Don’t Be A Social Hermit: Give Them Something To Talk About

These days, a consumer is no longer a faceless statistic in a sales report.  Consumers have become an active participant in the brand building process.

The new mantras are “share”, “tag” and “comment”. 

With that in mind, businesses need to tap into the enthusiasm of web users to propel their business success.

Below are examples of communication media converted to (–>) social media…

1. Space defined by media owner –> Space Defined by consumer
2. Brand in control –> Consumer in control
3. One way – delivering a message –> Two way – being a part of a conversation
4. Repeating the message –> Adapting the message
5. Focused on the brand –> Focused on the consumer/Adding value
6. Entertaining –> Influencing, involving
7. Company-created content –> User-created content/Co-creation

There are 3 main areas you can find consumers using social media.

They are:

1. Communication.  These include: Blogs (and Micro-Blogs), Internet Forums, Social Networks and Listservs.
2. Collaboration. These include: Reviews, Social News, Social Bookmarks, and Wikis.
3. Entertainment. These include: Photo Sharing, Video Sharing, Live Casting, Audio and Music Sharing, Virtual Worlds and Games.

Now that you know where your customers and potential customers are hanging out in the “social realm”, here are some guidelines for achieving ROI from your social media marketing:

1. Establish clear goals for your product or brand, then identify social measurements that support those objectives.
2. Organize your measurements and metrics in a logical framework.
3. Apply a long-term outlook to social media interactions and measurements.  It’s a comment, not a campaign.
4. If hard ROI metrics are difficult to track, consider a range of softer metrics that link back to desired business outcomes.
5. Determine a dollar value for customers that opt in and engage your brand via social networks.
6. In your ROI calculations, don’t overlook the value of cost savings that result from ongoing social listing and tracking.
7. Build technological capabilities to measure your customers’ complete digital footprint – in real time.

Establish clear goals for your brand, then identify the social media to support the objectives.

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Consider implementing these ideas into your daily routines when communicating with your clients (and potential clients) in the virtual world of social media.

Remember to have a clear direction of where you want your brand to go and understand the key factors to build your social media ROI.