{"id":3473,"date":"2011-09-18T19:21:48","date_gmt":"2011-09-18T19:21:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/?p=3473"},"modified":"2011-09-18T19:21:48","modified_gmt":"2011-09-18T19:21:48","slug":"how-social-media-can-generate-real","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/2011\/09\/how-social-media-can-generate-real\/","title":{"rendered":"How Social Media Can Generate Real $$$"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Yes, social media can generate business dollars — very real and measurable dollars.\u00a0 As I said in a recent Tweet, <\/p>\n

\u201c<\/em>Awareness=Revenues.<\/p>\n

Differentiators=Margins.<\/p>\n

Authenticity=Loyalty.<\/p>\n

ALL measurable.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The concepts are similar to traditional media marketing, but they each have a different twist when you add in the social factor.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Awareness = Revenues<\/strong><\/p>\n

Obviously, if shoppers don\u2019t know your products and services exist, revenues will be hard to come by.\u00a0 What is not so obvious is the way awareness is created through social media \u2013 it\u2019s all about building relationships and connecting to people and networks in meaningful ways.<\/p>\n

The first step of awareness is recognition \u2013 which means you need to catch someone\u2019s attention more than once.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>When focused on building relationships, you will naturally be providing repeated exposure to your brand through ongoing interactions with consumers.<\/p>\n

Awareness breeds familiarity\u2026 familiarity breeds relationships \u2026 relationships breed trust \u2026 trust breeds recommendations\u2026 and recommendations breed purchases.\u00a0 Therefore, awareness=revenues.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Differentiators = Margins<\/strong><\/p>\n

What sets your brand apart from others?\u00a0 I\u2019m not asking what you SAY sets your brand apart from others, I\u2019m asking what ACTUALLY DOES set your brand apart.\u00a0 Social media has flooded the cybersphere with words, so the only way we can prove we are different is to BE different.\u00a0 Shoppers need to have a good (or great) experience with your brand, whether it\u2019s with your product, your customer service, or any other interactions shoppers have with your brand.<\/p>\n

When you are able to truly set yourself apart from your competition, you can price your products and services accordingly.\u00a0 A high quality product that works better, holds up better, meets a customer\u2019s needs better, and also addresses their wants has higher shopper perceived value and allows greater profit margins.\u00a0 The key, though, is to price within your own knowledge of the product value or shoppers will sniff out the price-gouging\u2026 a huge hit to your credibility.\u00a0 Remember, negative differentiators don\u2019t get you very far with shoppers (or anyone)!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Authenticity = Loyalty<\/strong><\/p>\n

Social media has given so many people quick and easy access to so much information that shoppers no longer tolerate sales pitches, empty promises, or anything less than a genuine brand message of quality, consistency, and authenticity.\u00a0\u00a0 If their experience with your brand suggests that your words are selling something more than you can deliver, they will go elsewhere in a heartbeat.\u00a0 There is no such thing as a captured audience any more!<\/p>\n

Loyalties only get built when shoppers know you are being honest with them and are willing to engage in authentic conversation with them (even if it means hearing things they don\u2019t like about your product or service!).\u00a0 Before they will \u201ctell it like it is\u201d you need to model that behavior to show them you are willing to take the risk of openness in order to better understand and address their needs and wants.<\/p>\n

Authenticity is worth the risk because loyalty in this social media world can quickly grow from one person believing in \u2013 and purchasing from \u2013 your brand to entire networks supporting and recommending you.<\/p>\n

Earn awareness through authentic differentiators, and your reward will be a clear Return on Relationship (ROR):\u00a0 increased revenues, margins, and loyalty \u2013 all measurable directly, or in resulting sales as dollars on a spreadsheet.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to turn your social media results into a line item; don\u2019t settle for less! <\/strong><\/p>\n

Ted Rubin<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Originally posted at <\/em>Collective Bias<\/em><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yes, social media can generate business dollars — very real and measurable dollars.\u00a0 As I said in a recent Tweet, \u201cAwareness=Revenues. Differentiators=Margins. Authenticity=Loyalty. ALL measurable.\u201d\u00a0 The concepts are similar to traditional media marketing, but they each have a different twist when you add in the social factor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-posts","category-tedrubin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3473","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=3473"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3482,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3473\/revisions\/3482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}