The new ROI

June 23, 2009 – 9:57 pm

A slew of conferences took place this week all focusing on the importance of social media. Analysts threw around buzz words like engage, measure, outcomes, ROI. What we’ve learned is that if something happens on Twitter, YouTube or Facebook, it’s automatically going to jump to the next level. Brands like Domino’s, Skittles and Amazon learned their lessons the hard way. Every brand mis-step can spark a wildfire that spreads through the social media universe faster than brands can control. To stay safe in the social media minefields, brands need to be everywhere their consumers are and build communities of fans they can leverage in a crisis. There are a variety of tools and applications that brands can use to optimize their social media presence. So what should a brand be looking for? An application like Ngage360 with robust reporting tools is a must-have. Being able to measure any aspect of your social media marketing efforts will give you the capability to monitor and measure the ROI of your initiatives. Apparently many people ask what is the ROI of social media but the best answer I heard to date was “what is the Return on Ignoring?”

By Shira Adatto | Posted in Social Network | Comments (0)

Will Facebook change the way it approaches advertising?

June 1, 2009 – 1:33 pm

Last week the social media gurus were all abuzz about Russia’s Digital Sky Technologies $200 million investment in Facebook and what it means for the future of Facebook. Many people balked at the $10 billion valuation of Facebook. Fortune caught up with Digital Sky partner Alexander Tamas who stated in the interview that he believes that Facebook is worth every cent of the valuation. Analysts are excited to see what the Russian company will contribute to the business model. They bring invaluable knowledge from Eastern Europe where companies are testing different models for social networks. Although Tamas says he is not focused solely on advertising, he did emphasize that it is a strategy they are going to explore. For instance, he said the following about display advertising: “The mistake people are making here is to say display advertising does not work in social networking. That is true, but what does work is much more intelligent ads.” If I am interpreting this correctly, I think what he means is that the platform is not the problem but the ad format is. In other words, what social networking needs is intelligent advertising, not trashy ads about how to become an Internet millionaire or how to get rid of belly fat. These kind of ads teach the users to ignore the ad and therefore teaches reputable brands not to invest in the space. I’m so glad that someone intelligent finally spoke up about the state of advertising on social networks. Or as Catherine Taylor, Social Media Insider columnist, put it “Finally a guy who doesn’t suffer from the Fear of Advertising that seems to permeate so many social media sites.” I am excited for what this means for the future of social network advertising.

By Shira Adatto | Posted in Social Network | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Just. Do. It.

May 7, 2009 – 5:17 pm

Brands listen up! It’s time. There’s no more avoiding it. The web has gone social whether you like it or not. If there is one thing we’ve learned from the success of Facebook and Twitter, it’s that consumers have a voice and they want to be heard. And if you don’t believe me, Forrester Research last week became the first independent research firm to encourage clients to use social applications and to commit to social marketing campaigns. In the report, Forrester’s Sean Corcoran emphasizes “To enhance an ad campaign with social elements, interactive marketers should know their audience’s behavior, commit to the communities for the long term” - the key phrase here being “long-term”. Marketers need to adjust their way of thinking and measuring and forget the “quick-hit nature of advertising” and think about ways to connect with customers in a more impactful way. It’s about building a deeper connection and using social tools to drive people into your community. Social media is about conversations. Consumers don’t want to be blasted with messages. They want to be listened to and partake in dialogue. Don’t be afraid of consumer input. It adds authenticity to your message.

The tools and technology to engage your customers exist and I thank Forrester for making this their focus because it brings to light what Zibaba is trying to do with our Social Ads solution. Zibaba is set to release an interactive advertising application that will allow brands to engage consumers and deliver effective and targeted ad campaigns on any ad network. This first of its kind technology incorporates User Generated Content (UGC) into the ad with comments and reviews and allows users to share the ad with their friends via email, IM, Bookmark or Post to profile on any social network. It even displays a Follow on Twitter button so fans can be continually updated about your brand. Interactive and personalized ads have shown a 154% increase in CTR, 66% increase in conversion rate and a 3-5 times increase in revenue per 1000 impressions. Best of all, your Social Ads campaign features built-in reporting and will tell you instantly who is clicking on your ad, what part of the ad is being shared and let you follow the conversations that are taking place. And they are taking place, whether you are part of them or not.

Having said that, I will leave you with one final thought. Just Do It!

By Shira Adatto | Posted in Social Shopping | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

The Future of the Social Web: The Era of Social Colonization

April 29, 2009 – 2:20 pm

If you are a marketer, brand manager, advertiser or social media trend follower, Jeremiah Owyang’s recent report “The Future of the Social Web: In Five Eras” is a must read. Marketers must not ignore the power shift from brand to consumer that is taking place as a result of the social web. The old model of marketers dictating the message and consumers passively listening is fading quickly. As Jeremiah predicts, “the community will take charge, and that’s going to happen whether or not marketers or brands participate”. In his report, the Forrester analyst outlines the 5 eras of the social web:

1. The era of social relationships
2. The era of social functionality
3. The era of social colonization
4. The era of social context
5. The era of social commerce

The era that I would like to focus on is #3, the era of social colonization. It is described as an era in which every web site is social, even if it doesn’t chose to be, and it is taking place now. Consumers share products, links, opinions and rely on advice from friends to make purchase decisions regardless of whether or not the brand is participating. Many of us have been referring to this as social commerce but Jeremiah actually defines social commerce as the era during which consumers work with peers to define the next generation of products and make purchases as groups. There is some overlap obviously but I wish to focus on social colonization because the technology as it applies to ecommerce and advertising already exists and consumers are primed for it. How does it work? Say you want to buy a new cell phone and are debating between an iPhone and a Blackberry. Wouldn’t you rather ask your friends opinions than spend hours wading through anonymous online opinion sites? Applications like Zibaba Social Shopper let you instantly ask your friends opinions through email, IM, surveys and even read archived reviews written by the people you know through the social search feature. If someone you know has already written a review on a particular product or seller, that search result will surface first. What this means is you can consult with your friends instantly without ever leaving the page and instantly make your purchase decision.

Crucial to this era is the trend in profile portability that is rapidly being adopted. This feature allows you to login to an ecommerce site using for example your already existing Facebook login and thereby bringing your connections with you and giving you the ability to instantly get advice from your existing social connections. For brands this means you have created a powerful and effective marketing network for your product or service. Brands can then use all that shared information to focus on influencers and offer discounts or personalized offers. As users begin to congregate around common interests and create niche groups within their larger networks, this will lead to the era of social commerce and group buying.

By Shira Adatto | Posted in Social Shopping | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Measuring ROI in Social Media

April 20, 2009 – 2:54 pm

With all the talk about Twitter, Facebook and other social networking tools being the new revolution in marketing, I’ve been thinking about what tools are out there to measure ROI in consumer driven marketing (CDM) efforts. AdAge conducted a study on measuring ROI in Facebook, MySpace and other social media marketing efforts. Another blog (Never Stop Marketing) discuses another theory on how to measure the ROI of social conversations by using an equation to calculate the number of net promoters your brand has. An expert panel made up of Jeremiah Owyang, Charlene Li and Peter Kim presented at Web 2.0  in NY about how they think social media marketing is failing (a great summary written by Jennifer Leggio of ZDnet can be viewed here). Owyang, a web strategist and analyst at Forrester Research, feels that companies are measuring social media wrong because you can just measure clickthroughs. How do you aferall measure conversations or tone? More good takeaways from this panel: don’t let social media efforts sound like rehashed press releases, get top level executives involved, make sure social media is part of long term business strategy, figure out by what standard you are going to measure effectiveness.

By Shira Adatto | Posted in Social Network | Tagged , , , | Comments (1)