you go about tracking lifetime spend for each customer? I guess through e-commerce sites it can be relatively easy. For brick & mortar stores, I'd imagine they'd have to have some type of key card – think ur grocery store card that tracks who they are and how much they're spending, correct?

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]]> By: Trey Pennington http://www.businessesgrow.com/2009/07/20/the-biggest-lie-in-social-media-marketing/#comment-157 Trey Pennington Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:56:41 +0000 http://businessesgrow.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/the-biggest-lie-in-social-media-marketing#comment-157 Great start Mark. I think we'll all find that measuring ROI for social media isn't really that challenging. Olivier Blanchard http://twitter.com/thebrandbuilder has written an 8 part SMROI series that clears the whole thing up. And, yes, ROI is exclusively a dollar denominated (or percentage) measure. If you're not measuring dollars back in/dollars out, then you're not measuring ROI.<br /><br />That being said, Dave Lahkani makes a good point in his new point: the discussion about social media ROI is an excuse. Because people touting social media keep talking in circles about ROI, executives know they can squash a new idea just by questioning "ROI." Besides, they sound really smart using an acronym.<br /><br />Do those same executives debate the ROI of their executive perks? Their bonuses? Conferences? Or, do they really spend that much time pondering the ROI for THEIR favorite media? <br /><br />I once worked with a large B2B firm that spent 1/2 of it's entire marketing/advertising/PR/IR budget on display advertising in trade magazines. Even after I showed them a media buyer's study documenting their target market did not read the trade pubs, they continued the trade flight. Why? Because their head-to-head competitor did. (I wonder if the competitor was doing the same thing!)<br /><br />Bottom line: we need to merely document the impact engagement through social media has on financial performance and be bold at engaging while we do.<br /><br />Oh, and, we should continue to read what Mark and Olivier have to say. Great start Mark. I think we'll all find that measuring ROI for social media isn't really that challenging. Olivier Blanchard http://twitter.com/thebrandbuilder has written an 8 part SMROI series that clears the whole thing up. And, yes, ROI is exclusively a dollar denominated (or percentage) measure. If you're not measuring dollars back in/dollars out, then you're not measuring ROI.

That being said, Dave Lahkani makes a good point in his new point: the discussion about social media ROI is an excuse. Because people touting social media keep talking in circles about ROI, executives know they can squash a new idea just by questioning "ROI." Besides, they sound really smart using an acronym.

Do those same executives debate the ROI of their executive perks? Their bonuses? Conferences? Or, do they really spend that much time pondering the ROI for THEIR favorite media?

I once worked with a large B2B firm that spent 1/2 of it's entire marketing/advertising/PR/IR budget on display advertising in trade magazines. Even after I showed them a media buyer's study documenting their target market did not read the trade pubs, they continued the trade flight. Why? Because their head-to-head competitor did. (I wonder if the competitor was doing the same thing!)

Bottom line: we need to merely document the impact engagement through social media has on financial performance and be bold at engaging while we do.

Oh, and, we should continue to read what Mark and Olivier have to say.

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]]> By: MARK W. SCHAEFER http://www.businessesgrow.com/2009/07/20/the-biggest-lie-in-social-media-marketing/#comment-156 MARK W. SCHAEFER Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:49:41 +0000 http://businessesgrow.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/the-biggest-lie-in-social-media-marketing#comment-156 At the end of the day, it HAS to be about the money but I also recognize it is VERY difficult to quantitatively measure everything, especially when the tools to do that are still emerging. The blog will turn to qualitative measures, starting tomorrow. <br /><br />Thanks everyone for engaging. I'm learning a lot from you and you are filling my head with new article ideas!! At the end of the day, it HAS to be about the money but I also recognize it is VERY difficult to quantitatively measure everything, especially when the tools to do that are still emerging. The blog will turn to qualitative measures, starting tomorrow.

Thanks everyone for engaging. I'm learning a lot from you and you are filling my head with new article ideas!!

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]]> By: Susan Fantle http://www.businessesgrow.com/2009/07/20/the-biggest-lie-in-social-media-marketing/#comment-155 Susan Fantle Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:09:11 +0000 http://businessesgrow.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/the-biggest-lie-in-social-media-marketing#comment-155 Hooray for you Ryan, a real direct marketer. My ROI on social media is pretty simple. How many new clients can I track back to my social media exposure, and does the lifetime spend of these clients cover the time and cost of my social media efforts. Of course you are right Mark, it's all about money. Hooray for you Ryan, a real direct marketer. My ROI on social media is pretty simple. How many new clients can I track back to my social media exposure, and does the lifetime spend of these clients cover the time and cost of my social media efforts. Of course you are right Mark, it's all about money.

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]]> By: Ryan Taft http://www.businessesgrow.com/2009/07/20/the-biggest-lie-in-social-media-marketing/#comment-154 Ryan Taft Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:27:43 +0000 http://businessesgrow.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/the-biggest-lie-in-social-media-marketing#comment-154 It's real simple, if you're running a campaign through social media tools and the call to action is to buy a product/service you're selling, be sure to offer something of value to the customer/connection (such as a discounted price, free giveaway, etc.) for mentioning a key phrase or supplying a unique identifier (if purchasing online). This way you'll be able to track any orders coming directly from those social media marketing campaigns. There's your ROI. <br /><br />If you have no call to action, you fail anyway...so make sure you tie in a unique phrase/identifier so you can track sales.<br /><br />Best,<br /><br />Ryan Taft<br />http://www.squidoo.com/Catalyst-Marketers It's real simple, if you're running a campaign through social media tools and the call to action is to buy a product/service you're selling, be sure to offer something of value to the customer/connection (such as a discounted price, free giveaway, etc.) for mentioning a key phrase or supplying a unique identifier (if purchasing online). This way you'll be able to track any orders coming directly from those social media marketing campaigns. There's your ROI.

If you have no call to action, you fail anyway…so make sure you tie in a unique phrase/identifier so you can track sales.

Best,

Ryan Taft
http://www.squidoo.com/Catalyst-Marketers

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]]> By: MARK W. SCHAEFER http://www.businessesgrow.com/2009/07/20/the-biggest-lie-in-social-media-marketing/#comment-153 MARK W. SCHAEFER Wed, 22 Jul 2009 02:20:38 +0000 http://businessesgrow.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/the-biggest-lie-in-social-media-marketing#comment-153 Wow. You guys blow me away. Terrific insights. Thank you so much!<br /><br />Brent, the article series tomorrow turns to this tricky question of social media's role in brand-building. Certainly a powerful opportunity! Wow. You guys blow me away. Terrific insights. Thank you so much!

Brent, the article series tomorrow turns to this tricky question of social media's role in brand-building. Certainly a powerful opportunity!

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