By all accounts, the results exceed expectations. But while you\u2019re patting yourself on the back for attracting a social following, understand there\u2019s someone within the company scratching their head and asking: So what? How is this investment bringing me any value?<\/p>\n
With 2010 coming to a close, there\u2019s no better time to change the game. As we prepare to report our marketing successes in 2011, the question should no longer be \u2018can you prove ROI from social media?\u2019 but rather \u2018why aren\u2019t you?\u2019<\/p>\n
Here are 5 things you need to know to deliver social media ROI. (The embedded presentation at the end of this post provides additional details and visuals.)<\/p>\n
1. Facebook and Twitter are not social Olivier Blanchard illustrates this well in a recent post that describes \u2018why your social media marketing campaigns aren\u2019t working.\u2019 Becoming proficient on Twitter or Facebook isn\u2019t really \u2018social\u2019 at all. In fact, in most cases, it\u2019s nothing more than an extension of your push marketing.<\/p>\n 2. Facebook and Twitter ARE valuable Well known CPG brands are among the leaders. Converse and Victoria\u2019s Secret rival as the top retail brands on Facebook, with 9 million fans. It\u2019s mind-boggling, really. There is an entire generation of customers who are at the ready, eager to share in your brand online! Look at the Facebook fans of these familiar brands (as of this writing):<\/p>\n The \u2018fans and followers\u2019 of these companies, along with other well known brands like Forever 21, Kohl\u2019s, Hollister, Gucci, Target, Levis, show some pretty savvy marketing behind these brands. They\u2019ve tapped into consumer passions and have gotten these fans to the game.<\/p>\n But the game has only begun. The next step is getting them onto your playing field where they can help you score. Focusing on CPG brands, this particularly game is about revenue \u2013 eCommerce revenue to be specific. And here\u2019s how it works.<\/p>\n 3. The online community enables you to win So it makes sense, then, that we should leverage social channels for interaction and the ability to empower customers to drive our business forward \u2013 not to push messages at them. Going back to Olivier Blanchard\u2019s post \u2013 he\u2019s right when he says this isn\u2019t rocket science! We only need to treat social media as we do every other part of our business: with scrutiny, good judgment, and an eye on results.<\/p>\n Social networks like Facebook and Twitter are a necessary part of a social strategy. But a financial-oriented strategy is not only about engagement, it\u2019s about capitalizing on that engagement. Branded online communities enable you to bring the interaction into your world rather than pushing your million+ fans to collaborate on Facebook, YouTube, or other third party site. Within your environment is where they can buy, share stories, learn from others, discover new ideas\u2026all roads that lead to new revenue opportunities that can catapult your eCommerce revenues.<\/p>\n To illustrate, let\u2019s build a \u2018what if\u2019 scenario that picks up where Mr. Connolly\u2019s interview left off, using one of my favorite Williams-Sonoma brands, Pottery Barn. (Disclaimer: we have no affiliation or special interest in Pottery Barn \u2013 other than the fact that it\u2019s just a really cool brand that we think our readers can relate to!)<\/p>\n 4. Here\u2019s how it works a) Push a message or promotion:<\/p>\n Facebook fans see this posting and curious customers may click the link. They\u2019ll arrive at a stagnant web page to find information about the particular product or promotion. But once there, there is no additional interaction to draw them further into the site and create another path to revenue. Additionally, the tactic is much like a print ad: after a few days, the message is lost in a wall of chatter and likely not seen again.<\/p>\n b) Fans turn to each other for help and advice<\/p>\n Peer recommendations and advice are key influencers to purchasing decisions, and your brand advocates can be your most powerful and effective sales force. But Facebook is not the enabler of this valuable interaction.<\/p>\n In the example above, there is a very limited audience that benefits from the answering of questions or sharing of information. And when one customer advocate offers to share her experience by sending before\/after photos, how many other fans might be quietly observing the conversation, wishing that they too could learn from those photos? While \u2018Cameo Harmon\u2019 may eventually find the right paint color for her kitchen, how does that translate into more sales for Pottery Barn?<\/p>\n c) YouTube is home to video content<\/p>\n Social media users love videos! (Last year\u2019s comScore study revealed that over 86% of the US population views online videos.) Leveraging the consumer\u2019s desire to view content, Pottery Barn drives consumers to its YouTube channel for design and decorating videos. The channel is superb, with fabulous videos and expert advice from Pottery Barn\u2019s network of professionals offering \u2018how-to demonstrations, inspiring interviews, and exclusive style tips.\u2019 They\u2019re so good, in fact, that I\u2019m a little disappointed that I\u2019d never seen them before! But the videos cannot be seen from the Pottery Barn website (which is where I\u2019m shopping), where the brand could smartly monetize the content to drive more sales.<\/p>\n In contrast, here\u2019s how an online community can take what\u2019s been started with Facebook and skyrocket revenue:<\/p>\n If the first Facebook posting example had led curious consumers to that same gift-giving promotion, but instead of a stagnant web page they were welcomed with interaction, conversation and ideas from \u2018people like me,\u2019 my thought process and experience as a visitor would have looked more like this:<\/p>\n Notice how many different paths can be taken, yet each one leads to the same outcome: revenue. In this example, not only have I bought the wine stopper, but I\u2019ve also purchased a new set of towels \u2013 and now have a holiday place setting in the back of mind. The online community has provided:<\/p>\n 5. Consider the possibilities That\u2019s just a quick rundown of the benefits that are readily apparent. But if you look a little deeper, you\u2019ll find that there really is no substitute for the wealth of information that an online community can provide:<\/p>\n Conclusion For some businesses, this \u2018social evolution\u2019 is a slow process, or it has yet to begin. Others are well positioned to execute this strategy now and begin delivering results in 2011 \u2013 particularly consumer-oriented companies with the following characteristics that are typically found in a CPG related industry:<\/p>\n If this describes your business, the question is no longer \u2018can you prove ROI from social media?\u2019 but rather \u2018why aren\u2019t you?\u2019<\/p>\n Kristi Grigsby<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I recently found myself in a heated debate on Twitter about the ROI of social media. In one corner sat those promoting \u2018there is no return on social media\u2026yet\u2019 and in the other sat myself insisting \u2018it\u2019s not only possible, it\u2019s happening.\u2019 The skeptical side of me wondered if those who are promoting the \u2018no … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,721],"tags":[848,243,847,849,120,30],"class_list":["post-1935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-posts","category-guest","tag-attainable","tag-conversation","tag-conversion","tag-expected","tag-roi","tag-social-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1935"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1941,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1935\/revisions\/1941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/strong>The tools themselves may be social, but for most companies this new \u2018social channel\u2019 is used no differently than a traditional marketing channel:<\/p>\n\n
\n<\/strong>Still, Facebook can serve as a crucial first step in driving social ROI. If you are a brand that has established your social presence with a substantial following on Facebook \u2013 congratulations! You\u2019ve proven the ability to engage consumers, ignite their passion and create the foundation from which your company can achieve great success with social.<\/p>\n\n
\n<\/strong>In an interview earlier this year with NRF, Williams-Sonoma CMO, Mr. Pat Connolly, talked of the importance of online communities, confessing he\u2019s a big believer in what he calls, \u2018people like me.\u2019 The opinions of other people who share our interests are significantly more influential than corporate marketing speak. In fact, eMarketer (February 2010) reports that people are 12x more likely to be influenced by peers you\u2019re your corporate messaging.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Using screenshots taken from Pottery Barn\u2019s Facebook wall, here\u2019s a look at three common tactics that most brands use when \u2018getting social\u2019 on Facebook:<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Pottery-Barn-FB-Gift-message-thumb.png\" "\\"pb1\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Pottery-Barn-FB-Design-help-thumbnail.png\" "\\"pb1\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Pottery-Barn-FB-Videos.png\" "\\"pb1\\"")
<\/p>\n\n
\n
\n<\/strong>If your website visitors were greeted with this type of interaction, what might that do to your conversion rate? Our customer Kodak Gallery (reported in CRMBuyer) saw a conversion rate of 10% – sometimes reaching as high as 25% – in their online community. And those members spent 50% more than other customers. Apply those metrics to your own business model and you start to grasp the impact of an online community, and its ability to drive millions of dollars of revenue to your bottom-line.<\/p>\n\n
\n<\/strong>Social networks like Facebook and Twitter are a necessary part of a social strategy. But a financial-oriented strategy is not only about engagement, it\u2019s about capitalizing on that engagement. Through an online community, you can draw consumers into your own environment where you can guide, influence, and most importantly empower your consumers to advocate for you. Only then can you transform social interaction into social commerce.<\/p>\n\n