Social Media Marketiing, Scam or Strategy
69Social Media Scam or Strategy
Social Media Marketing –Scam or Strategy?
We have heard it all: It’s the only way forward in marketing…it’s a scam… who needs it…why fix it if it’s working… and of course …Social Media marketing is for kids.
The fact is that all the above are true for different people at different times. The objective is to be able to assess the RISK of a Social Media strategy versus a more traditional approach. Those who have been successful in business choices know that risk assessment is never about how big the risk is, but rather how MANAGABLE it is.
Managing your Risk
There are 2 factors relevant to establishing how MANAGABLE the risk is when look for ROI in social media marketing
- What is your level of Social Media EXPERTISE?
- Learning to MEASURE Social Media approaches both quantitatively and qualitatively
What WE know:
The power has moved from Suppliers to Consumers. The time of suppliers having endless and unrestricted email marketing access and more general marketing access to consumers, is gone for good.
Since the advent of Web 2.0, there has been a shift in the Balance of Power. The ‘Hunted’ ( those consumers sought out by marketers) have become the Hunters (those with ALL the power to choose by whom, what and when they will be hunted).
- The effectiveness of traditional advertising mechanisms is on the decline. TV advertising revenue alone is expected to decrease between 10% and 15% this year alone.
What WE need to Know;
- Social Media Marketing NOW has its roots firmly entrenched in PROVEN Return on Investment. There are legitimate and sound Methods of Measuring your ROI when using the social media.
- Those who refer to Social Media Marketing as a Scam, are most often people who remain averse to technology, are fearful of it or simply don’t have access to the relevant technology.
- Sometimes those who are averse to using Social Media for marketing have a vested interest in preserving some of the old marketing methods, not for the effectiveness of these channels, but more for revenue stream preservation from an ole business model.
Evaluating ROI in Social Media Marketing
How to evaluate Return On Investment (ROI) when using Social Media
In evaluating the ROI of a Web 2.0 strategy one needs to understand implication of Qualitative measurements, Quantitative measurement and what is just plain Quack in the Social Media.
Advocates of Social Media Marketing are clear that these media are an essential ingredient to the marketing mix. Real and tangible Measurement of Social Media Marketing and its Return on Investment (ROI) is providing increasingly clear evidence of its indispensability.
How to Learn the Basics of Social Media Marketing
The question is, HOW do we get a sufficiently solid working knowledge of Social Media Marketing to be able to implement a strategy? Secondly, how do we differentiate between Quality, Quantity and just plain Quack!
1. Newcomers to this platform should look to the Social Media Marketing authorities and follow their lead. eg. Simon U Ford's FREE ebook, Click link below (Cracking the Code)
2. Expose yourself to these Media. Start small with the basics, working with FaceBook Twitter and YouTube and get a feel for consumer involvement – known as engagement on the web. Very soon you will develop your own criteria for differentiating between what is Scam not!
3. Use what I call.. "Increasing Sales the Google way" and slide people into your sales funnel by doing what Google's founding members, Brin and Page did: They focused on the delivery of fast, efficient and "relevant" search, as their primary objective. Googles' excellent and highly profitable business model evolved as a result of the purity of this vision. In the area of "Social Media Marketing, the same simple formulaic "Google" Way is essential and is guaranteed to succeed.
4. Avoid the Scamsters and the Hype: Much of the Scam /no Scam debate around Social Media Marketing, is as a result of the HYPE surrounding Social Media Marketing. Some Web 2.0 marketers have abused the etiquette by having a self serving investment in its promotion. This is contrary to the essence of what Social Media Marketing is about. Often, a new development in the Digital world is seen as the next FAD, it often has little or no substantiation and disappears as quickly as it made its appearance.
5. Work with the Good Stuff - With the concept of "ranking" (Googles way of establishing relevance of an article or listing) moving from Page rank (making it onto the first page on google) to Social rank (gaining credibility through other users telling others of your viability or credibility), Scammers are now quickly exposed more publicly than ever before. Social Media Marketing is singularly the most compelling media advocate and facilitator of HONESTY and TRUST.
Testimonial on a Social Media course
Honoring the Old Methods of Marketing
Finally, let it be said that the old methods of marketing still have a place. We need to continue to Honor old methods in a new market place. Not everything needs to change. Often, the key to increased business and increased profitability is through combining the Old Methods of marketing with the new methods of Social Media Marketing.
Some things never change, some never will and the rest already have. The trick is to UNDERSTAND Social Media Marketing and to be able to effectively MEASURE it effectively to gain your best ROI.
Secrets to Cracking the Social Media CODE
- Social Traffic Cracking The Social Media Code
Get Social Traffic to your business, Crack the Social Traffic code & you're set for life. A no-nonsense 10 week course designed to help you learn the ropes of social media marketing
Thank You
Thank you for your comments and insights below. Together, the value of our knowledge is can only be enhanced megafold!
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Comments
yea Rebecca, ROI is the REASON for conducting or NOT conducting a business activity. If there is no Return there is no reason in doing it.
Hi Steve - I agree that ROI is very important aspect of Social Media Marketing that is often overlooked. Idealy it is the fulcrum you base all your online activitites about. Thanks for the Hub - interesting as always.
The shift that we're experiencing in marketing right now is amazing. I believe that Social Media Marketing is the future of business. You can either jump on board now, or come straggling in later and get the leftovers.
Steve, I agree with you that you should always measure ROI to make sure that your efforts are worth continuing. In order for ROI to be meaningful you need to have set your targets upfront. In other words is adding one new relationship considered success or does it take 10 new relationships to make this effort worth your while. Just keep in mind that quality is more important than quantity when you set your goals.
I love your last paragraph about honoring old methods. I so agree. The methods are sound, but when we moved online, the personal touch (so important to get the job done) disappeared. With the arrival of social media that personal touch is back. We have come full circle, only the circle has become a lot bigger. We can now do around the world what we used to do in our own little community. We have honored the old marketing concepts, but put them in a new shell.
Jonathan, this is one instance that I know of in business where there are real and tangible benifits to being an early adopter.
Excellent article Steve. It is essential to understand ROI in any business marketing plan. Good insights.
WOW How refreshing to read an article where not only is the content of value but the author's credibility and authentic manner ooze off the page. I look forward to following more of your articles Steve. You seem to know what you are talking about in a world where there are many self appointed but mislead gurus.
I agree with Pam that your credibility and authenticity ooze off the page, because you're filled with them, Steve. I'm also like Rebecca in that I struggle with return on investment equations. I know that's the bottom line in business, but I question whether it can always be a proven direct correlation between the personal touch Karin mentions and the increase of net worth. Great article. I'm watching for more!
Steve,
How do you measure the RIO on a blog you invest 2 years writing. A blog that returns no income directly but one that earns you enough authority that you can enter a room with your peers sitting at the top of any industry and command respect. Respect that ultimately morphs into deals that lead to large amounts of money??
If you combine a blog with a Twitter strategy tweeting about what you blog about and a social networking strategy that gets you noticed by these authorities in your niche on Facebook. You may never earn you a direct or measurable ROI.
Investing the capital into all of these strategies if done with the right knowledge behind it. Will, over time build a multi-million dollar business that people looking for a direct, short ROI for their time can only ever dream of building.
Dear Miss Abigale,
ROI should be measured against objectives for the site in question. If a site is build purely with the purpose of building authority, than ROI should be measured in terms of the long term strategy. Measuring a short term ROI, if the objective is long term is a waste of time and prone to discouragement of the site owner. The owner may trow the towel in the ring prematurely, even though he/she may be on track to reach his objective!
@Karin and @ Miss Abigail, you both raise interesting and important points. How do you measure Blogs and twitter initiatives etc.
It all comes back to Definition. And there are a few things we need to always bear in mind as we review anything in relation to Social Media Marketing.
Firstly, there is no doubt (ever) that quality is more important than quantity . Quality is what determines in fact whether there is a relationship at all! When the numbers of people anyone interacts with increases so then does the quality of the relationship decrease. Seth Godin says a person you have a relationship with is someone you can call up and they will put you up in their lounge for a few nights!!
Secondly, with regards the definition of ROI. Strictly speaking it is a measure of the return we get from money invested in a particular initiative.
This definition can however also be broadened a little. In the same way as the winner of the race at the end of the day is determined by whoever came first. This doesn't mean that this "win" is seen in isolation. The athlete will have trained for months, measuring their times each training session that they take to do the distance etc.
In the same way in Social Media, we have data that is measurable which is a precurcer to the actual sale. We can measure what Google is now measuring - our "social ranking" by recording how many people read your new blog when it was published (I had over 50 in the first 24 hours on this one), We can also measure what % of our tweets get read or what is the ratio between total visitor to a site are, to unique visitors(here my ratio on Eventslisted right now is 52:1)
So to conclude the strict definition which is what investors and the bean counter watch is actual sales from monies invested, but that is the result at the end of the campaign.
measuring only the result at the end of the campaign can be too late particularly if it was a failure. It is imperative en route to measure each strategy as it runs.
If you're writing a blog and no one reads it or you tweet and get no RT or click you need to go back to the drawing board.
This is what I did when I went I decided I needs to learn the Social Media ropes from the best person I could find... Simon U Ford.. the link is in my article above..
I would be interested in hearing other opinions on using the broader definition of ROI to incorporate Social Ranking as a measure of ROI.?? Comments
Hi Steve, first of all..thanks for answering the question I posed on your other hub about ROI. Good discussion here
about how you measure credibility...so to me it's also tracking what people are actually saying about you. I like the Tweetlater (sorry socialoomph!) feature for that. With regard to Simon's stuff...most of the stuff on the Internet sells you hope. Simon's book is full of solid, tested information and strategies and it's free..thanks for this Steve. As always, a thoughtfull well presented piece of work.
Hi Anne, Thanks (as always) for your comment and interest. Just one thing, I think probably most of the stuff on the internet doesn't sell. It's again an instance of the 80:20 rule. Where 20% of internet marketers do 80% of the business. If any single component in the sales chain fails, the whole campaign is as good as that single component.
Some of the important ingredients that I believe to be essential are:
A better than average product is always a good start.
A well planned and implemented launch sequence.
A good "relationship" with your followers.
A SLO (self liquidating offer) to hook customers - where they purchase something small up front where this sales at least covers the cost of your PPC campaign.
A compelling and irresistible bonus.
A revolving door launch to keep the interest and bonuses coming.
A well planned and great value back-end offer.
Good ongoing conversation.
Great sales copy.
A slick delivery mechanism.
A continuity loop delivering value to your followers in between offers of product.
Its virtually impossible to get everything right all the time, but as Steven Coven says, First things First. Get the key ingredients bedded down first, then get on to all the rest that takes so much time.
Thanks again Anne for your continued support of my ongoing initiative.
What many people intend to forget is that social media is not selling online anymore. Your customers, freinds or people that you join with on social media web site will in turn control how buy online and spend in the next few years.
Very true social-media-lock... Selling on Social Media is no longer part of the equation. Our only role and responsibility here is to create and give away great value to our followers and friends...
Thanks for the comment..Please feel free to friend me an Facebook facebook/stevebuchalter and we can connect.
Great article, Steve. Have already bookmarked it and intend to share with several clients. This is the kind of stuff that I preach on a daily basis, and it is always great to hear others sharing the same thoughts. Love the comments about honoring traditional marketing methods. They are still very valid and the integration of social mediums into traditional marketing, to me, make traditional marketing even MORE exciting. Instant customer feedback and the ability to tweak a campaign midway through -- omg, I get all squiggly just thinking about it. How can people NOT be excited about things like this? Great thoughts - thanks so much for sharing.
HI Shelly, I get excited at your excitement. Just launching a Facebook contest for some consulting http://bit.ly/PV2QK feel free to enter.
Steve, you provide thought provoking ideas which resonate, to be sure. I also really like the particular comments about traditional marketing methods remaining important. I've come to see Social Media as far less "new" in general while helping some old school marketers wade into all this new water.
The challenge can sometimes be getting folks to realize they might know far more than they think while they stare at Social Media and don't know where to step first.
Firstly Noah, Shana Tova. The new media are really like driving a new car. We still need to get from A to B but the drive is very different. I'd love to connect with you more, Can I invite you to join me on FB? http://www.facebook.com/pages/Knysna-South-Africa/ Hope to see you there.
i vote Strategy
rebeccahappy says:
2 months ago
Lots of good info here Steve. It really helps to have all those other pieces you link to already explained to make it a very thorough read.
ROI is still something I need to work on understanding. I get the concept as well as the value in investing in this style of marketing but the idea of qualified measurement has yet to be fully grasped.