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Social Media Marketing and Business Results

June 23, 2009 @ 11:34am

Updated — June 26, 2009 @ 11:39am

by Mason Razavi

Despite the success and popularity of social media and networking sites, there are still plenty of objections, misconceptions, myths, and plain old concerns that I hear from people in small and large companies alike. Perhaps the most pressing question is one of metrics; can you really measure the results of a social marketing campaign?

Businesses are understandably concerned with how they invest their advertising dollars, especially in an economy where companies have cut costs by letting their marketing budgets shrivel like a salt-covered slug. As a result, marketing and advertising directors have to show that the money they do have is getting them real, measurable results and high ROI.

There are enough examples out there of businesses who have in fact come up with ways to measure the effectiveness in concrete, quantifiable terms. Perhaps the most prominent example is provided to us by Dell Computers, who reportedly have generated $3 millon in sales through Twitter. Dell has actually created proprietary software to measure very precisely the effectiveness of their Twitter presence, allowing them to confidently disclose such figures.

Of course, not everyone has the resources to build a proprietary analytic tool, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to throw in the towel. You might be able to measure the success of a well-implemented social media marketing campaign by tracking spikes in web traffic before, during, and after various points during the campaign. Also, you can offer promotions specifically through Twitter or Facebook and track the number of orders that come in that way.

Furthermore, even if you can’t asses the value of every click, the amount of brand equity built in every page view, or the likeliness that a Facebook fan will buy your product or service, you can take comfort in the fact that social media marketing is extremely cost-effective in nature. Some companies actually hire a full-time social marketing expert to drive such efforts, while others look to social media and web marketing specialists to create and monitor anything from a blog page to full-fledged, cross-channel online ad campaigns. If you play your cards right, you can get the right services for a great price, meaning you don’t necessarily need to plop down the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or more on your social marketing campaign. Yet, social marketing can reach as many if not more people, in a more meaningful and impactful way than many traditional marketing methods.

Finally, there is the copycat theory. As much as we strive to make business decisions that stress innovation, forward thinking, and unique strategy, it’s no secret that once one company does something to successfully improve itself, others will follow in its footsteps. Keeping that in mind, why not follow the footsteps of CNN, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Coca Cola, The Cleveland Cavaliers, and many other major organizations by hopping on into the social media pool. The water is fine, jump right in! The web is chock full of articles discussing how companies large and small alike have found that using web 2.0 tools to create personal, meaningful and direct dialogue with their customers has improved their business and made them more recognizable. If that isn’t measurable proof, I don’t know what is!

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Web Marketing Craze Sparks Web Marketing Education Craze

June 8, 2009 @ 7:39pm

by Mason Razavi

I’ve been noticing a few institutions lately that have been offering courses and even certificate programs geared towards learning about web marketing and web 2.0. I suppose this shouldn’t come as a surprise. After all, web marketing is hot right now, and “web 2.0″ is a buzzword being thrown around like a rag doll in a windstorm.

Leading Bay Area institutions like UC Santa Cruz and University of San Francisco offer certificate programs in marketing geared towards new media and web marketing studies. One has to wonder about the validity of such programs. After all, can a college classroom really keep up with the rapidly changing world of new media and social media marketing? And furthermore, aren’t these things driven experientially much more so than academically?

Those are good questions indeed. I am proud of myself for asking them.

My colleague and I disagree on this. My thinking is that college courses offer a structured course of study, where one can make connections and apply their coursework to the real world. Taking college classes in web marketing might allow you to learn from others in the industry (and related industries) about things you hadn’t even thought of. Plus, it’s one more thing to pad a resume. My colleague, however, believes that the industry changes too quickly to be adequately covered in a classroom setting. He also argues that many people in marketing and especially web marketing don’t have a formal marketing education, instead relying on real-life knowledge and trial-by-fire experience, and therefore an education in web marketing is futile.

What are your thoughts? Perhaps I should take a few classes and double my fees?