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Social media influence in the workplace may be relatively small

Jul 29th

If you’re a brand trying to influence key business contacts through social media, it may not be happening during business hours … and it may not be happening at all, according to new findings by WorkPlace Media.

While more than half (55%) of office workers with Web access have at least one social networking account, only 43% use it at work (for less than 30 minutes per day), according to the just-released survey. A Forrester study released yesterday reported that all Internet activity among consumers has leveled off at about 12 hours/week.

Even less encouraging for marketers, the study found that not having a presence on a social site made little difference to people’s opinion of a brand. And only 11% follow any major brand on a social network.

That view gets support from a recent Harris poll in which 21% of participants said they relied on face-to-face info from a family member or friend when researching a purchase decision,compared to only 4% who mentioned using online social networking sites such as Facebook,Linked-In or MySpace.

In the Workplace Media study, however, Facebook was by far the most popular social property,with 89% members of the site. The runner-up was MySpace (40%), followed by LinkedIn (31%), and Twitter (18%).

Of the 18% who reported acting upon a business or product recommendation on social networking sites, the top categories were: entertainment (53%), dining out (50%), groceries (23%), beauty care/cosmetics (21%), apparel (20%), and electronics and pet care (15%).

The survey was fielded in May 2009 among 753 American workers.

I can’t vouch for the accuracy of the methodology or research but at least directionally speaking, the results are interesting and beg further study into:

Is the use of social media at work increasing or decreasing?
How is the access to social media being influenced by emerging corporate policies?
Do the trends differ by industry?
18% acting on SM product recommendations seems significant, especially since the channel is still developing. How rapidly is this going to develop?
Since work/personal behavior on social media is merging, what about home access to SM?
How does this workplace study compare to other populations like students or people who work from the home?

branding, facebook, financial impact, Internet marketing, measurement, research, social media

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 1: The biggest lie in social media marketing

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

branding, marketing strategy, measurement, research, social media

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.