Why Companies Fail at Generating Social Media ROI
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Social Media ROI (Return on Investment), is supposedly a hard thing to prove or measure. The problem isn’t the value of social media, or in many cases our approach to getting results – it’s about commitment – a good old fashion work ethic and focus on the longterm.
Today’s social business podcast discusses the dilema and the needed shift in consciousness required of leaders to win in the social media space.
Social Media ROI takes time and most people – even really smart people in leadership positions (who come from a different era) have a tough time planning more than 3 months into the future these days. When you build a social media presence it becomes an asset, one which increases in value over time but really requires no more input on your 18th month than it does on your first day (solid strategy required of course).
“Social media” as a term sucks. The minute we put the word “media” beside something we start to measure it like our latest newspaper campaign or radio blitz. Most media is disposable and impermanent. The radio ad, print as or email blast has a very finite window for generating results and then that money, well spent or not is gone. We spend our $20,000 for a month long campaign and then to drive more business we have to spend it again next month.
In this podcast we are going to discuss three types of media:
- Bought media
- Owned media
- Earned media
Failing to understand the difference between these three types of media and having the foresight and commitment to build a true media asset for their business is in my opinion one if the single largest roadblocks for most businesses social media success.
Influence Marketing Book Interview with Danny Brown
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This week I had the great opportunity to interview Danny Brown on his new book co-authored with Sam Fiorella called Influence Marketing. Danny in my opinion is a Thought Leaders’ Though Leader – an awesome no BS resource for what really works in social media marketing.
The book launched yesterday globally and you can get it on Amazon in hardcover or Kindle format. According to HubSpot Danny Brown’s blog (DannyBrown.me) is the #1 Marketing Blog on the planet. Danny and I have been Tweeting and emailing each other for almost four years and we finally got to connect and do this podcast together
Here were some of the key take-aways from the podcast interview with Danny Brown:
- Most concepts of influencer marketing (especially through social media) are incomplete or focused on the wrong audience
- Good influencer marketing doesn’t start with social media gurus or big influencer, it starts with mapping out what your customer persona is and then identifying who impacts your customer buying decisions
- Klout and the many apps like it are great for identifying macro influencers but in many cases aren’t helpful identifying the actual micro influencers that directly impact your customer’s buying decisions
- 5 steps to to start doing your influence marketing right
We covered so much in this podcast that you’re just going to have to listen to it to get all the information.
Here’s a great InfoGraphic on Influence Marketing Sam and Danny just released that really demonstrates how many organizations are struggling with or don’t understand the importance of Influence Marketing (Click here For the High Res Version):
Why Community is Still Number One in Social Media Marketing
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Community in social media is still number one. I posted the following tweet a couple days ago on Twitter and it received quite a bit of feedback and a few retweets:
Social Media Tip: social media scales through community, community grows by relationship building. Focus on people.
I then realized that I needed to expand on the topic. Here’s the basic outline of what I cover in todays podcast:
- Why community is vital if you want to leverage your social media marketing efforts and get your content and marketing to expand well beyond your own sphere of influence.
- Relationships build community, numbers alone don’t make a community. People who have an emotional connection with you and your brand are more likely to share your content and interact with you.
- Focus on people, even PR has changed. Bloggers and community influencers have now become gatekeepers of communities and your content won’t flow into those communities until you connect with those gatekeepers.
6 Reasons You’re Silently Failing in Social Media
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Most social media failures aren’t big public train-wrecks on the internet. They’re silent failures, people and brands that never rise above the noise and get noticed. Today’s podcast focuses on 6 reasons you may be silently failing and what you can do to turn things around.
The 6 Reasons You’re Silently Failing in Social Media:
1) Your content strategy is too safe
2) Your reach is minimal
3) Your conversation strategy is weak
4) The right people don’t know who you are or they don’t care
5) You have no social media plan
6) You’re not integrating social media
7 Steps to Building a Social Business
I have been a little too busy over the past 3 months. 20 seminars and training sessions, a half-dozen new clients for our social media agency and of course family time! I have a number of new podcasts in the que for you over the next 60 days but I thought I would re-ignite my blogging efforts by sharing a new video I just posted called “7 Steps to building a Social Business.” Also you can also check out our Socialized! Agency Blog for new and breaking news on the social media space. Enjoy!
Also Consider Gannon University Online MBA Programs as another way to build success in the business world. Before you get social a business foundation really helps.
5 Social Media Lessons From Wizard World Comic Con
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At Socialized! our Social Media Agency we have had some incredible opportunities over the past year to work with brands such as the Ford Dealers Association of BC and Alberta, the Certified Management Accounts, CGA BC, CGA Canada and the Make-a-Wish Foundation. However…even producing the week long event “Social Media Week Vancouver” did not prepare us for the passionate, loyal and often opinionated fans at Wizard World Comic Cons. This is a relatively new adventure for us but this podcast reviews 5 social media lessons I have learned (or re-learned) so far:
5 Lessons (Listen to the podcast for a full explanation):
- Tapping into a Tribe is much better than building one
- When people know you’re listening they talk, share, tweet, like and follow
- Amplify the moment
- Run contests to find influencers
- Partner to expand influence
Here are some of the links and resources mentioned in the podcast:
Wizard World Comic Con Sites and Resources
- Wizard World Event and News Site
- Wizard World Comic Con Blog
- Wizard World Facebook Page
- Wizard World on Twitter
Social Media Monitoring:
Socialized! Social Media Agency
- Socialized! Blog
- Socialized! Team on Twitter
- Shane Gibson – Chief Social Officer on Twitter
- Tris Hussey – Chief Geek and Pixel Washer on Twitter
- Anthony Caridi – President on Twitter
Ford Dealer Social Media Success Story – Lebanon Ford Podcast
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Social Media Podcast: Ford dealers across North America are executing some amazing social media strategies. While catching up on my reading and best-practices I stumbled across a great case study on how Lebanon Ford (Ohio) has had some incredible success. They don’t just have a great social media team, they have built a truly social culture in their dealership that has resulted in a 260% year-on-year increase in Internet sales of vehicles and a significant increase in walk-ins and revenues overall.
I asked Zack Bello, Marketing and Communications Manager at Lebanon Ford to share with me how they have built such a great social enterprise that drives real business results using social media.
Quick Links:
10 Corporate Social Media Myths Dispelled
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Today’s podcast is about 10 social media myths that are commonplace in the companies and organizations that we work with at Socialized! Agency. Many of these misconceptions stop organizations from truly realizing the potential of social media (or even starting). Below I have listed the myths. Have a listen to the podcast and let me know what you think.
11 Social Media Trends for 2012
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Today’s podcast is on 11 Social Media Trends for 2012. Here’s the outline for my podcast – I would love your feedback and thoughts:
Key trends
- How not if
- TV on everything and social on everything
- Location based marketing will continue to grow
- Social cultures will evolve out of social use
- Social CRM will move mainstream
- India is rising
- A return to engagement
- Rewards versus contests
- Filters will dampen the noise
- Social networks will become more fluid and mobile
- Corporate social intranets
Potential pitfalls
- App overload
- Lack of conversation management
- No policy, training or identity management
- Lack of true internal social culture
- Domestic focus and culture
- Competitors get better at local, mobile and intimacy
- No follow-up after the contests (see engagement)
- Hard push back for no engagement
How to Hire the Right Social Media Manager the First Time
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Hiring a social media manager, social media coordinator, chief tweeter or whatever you might call it is a challenging endeavor. There are many brands which have experienced great success and many who have also shot the foot off of their brand on the internet. Social media is not a department or a cubicle, it represents the most powerful word of mouth (or word of mouse) channels that have ever existed. Too many organizations aren’t strategic about who they hire internally or how they intend on implementing social media and integrating it into their business processes. Today’s podcast covers four major areas you need to look at (there are many more) before hiring.
The New Rules of Engagement in Social Media
These are the 7 Rules of Engagement from Sociable! (http://fb.me/sociablebook) that Stephen Jagger and I developed almost 2 years ago… and the rules are now more important than ever! Enjoy! – Shane Gibson.
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