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Archive for May, 2009

This week’s social media links Sunday, May 24th, 2009

Here are a few interesting stories about social media that have been published in the past few days:

Social Media Benchmarks: Realities and Myths

“….many clients still ask about benchmarks. They ask, ‘What are good CTRs, CPCs, CPMs, etc. so I know how my programs stack up?’ Well, there’s good reason those benchmarks are hard to find. Lacking a reliable source, I ran my own analysis over the last three years and came up with many eye-opening results…”

Australian Social Media Statistics Compendium

“With so many new social sites emerging it is very important for marketers to have Australian specific intelligence to determine which channels are the most attractive to pursue as part of your marketing strategy….”

How Accurately Can You Gauge the ROI of Social Media Tactics?

“Marketers are under constant pressure to measure everything they do. The result is often a default to tactics that are more easily and accurately measureable, regardless of their effectiveness. This is especially true in social media marketing which often requires qualitative measurement rather than quantitative metrics that are more familiar to online marketers….”

Online Marketing’s Evolution

“What’s the future of interactive advertising? Executives from interactive agencies and marketing technology tech companies tried to answer that question at two conferences this week in New York City. Discussions ranged from the challenges of working in social media, risks for agencies in using pay-for-performance models, one online marketing sector that’s thriving, and Amazon.com’s crowdsourcing initiative. Here are some takeaways….”

Social Media Fails To Manifest As Marketing Medium, Report Likens Twitter To TiVo: More Hype Than Reality

“Social media has reached critical mass, with 83% of the Internet population now using it… But for all the media industry’s hype and buzz surrounding social networks, microblogs, and other social networking platforms, the genre has failed to become much of a marketing medium, and in the opinion of the Knowledge Networks’ analysts, likely never will. The report, “How People Use Social Media,” finds that social media is having a profound impact on the way people connect with each other, but that it’s not becoming a very meaningful way for people to connect with brands, or advertising promoting brands….”

The Social Data Revolution(s)

“In 2009, more data will be generated by individuals than in the entire history of mankind through 2008. Information overload is more serious than ever. What are the implications for marketing?….”


Online ad networks: evil or useful? Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

Shameless self-promotion: We published an article the other day on the HotHouse blog about online ad networks. There’s an accompanying podcast interview with APAC Digital MD David Holmes. The HotHouse blog is full of news and opinion on developments in the online space.


Driving word of mouth Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

Today’s edition of the Corporate Communicator, from US PR firm Bon Mot Communications, contains the following piece, which provides a useful summary of a recent study on corporate use of social media: “As the traditional news hole continues to shrink, communicators are turning to new media sources to help get the word out about their organizations’ services, products and causes. However, many business leaders are still skeptical when it comes to the value of coverage on blogs and other social media sites.

“If this challenge sounds familiar, be sure to check out a recent study from the Aberdeen Group, ‘The ROI on Social Media Marketing: Why it Pays to Drive Word of Mouth.’

“According to the study, companies are learning to leverage social media to drive marketing ROI by listening to and learning from current and prospective customers. Aberdeen found that 63% of companies surveyed plan to increase social media marketing budgets in 2009 - some by as much as 25%.

“However, Aberdeen also found that measurement continues to be a sticking point: 59% said it was either difficult or somewhat difficult to measure social media.

“How does your organization stack up? According to the study:

· 39% of surveyed companies have established a method for engaging consumers in online conversation
· 26% instill an organizational focus on social media
· 24% establish a method for defining social media benchmarks and goals
· 21% create a team or committee dedicated to social media ROI
· 18% link results of social media activities to increased revenues and other financial outcomes
· 18% establish a method for driving brand advocacy and customer referrals

“You can purchase a full copy of the report here: http://www.aberdeen.com/summary/report/benchmark/5639-RA-social-media-marketing.asp “


Social media - how much is too much? Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

With the recent explosion in Facebook and Twitter use (the media hype and recent stats are backed up by anecdotal evidence such as the stream of high school and uni friends that have discovered me on Facebook and a bevy of would-be porn stars following me on Twitter), it’s inevitable that some pundits are starting to ask if we’re reaching social media overload.

Judy Shapiro, writing in Ad Age, writes that, “We use our different social networks to enrich different dimensions of our lives. Therefore, as you would expect, we want different things from our different social networks…. This is the heart of the problem. As marketers, our knee-jerk reaction to every community we create is to motivate members to create rich and robust profiles of themselves so they can connect with each other in new and powerful ways. While this approach may be desirable to us as marketers, it may not be best for consumers. We need to be mindful and respectful of the realities our customers live in and the truth is that managing all these social profiles is none too easy, the technology and tools notwithstanding.”

She suggests marketers take a close look at their community-building strategies, asking “Are we being practical about what we expect users to reveal about themselves in our communities? Is our community a hub where users will congregate regularly, where rich profiles are of value or are we creating a secondary ’spoke’ community meant to address narrow or temporary niche needs? In short, as marketers do we demand that users create too many profiles in all our community-building programs?”

The Harvard Business Review has also discussed this issue recently, recommending that companies treat communities as a high-level business strategy that is integrated across business functions, rather than just being the domain of the marketing department. A Facebook group or a Twitter account is not good enough.

The HBR authors advise that companies shouldn’t try to control communities, and should view online networks as just a tool for community building, not an entire strategy. In other words, get out there and meet people face-to-face rather than just via the Internet.

It concludes: “Although any brand can benefit from a community strategy, not every company can pull it off. Executing community requires an organization-wide commitment and a willingness to work across functional boundaries. It takes the boldness to reexamine everything from company values to organizational
design. And it takes the fortitude to meet people on their own terms, cede control, and accept conflict as part of the package”

Anyone up for the challenge?