Jamie Turner, Founder of the 60 Second Marketer and co-author of How to Make Money with Social Media and Go Mobile, was interviewed recently by Don Lemon of CNN. The topic was about Groupon where Don asked “Is Groupon a safe investment?” and “Tell us how Groupon works?”
Groupon is generating a lot of buzz in the marketplace. Here’s a quick fact-sheet for people interested in learning more.
Groupon is the “fastest growing company ever” (Source: Forbes)
In 2010, Andrew Mason, the CEO, spurned a buyout offer from Google for $6 billion. (Source: Business Insider)
Groupon had 11 million visitors in September. LivingSocial had 7 million visitors during the same time period
25 million Americans, or about 10% of the adult population, have purchased a coupon from a “deal of the day” website (Source: Harris Interactive)
About 1 in 5 people don’t redeem their Groupon deal (Source: DailyDealMedia). Groupon keeps the money that’s not redeemed
Competitors to Groupon include LivingSocial, Bloomspot and Google Offers (which is currently in Beta testing)
Gowalla recently got out of the deal-of-the-day industry and have evolved into more of a Yelp/foursquare blend
At one point, Groupon underestimated operating losses by $120 million and inflated revenue by $400 million. (Source: BBC)
Groupon is the second-highest IPO in history, behind only Google. However, the third highest IPO was Webvan, which tanked a few years later. Buyer beware. (Source: Business Insider)
If you’re like a lot of marketing directors, you’re probably still trying to wrap your mind around this whole social media ROI thing.
After all, it’s not all that difficult to launch a Facebook/YouTube/Twitter/LinkedIn campaign. But it is hard to calculate the success of your campaign on an ROI basis.
You can see the entire presentation in the viewer below. Or, just click here to download it directly from SlideShare.
With that in mind, I created a 1950s-style cartoon story that walks people through the entire ROI calculation process. (You’ll have to excuse my sense of humor in the cartoon — it can get a little sketchy at times.)
My intent was to create a document that people would want to share with co-workers.
Better still, I wanted to walk people through some of the more complex issues like Customer Lifetime Value, Cost Per Sale and the Hub-and-Spoke model. (All of which are covered in-depth in “How to Make Money with Social Media,” the book I co-wrote with Dr. Reshma Shah.)
In any case, I hope you enjoy the presentation below. Feel free to click the little buttons at the bottom if you’d like to share it with others via Twitter, Facebook or email.
If you like what you read today, you can have these blog posts delivered to your in box each morning by clicking here. Or, you can sign up for our free weekly e-newsletter by clicking here.
There’s been a good amount of buzz on the internet lately about a helpful little concept I developed called the Social Media ROI Cycle.
I created it to help people understand three distinct stages companies go through when they launch a social media campaign.
I’ve included a SlideShare version below with additional details on the concept. You’re free to download the presentation and use it for your own purposes with attribution. (To download it, just click on the “SlideShare” link above.)
In addition, I’ve included a 60 Second video of the Social Media ROI Cycle, which can also be viewed on our YouTube Channel.
The Social Media ROI Cycle
Stage 1: Launch
During this stage, 100% of a company’s focus is on launching the Big 4: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Some companies focus on the Big 4 Plus More, which include things like Flickr, e-newsletters, blogs, SlideShare and other social media platforms. But most companies kick things off by quickly getting into the Big 4 simply as a way to have a social media presence.
The approach during this Launch stage is very executional with very little long-term planning. The primary objective is simply to get started.
Of course, the best way to dive into any marketing initiative is to start with an analysis of your target market’s needs and how your initiative might meet those needs, but the Social Media ROI Cycle is based on reality, not best practices. In other words, most companies just jump into social media with very little forethought, even though best practices would be to do some advanced planning.
Unfortunately, the results of the Stage 1 process are negligible. Oh, sure, you’ll be able to claim that you’ve “got a social media campaign” but you won’t really see much traction unless you move onto Stage 2.
Stage 2: Management
During this stage, roughly 60% of a company’s efforts are focused on the Big 4 (or the Big 4 Plus More). About 10% of the focus is on creative (content creation) and offer development, 20% on tracking quantitative metrics such as traffic, inbound links, Facebook likes, etc., and about 10% on qualitative metrics such as brand sentiment, survey results and customer polls.
The approach during the Management stage is still very tactical, but the focus is on mid-term instead of short-term results, which is good. The objective at this stage is to engage prospects and customers in some way that gets them to connect with the brand. Ideally, this would mean buying something, but it can also mean downloading a white paper, Liking a Facebook page, responding to a survey or any other tangible evidence that they’re connecting with your brand.
The results during the Management stage are typically a little better than the results during the Launch stage, but they’re still not as good as they can be. Which brings us to Stage 3: Optimization.
Stage 3: Optimization
Most companies today are still at either Stage 1 or Stage 2. But many of the companies I work with have started to reach the Stage 3.
As you can see in the InfoGraphic and video below, about 25% of the focus at this stage is on the Big 4 Plus More and about 30% is evenly split among creative and offer development, quantitative metrics and qualitative metrics.
About 25% of the focus is on improving conversion and optimization of campaigns. What do I mean by that? Improving conversion and optimization means tracking inbound leads and traffic across social media platforms using Atlas and Dart tracking and watching those leads turn into customers, either on e-commerce landing pages or through B2B lead generation programs.
It also means testing your way into success with our social media campaigns. This can be as simple as testing two different landing pages and seeing which one is the winner. Or it can be as complex as doing multivariate testing that tests more than one component of your website at a time.
The final 20% of a company’s efforts in Stage 3 include measuring the success of your campaign on an ROI basis. And, yes, you can measure a social media campaign on an ROI basis, despite what some social media experts will tell you.
The process involves understanding your Customer Lifetime Value (the total revenue the average customer generates for your business during the lifetime of their engagement with you), then using your CLV to compare it to the results generated by your social media campaign.
Here are a few action steps you can take to incorporate the Social Media ROI Cycle into your efforts.
Watch the 60-second video below, then figure out where you are on the Cycle: Stage 1, Stage 2 or Stage 3.
Start tracking the results of your campaign on a quantitative and qualitative basis
Read some of the blog posts on the 60 Second Marketer that provide insights into calculating the ROI of a social media campaign. (You’ll also find in-depth description of this process in my book, How to Make Money with Social Media.)
Set a timeline for your program to reach the next stage. Better still, go public with the timeline — things seem to get done when there’s a public deadline. (Download the Social Media ROI Cycle slides on SlideShare and incorporate them into your public declaration.)
Keep me posted on your thoughts, comments and reactions to the Social Media ROI Cycle. This is a living entity, so we’ll be doing more updates as we go
If you like what you read today, you can have these blog posts delivered to your in box each morning by clicking here. Or, you can sign up for our free weekly e-newsletter by clicking here.
Are you interested in finding out what’s hot and what’s not in 2011?
Recently, I sat down with Patrick Miller, Kyle Wegner and Kwesi Robertson from BKV Digital and Direct Response and asked them to develop a list of what’s hot and what’s not for marketers. Our intent was to provide you a list of tools that are “past their prime” vs. tools that will begin to reach their prime in 2011.
(By the way, we’re always writing posts about the newest tools, tips and techniques in marketing. If you’d like to stay up-to-date on the newest trends in marketing, subscribe to our weekly e-newsletter or to this blog.)
We hope you enjoy our “What’s Hot” guide. And feel free to add your own items in the comments section below!
Posted by Jamie Turner, Chief Content Officer of the 60 Second Marketer, the online magazine of BKV Digital and Direct Response. He is also the co-author of “How to Make Money with Social Media” which is available in fine bookstores (and a few not-so-fine bookstores) everywhere.
I do a good number of speeches around the country on social media, mobile media and marketing in general. The #1 question I get asked at the end of every speech is, “What are my next steps?”
That question may be on your mind, too.
What steps are you taking to ensure the success of your social media campaign? Here's a checklist of 59 different things you can do to make sure your social media campaign is running on all cylinders.
In fact, if I were to guess, I’d say you probably understand the theory of social media and even embrace the strategic importance of social media. But you may still be asking, “What should I do today to improve my social media program tomorrow?”
In How to Make Money with Social Media, the book I co-authored with Dr. Reshma Shah, I provide a checklist of 59 steps you should take to set-up, launch and run a social media campaign. I’ve blogged about these steps before, but since this is one of the more popular posts (and since it’s one of the more popular chapters in the book), I thought I’d provide them for you again below.
I hope you find the checklist helpful. And please feel free to let me know if I’ve missed any steps you think should be added.
Here goes:
The Preliminaries:
I’ve conducted a review of my company’s business and understand its mission, goals and objectives
I’ve conducted a review of my company’s sales program and understand how a prospect is brought into the sales funnel and converted into a customer
I’ve conducted a review of my company’s marketing program and understand what role the marketing program plays in the overall success of the company
I’ve conducted a review of the strategies, tactics and tools involved in a social media campaign and understand what role each of those strategies, tactics and tools plays in a well-run social media program
After doing all of this, I’ve asked myself (again), “Is social media right for my company?” If I’ve concluded that it is, I’ve moved on to the next steps
The Competitive Landscape:
I’ve reviewed the overall strengths and weaknesses of my company’s top 5 competitors
I’ve reviewed the sales and marketing efforts of my top 5 competitors
I’ve analyzed the specific social media campaigns being conducted by my top 5 competitors
I’ve created a list of social media strategies and tactics that my competitors are using that appear to be effective
I’ve created a list of social media strategies and tactics that my competitors are using that appear to be ineffective
I’ve joined my competitor’s LinkedIn groups, Facebook pages, YouTube channels, Twitter accounts and other social media member sites my competitors are running
I’ve set up Google Web Alerts and Blog Alerts to send me notifications any time my competitor, my industry or my company is mentioned in blogs or articles online
Your Internal Management Team:
I’ve asked the social media proponents in my organization to be advocates for my program. I’ve asked them to be engaged in any way they can to help my social media program succeed
I’ve identified people within my organization who might not be social media advocates and have begun a program to help them understand the value a well-run social media program can bring to our company
I’ve assembled a team to help me set-up, run and manage the social media program for my company
I’ve asked each team member to buy How to Make Money with Social Media to ensure we’re all working from the same play book. (That’s a joke. Kind of.)
Setting Yourself Up for Success:
I’ve assembled a social media team to help me execute my program. (Your team can be as small as 1 or as large as 100+)
I’ve set Specific Measurable Actionable Realistic and Timebound Goals (S.M.A.R.T. Goals) for my social media campaign
I’ve reviewed my S.M.A.R.T. goals with my team and encouraged feedback and input
I’ve done an in-depth analysis of my target market and have a genuine understanding of who they are and what makes them tick
I’ve set-up my social media campaign so that it can be measured
I’ve conducted a review of each of the three categories of social media platforms – networking platforms, promotion platforms and sharing platforms
I’ve developed a strategic framework for my social media campaign that will help me accomplish my overall business goals
I’ve developed a tactical framework for my social media campaign that will help me accomplish my strategic goals
I’ve developed an executional framework for my social media program that will help me accomplish my tactical goals
I’ve aligned my social media campaign with my overall branding campaign so that they’re essentially one-and-the-same
The Days Prior to Launch:
I understand that a social media campaign is an ongoing process and can’t be executed in “5 minutes a day.” As such, I’ve allocated a realistic and reasonable amount of time to execute my program.
In an effort to get started quickly, I’ve completed the following tasks:
I’ve updated my company’s LinkedIn profile
I’ve joined several LinkedIn Groups within my industry
I’ve created a Facebook business page
I’ve set up a Twitter account
I’ve followed several hundred other people on Twitter who are in my industry or have similar interests
I’ve incorporated a blog into my website
I’ve created a YouTube channel
I’ve created a MySpace page
I’ve created an eNewsletter for my customers and prospects using ConstantContact, ExactTarget or iContact
I’ve updated our company profile on Wikipedia
I’ve opened accounts on Flickr, SmugMug and Picassa
I’ve uploaded content to Slideshare, Scribd and Slideo
I’ve added Feedback, Uservoice or Get Statisfaction to my website
I’ve investigated and incorporated accounts on other social media platforms including hi5, Xanga, Plaxo, Xing, Ning and Friendster
The First 30 Days:
I’ve committed myself to the following goals for the first 30 days of my social media campaign:
I’ll update my company’s LinkedIn profile once every 2 weeks with news and information about my company
I’ll visit LinkedIn.com/Answers and answer 1 to 5 questions each day
I’ll update my Facebook business page several times a week (at a minimum)
I’ll send out helpful, interesting Tweets anywhere from 10 to 20 times a day
I’ll write 2 to 3 blog posts a week (none of which will be about our company Holiday party or our CEO’s trip to the convention)
I’ll comment on 5 blog posts a week with a relevant, insightful comment
I’ll upload a series of YouTube videos designed to provide value to our customers and prospects
I’ll update my company’s MySpace page with relevant posts and content that will help build awareness for my company’s product or service
I’ll upload photographs on Flickr, SmugMug and Picassa that are business-oriented and that help sell my product or service (no summer party photos, please).
I’ll upload content to Slideshare, Scribd or Slideo once or twice a month during the launch of the campaign
I’ll respond to the Feedback, Uservoice or Get Statisfaction comments left on my site within 24 hours of receipt
Measuring Your Success:
I understand that social media can help me with customer retention and customer acquisition
I’ve installed Google Analytics, Adobe Online Marketing Suite or CoreMetrics on my website so I can track inbound traffic and analyze when and how a prospect converts to a customer
I’m prepared to generate weekly and monthly reports that highlight the success of our social media program
I’m continuously testing my social media program so that I can improve the results and generate an increasingly robust return on investment
