Posts tagged ‘Social media best practices’

March 28th, 2011

Social Media ROI: How to Tell if Your Social Media Campaign is Making Money

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.

Social Media ROI

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.

Thanks!

Social Media ROI: How to Tell if Your Social Media Campaign is Making Money  

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Posted by Jamie Turner, Chief Content Officer of the 60 Second Marketer, the online magazine of BKV Digital and Direct Response. Jamie is also the co-author of How to Make Money with Social Media.

CategorySocial Media | Comment9 Comments »

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March 16th, 2011

When Is Social Media NOT Right for Your Company?

A few days ago, I started a discussion on the 60 Second Forum that asked the question, “When is social media NOT right for a company?” The discussion stirred up a good amount of interest and feedback, so I thought I’d continue the conversation here.

(If you’d like to be part of the 60 Second Forum discussion on LinkedIn, click here. Or, you can simply leave a comment below.)

In the 60 Second Forum discussion, I said there are some businesses where a social media marketing campaign is not the right choice. The example I used was a friend of mine who owned a auto windshield repair store. He called me to ask my advice on launching a social media campaign for his business.

After asking him a series of questions, I came to the conclusion that social media would not be right for his business.

Just because social media is the bright, new tool in the marketer's tool kit doesn't mean it's the right choice 100% of the time.

Why not?

Because for a social media campaign to work, you have to have a topic or a product that people are interested in being part of.

In How to Make Money with Social Media, we call this phenomenon “social media magnetism.”

Some companies, organizations or causes have a great deal of social media magnetism. Other companies have a little bit. And still other companies have negative social media magnetism. In other words, no amount of noise or promotion will ever get people to become part of some companies’ social media campaigns.

My friend who owned the windshield repair franchise had a business that had negative social media magnetism. Despite the clear need for businesses like his, nobody really thinks about windshields or windshield repairs until they have a cracked windshield. And when that happens, they simply do a search for the nearest windshield repair stores and then select the one with the lowest price.

(Sorry, Dave.)

All that said, there are times when social media is GOOD for a company. In fact, assuming that your product or service doesn’t have negative social media magnetism, social media can be right for you if:

  • You want to attract new customers to your business
  • You want existing customers to come back more frequently
  • You want an inexpensive way to connect with customers
  • You want customer feedback on a new product or service
  • You want to cross-promote one part of your business with another part of your business
  • You want to increase brand loyalty
  • You want to differentiate your brand from your competitor’s brand

All this leads me to my final question — Is social media all it’s hyped up to be?

No, social media isn’t all it’s hyped up to be. It’s just one more tool in the marketer’s tool chest. Yes, it’s a bright, new shiny tool, but no, it’s not always going to be the right tool to use 100% of the time.

When you’re analyzing your marketing strategy, remember that there are a number of perfectly viable alternatives to a social media campaign — print, radio, TV, outdoor, collateral, direct mail, paid search and email marketing are just some of the other tools that come to mind.

The bottom line: Social media is a terrific tool … some of the time.

What are your thoughts on all this? You can join the conversation, either on our LinkedIn discussion or in the comments section below.

P.S. 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.

Posted by Jamie Turner, Chief Content Officer of the 60 Second Marketer, the online magazine of BKV Digital and Direct Response. Jamie is also the co-author of How to Make Money with Social Media.

CategoryGeneral Marketing, Social Media | Comment2 Comments »

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January 14th, 2011

Harvard Business Review Social Media Article Snapshot

One of the key ideas behind BKV’s 60 Second Marketer is that we do some of the hard work for you.

By that, I mean that we read and analyze lengthy articles and white papers, then distill them down to 60-second summaries on your behalf. That way, you can get in, get out, and get back to work.

With that in mind, here’s a 60-second summary of an article from Harvard Business Review called Social Media and the New Rules of Branding.

The key idea behind the 60 Second Marketer is that we read lengthy articles for you, then distill them down to 60-second blog posts.

Key Take-Away:

Consumer behavior models are evolving. Today, consumers engage with brands after purchase almost as much as they engage with brands before purchase. Brands that understand this can use these third-party endorsements to grow market share and improve their marketing ROI.

Fascinating Factiod:

More than 60% of consumers of facial skin care products conduct online research after their purchase. This is a touch-point entirely missing from the classic consumer behavior models.

60 Second Article Summary:

  • The old consumer behavior models were based on a process where consumers evaluated many products, considered a handful and then purchased one
  • The old model puts too much emphasis on the consideration and the purchase phases
  • New research shows that consumers have an extended evaluation phase where they continuously add and subtract brands from their considered set of alternatives
  • Most importantly, consumers can become valuable advocates for your brand post-purchase, thereby becoming an important third-party component of your sales and marketing process
  • Most brands under-leverage this phase of their purchase cycle

The Bottom Line:

Consumers purchase products by first going through Consideration, Evaluation and then Buying phases. After purchase consumers Enjoy, Advocate and Bond with products. You can use the Enjoy, Advocate and Bond phases to help grow your market share via third-party endorsements.

Action Steps for You:

  • What are you doing to actively connect with your customers post-purchase?
  • What are you doing to reward customers for their endorsement of your product?
  • How are these post-purchase engagement programs integrated into your overall marketing plan?

Posted by Jamie Turner, Chief Content Officer of the 60 Second Marketer, the online magazine of BKV Digital and Direct Response. Jamie is also the co-author of How to Make Money with Social Media.

CategorySocial Media | Comment1 Comment »

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December 21st, 2010

How Good Is Your Social Media Program? Find Out with The 60 Second Marketer Social Media Snapshot.

Are you interested in getting a quick read on how good your social media program is? A lot of people are.

With that in mind, I’ve put a little grid together to help you get a sense of how good your social media program is. It’s called the 60 Second Marketer Social Media Snapshot and it’s designed to give you a sense of where you are and where you should be going.

The Snapshot isn’t all-inclusive and it isn’t designed to do anything other than give you something to shoot darts at. But it’s a nifty little way to get an understanding of where you are on the social media spectrum.

How the Snapshot Works

Most social media programs suffer from two things. The first is that they’re run tactically. By that, I mean that businesses are putting up a Facebook page or creating a Twitter account without thinking through their strategic goals first.

On a scale of 1 to 10, where do you fall on a tactical/strategic scale? If you score yourself a 1, that means that you’re highly-tactical and that you’re jumping into social media before you’ve thought through your strategy and goals. (If you’re on the tactical side of the equation, you might be interested in also reading “Three Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Launch a Social Media Campaign” on the 60 Second Marketer blog.)

If you score yourself a 10, you’re on the highly-strategic side of the equation. That means that you have a written social media plan complete with objectives, strategies, tactics and an executional timeline. (Side note: People like you drive me crazy. Relax, would ya? You’re making the rest of us look like slackers.)

Okay, now we’re ready to look at the part-time/full-time line on the spectrum. If you score yourself a 1, you’re doing it when it suits your fancy — for example, when you’re having your morning cup of coffee.

If you score yourself a 10, that means you have a person (or a team of people) who are focusing 100% of their time on your social media campaign. (If that’s the case, lucky you.)

Now that you’ve graded yourself, plot out where you are today on the Social Media Snapshot below. Draw a dot where your two grades intersect. In Example A, the company graded themselves a 4 on the part-time/full-time spectrum and a 7 on the tactical/strategic spectrum. In Example B, the company graded themselves a an 8 and a 4.

Now — and this is important — plot out where you want to be in 6 months as well as 12 months.

Be realistic. And don’t just plot out something random for your 6 month and 12 month goal. Think through how you’re going to accomplish those goals so that you can put it all together.

Make sense?

Again, the 60 Second Marketer Social Media Snapshot isn’t intended to be the end-all and be-all. It’s just intended to give you something to shoot for today, in 6 months and in 12 months. By visualizing where you are today and where you want to be tomorrow, you’ll have a graphic reminder of how 2011 should roll out for you over the next 12 months.

Enjoy!


Posted by Jamie Turner, Chief Content Officer of-to the 60 Second Marketer, the online magazine of BKV Digital and Direct Response. Jamie’s book, How to Make Money with Social Media, is available at fine bookstores (and a few not-so-fine-bookstores) everywhere.

CategoryGeneral Marketing, Social Media | Comment1 Comment »

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December 7th, 2010

Is Social Media Over-Hyped? Find Out in this Podcast from the American Marketing Association

Some of us learn by reading. Others of us learn by seeing. And still others learn by listening.

Click here to listen to the recent social media podcast from the American Marketing Association.

If you’re someone who retains and processes information best when you hear it, then you might be interested in a recent podcast I did with the American Marketing Association. The podcast was hosted by David Kinard, a marketing expert who really knows his stuff. (You can tell just by listening to the questions he asked.)

David and I discussed many of the cool tips and techniques that are outlined in How to Make Money with Social Media, the book I co-authored with Dr. Reshma Shah. In the interview, we discuss why social media is over-hyped and what you can do to avoid falling into some of the traps involved in believing the hype.

(It may seem odd to hear someone who has written a book on social media say it’s over-hyped, but it is. If you’d like to know why I say that, check out the AMA’s podcast.)

Enjoy!

Posted by Jamie Turner, Chief Content Officer at the 60 Second Marketer, the online magazine for BKV Digital and Direct Response.

CategorySocial Media | CommentNo Comments »

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