SMX Advanced — Proving Social Media’s Value
After a delicious lunch with tons of veggie options (and everyone seemed to be pretty happy about the meat selections, too), I’m back upstairs feeling reinvigorated and ready to absorb as much of the knowledge these SEM gurus can dish out. The next session is “Proving Social Media’s Value,” with our very own Tarla Cummings on the panel.
Ben Straley, Meteor Solutions — Ben argued that, while necessary, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are not sufficient for links; you must generate (or earn) links from other sources. These earned referrals are a significant source of quality traffic (typically lifting conversion rates 1-5 to 4 x, according to Razorfish). By measuring them, you are able to optimize campaign performance. Also, Ben reminded us of our love for sheep outfitted with LED lights.
Edmund Wong, iCrossing — Edmund focused on forums, both 3rd party ones and ones you might make yourself. He discussed the benefits of forums: significant discussions, high visibility, drive traffic, improve customer service, test new ideas and get feedback, customer retention and shows that you care. Additionally, forums have “lurkers,” users that don’t engage in conversations, but listen and are impacted by the talk. He had some great equations for proving the value of social, but I regret to say that much of it was over my head. Numbers elude me–I’m a word gal and really struggle to grasp mathematical ideas and formulas. He had some great formulas for
Tarla Cummings, Location3 Media — Tarla set the stage for her session with the example of a luxury hotel and discussed how she ran and proved the value of this social media campaign. She touted the MOM approach–monitor, outreach, measure.
Monitor — locate negative and positive influencers; gauge their influence
Outreach — reach out to negative and apologize; reach out to evangelists and reward; do promotions through social networks, make it easy for them to pass along to friends
Measure — hard numbers (money in sales, promos redeemed, SMS opt in; soft numbers (new followers, fans, future sales); data (analytics, facebook insights); spend vs. gain
Tony Adam, Yahoo! — Anyone else having deja vu right now? Tony reminds us that we were struggling to prove the value of SEO just a few years ago–it’s the same with social media. Need to push just as hard for social right now. He recommends using case studies along with tons of charts/graphs to help make it clearer and a no-brainer for execs. Here are the top five reasons Tony thinks you should engage in social media:
- Traffic
- Engagement
- Branding
- Insights — get feedback about community, from community
- Protect reputation — use tools and profile to protect brand
Takeaway from Q & A:
Thinking about friendster and other defunct social sites, is any of it worth it? — Naturally, all of the panelists said yes. They all admitted that social sites come and go, and who knows what will be the next big thing. But if you don’t bother with social media, negative conversations can significantly damage your reputation and/or you may miss invaluable (and honest) feedback about your company.
~Angie
on June 3rd, 2009 at 4:08 am
Great post! We all see the social media surge right now, but monetizing it has been tricky. As new tools, API’s, and ideas come on the scene, the value of access to this engaged market will become more apparent.