Welcome back to part two of our Study of a Study on Social Media. If you were here last week, you already know some of the numbers from our Social Media in Event Marketing study. This week, we’ll look at the meaning behind those numbers.
Numbers like a 66% adoption rate and a 74% positive growth rate indicate just how vital social networks have become. Marketers choosing to ignore the cutting edge are only delaying the inevitable. It only takes a token Facebook page or an event blog to get .some experience in this brave new world. To learn some lessons from the early adopters who participated in our survey, read on.
Let’s take a look at the results that marketers are reporting from social media campaigns. Lots of brand awareness. Unremarkable ROI. Improved client relationships. Insignificant sales increases. Conceptually, this adds up. Social media is not a replacement for traditional marketing programs. It’s nothing more nor less than one more asset in your marketing arsenal, like a loyalty program or adirect marketing campaign. Too many marketing pundits exhort brands to establish closer relationships with customers through social media. Good advice, but it takes a while for those relationships to translate into payoffs from the the customer wallets.
Developing meaningful social media metrics can be elusive, too. The measures most often cited in our study include blog posts, fans and Twitter feeds, all easy to track and quantify. But clean-cut numbers don’t tell the full story in social media, where implicit results can sometimes deliver more meaningful marketplace insights. Rather than post views, look for reblogs. Instead of Facebook comments, look for write-ups of the event. It’s the access to personal viewpoints that are often the most valuable in social media.
We weren’t surprised to find that marketers find Facebook and Twitter appealing. At 93% and 80%, respectively, they’re clearly among the most popular social media networks. But as they become more and more mainstream, look to new vehicles to make a a unique splash. Take the new social network/game FourSquare. Starbucks recently partnered up to offer exclusive game content and alreadyhas throngs of users eager to “check-in.” Remember, Twitter was only introduced in 2006. The spoils of social media marketing belong to the adventurous, willing to foray into a new network,with gusto and enthusiasm.
What are your thoughts about the results of the survey? Any points particularly intriguing? Worrisome? Let us know in the comments, or reply to us on Twitter at @GetSynch !