A double-standard on social media marketing?

Jul 24th

1 comment

If you’ve been reading the blog posts this week about social media and measurement, you owe it to yourself to read the fascinating comment section under the article The biggest lie in social media marketing. Smart people read this blog!!

One commentary from Trey Pennington reflects a common obstacle for many of us — a clear management double standard regarding social media versus traditional channels:

I think we’ll all find that measuring ROI for social media isn’t really that challenging … 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 post: 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.

This is Part Six of a series examining social media marketing measurement.

Part 2: Social media ROI shock treatment

Part 3: Irresponsible social media measurement research

Part 4: Social media impact on brand equity

Part 5: The most important question to ask in social media marketing

Part 6: A double standard for social media marketing?

Part 7: Yes, it IS about the money!

Part 8: Creating a measurement plan

Part 9: Measurement is like a bartender

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The most important question in social media marketing

Jul 23rd

10 comments

This series of articles has been examining social media measurement strategies. So far we’ve focused on the one, true financial measure, ROI, and have started to examine more qualitative measures like impact on brand equity.Whether you work for a company or a non-profit (these days, is there a difference?), you must strive to align every marketing initiative with the organization’s mission. But I also know true financial measurement may not be feasible. And in that case, it’s time to throw ROI out the door.

Why? Because grandma always told me to deal with what is, not what we wish for. We have to be realists. Your best efforts to achieve accurate financial measurement may be constrained by technology, budget and resources. So, if you can’t get there in the near-term, what DO you measure? That’s why we’ll now turn the discussion to non-financial indicators (NFI’s) and the critical importance of selecting the correct measurement strategy for your social media marketing efforts.

There are hundreds of potential NFI’s but there is only one question you need to know to pick the right one: What behavior am I trying to drive?

Here is a great example of this concept in action. Walgreen’s has been a stellar financial performer and much of that has been attributed to its focus on one metric: Net profit per customer visit. Behavior they are driving? Spend more money with Walgreens!Think about the impact of that one metric — it would influence the store location and lay-out, product placement, product choices, advertising strategy, branding strategy, pricing decisions … literally every design, distribution and marketing decision could be made to drive that single metric ever upwards.

So you can see how powerful and critically important choosing the correct metric can be. And if you do, a magical thing will happen — Your marketing activities will begin to conform to that goal. The manner and level of engagement will rise to meet the need of pushing that metric higher and higher. If you choose wisely, the appropriate NFI will make your strategy EVOLVE!

What behavior are YOU trying to drive and how are your metrics supporting it? Sharing your ideas would help our community.

The next article in this series will examine specific options as you try to answer this most important question in marketing measurement.

This is Part Five of a series examining social media marketing measurement.

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Social media ROI and the mystery of brand equity

Jul 22nd

8 comments

Our theme this week is measuring the value of social media. After crunching the hard numbers, we’ll spend some time on SM contribution to brand equity, which has always been a bit mysterious in its own right! To help unravel the social media-brand equity value proposition, I’ve enlisted my friend Jamie Lee Wallace, who posts this guest blog for {grow}:
Let’s start by getting on the same page and going old school. Back in 1989, Dr. Peter H. Farquhar was a leading academic at The Claremont (CA) Graduate University and the author of several important books and articles, including Managing Brand Equity. His insights still hold up in an era where the buzz of social media can make or break an emerging brand in a matter of hours! Farquhar wrote:
“A well-known brand can enhance the perceived value of a product. For example, a brand can assure customers of consistent product quality, differentiate the product from competitive offerings, or facilitate customer’s purchase decisions. In many cases, the principle source of a brand’s added value is the set of associations customers hold in memory.”
In layman’s terms, brand equity is your brand’s “street cred.” Its foundation is an aggregated series of associations (positive or negative) that people retain about your product or company. What is the implication for social media marketing?
Let’s look at the three stages to building and managing brand equity (italics are mine):
 
Introduction – Introduce a quality product with the strategy of using the brand as a platform from which to launch future products. A positive evaluation by the consumer is important.
Elaboration – Make the brand easy to remember and develop repeat usage. There should be accessible brand attitude, that is, the consumer should easily remember his or her positive evaluation of the brand.
Fortification – The brand should carry a consistent image over time to reinforce its place in the consumer’s mind and develop a special relationship with the consumer.
Now let’s consider these points and the potential benefits of today’s social media tools:

 

 

Positive consumer evaluations: Consumers now have powerful ways to voice their opinions about your products and services. From personal blogs to review sites to the comment sections of industry-specific blogs and news aggregators, consumers are becoming ever-savvier when it comes to letting you (and everyone else on the Web) know how they feel about your company.
 
 
–> The impact of social media — Engage these voices (whether positive or negative) in their natural environment (the social Web) to ensure that the bottom line associations customers have with your brand are positive ones. Use these connections as an opportunity for informal market research, to start building your brand’s network, and to increase customer affinity with your company.
Make your brand both memorable and accessible: Gone are the days when “cut and dry” was all you needed to win new business. Today’s consumers (B2C and B2B alike) are aggressively raising the bar when it comes to the definition of a positive brand experience. In today’s fast-moving marketplace, you need ways to stand out and facilitate customer collaboration.
–> The impact of social media — Use today’s social tools to keep your brand top-of-mind with existing and potential customers while simultaneously giving them an insider look at your company and what you stand for. Leverage repeated points of contact to create valuable ambient awareness. Provide your audience with valuable and useful content to share with colleagues. Try new media tools like video and podcasting to make your message more memorable and viral.
Consistent Image: One of the key tenets of successful content marketing (a big part of B2B social media marketing) is consistency. In their upcoming book Trust Agents, Julien Smith and Chris Brogan explore the concept of trust. Current discussions around the topic focus on the importance of “consistent reliability” in the development of trust.
–> The impact of social media — If you start a corporate blog, publish posts consistently. If you participate in industry forums, engage consistently. If you moderate a customer community, interact consistently. Be there for your customers and they will learn to rely on you. Increase your influence by nurturing their perception of you as an expert.
Special Relationship with Product: Customers no longer tolerate being “just a number.” They demand one-to-one interactions, ultra-responsive customer service, and the ability to engage in meaningful dialog with the brands they buy.
–> The impact of social media — Use social media tools to grant companies and individuals “backstage access” to your sales staff, idea labs, and customer service. Make your customers part of your team by listening well, encouraging collaboration, and taking actions that prove the authenticity of your words. The ultimate benefit of such efforts is a deeper relationship that leads to that holy grail of marketing – brand loyalty.
Farquhar probably could not have foreseen the revolution just a few years ahead of him but his thought process and research are just as fresh and meaningful as we seek to fortify brands in 2009. Sometimes you have to filter new tools through old concepts in order to clearly see the potential.
What are your thoughts on brand-building with social media tools? Do they carry as much clout as traditional media? Do you think they surpass traditional media when it comes to delivering on the elements outlined above?
Jamie Lee Wallace is a versatile strategist and copywriter with nearly 20 years of varied experience and a passion for working with clients where business, the social Web, and real life intersect. She also has way too much fun blogging Savvy B2B Marketing with her five “Savvy Sisters.”
This article is part of a series on social media value measurement issues:

Part 2: Social media ROI shock treatment

Part 3: Irresponsible social media measurement research

Part 4: Social media impact on brand equity

Part 5: The most important question to ask in social media marketing

Part 6: A double standard for social media marketing?

Part 7: Yes, it IS about the money!

Part 8: Creating a measurement plan

Part 9: Measurement is like a bartender

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More irresponsible social media financial "research"

Jul 21st

10 comments

One of the hottest articles on the web yesterday was a new study by Wetpaint and Altimeter Group proclaiming that they had cracked the code on social media value measurement. It is also one of the most irresponsible examples of data mis-management and audience manipulation I have observed.

The report trumpets with breathless enthusiasm that “for the first time ever, Wetpaint/Altimeter Group have gone beyond surface case studies to measure the true financial value of social media.”

But what’s this … buried on page 6: “While no one yet has the data to determine direct cause and effect, what we do find is a financial correlation between those who are deeply engaged and those who outperform their peers.”

Wait a minute … At this point I have to ask the report’s authors, Ben Elowitz and Charlene Li, how can you seriously purport to “measure the true financial value of social media,” while admitting that nobody has the data to do so? What are trying to pull on us here?

So WHAT did they do? I give Elowitz/Li props for developing a secret formula to measure social media engagement by 40 criteria. But it just goes downhill from there.

1) They are making their claims based on ONE YEAR of financial data and THREE MONTHS of social media engagement. Is that an appropriate timeframe to discover anything you are claiming to be a trend? You’re trying to make a statistical correlation to financial performance based on limited data during a RECESSION?

2) So, what IS the correlation? Is it a strong statistical correlation? Did you actually apply the correct mathematical tools to this analysis? How would we know? Are you seriously telling me that the social media budget of these companies is having a measurable and material impact on the financial results? You have discerned the unique contribution of Facebook compared to billions of dollars spent on advertising and decades of brand-equity building?

3) Finally, I could make an argument that your “data” provide a conclusion quite the opposite of what you’re trying to spin here. Well-managed companies generally manage EVERYTHING well. Is it any surprise that Coca-Cola and Starbucks have a successful social media effort? I will challenge you that the financial success of these premier brands enabled the creation of the effective social media programs, not the other way around!

Here is the real message from this “break-through study:” Financially-successful companies with important brands invest in deep social media engagement. That is hardly earth-shaking.

The fact that these so-called researchers are trying to pump up their own companies through trumped-up, unsubstantiated claims is inexcusable. And now it’s out there and we’ll be hearing about these faux-facts for months.
This is Part 3 in a series on social media and measurement:

Part 2: Social media ROI shock treatment

Part 3: Irresponsible social media measurement research            

Part 4: Social media impact on brand equity                                                        

Part 5: The most important question to ask in social media marketing     

Part 6: A double standard for social media marketing?                   

Part 7: Yes, it IS about the money!                                                          

Part 8: Creating a measurement plan                                                     

Part 9: Measurement is like a bartender                               

 

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