Presentation given at Michigan State University Social Media Executive Seminar on the calculating the return on social media based on customer lifetime value.
Understand the metrics and value calculations of social ROI
Learn how to quantify social media contributions to the bottom-line
Determine the impact that social media has on sales and other parts of the business, and their interrelatedness
The bottom line is that consumers are not listening anymore. Only 14% of consumers even trust ads. Interruptive marketing has seen its day.Consumers control the online environment so brands need to think about facilitating user-created actions, not just user-generated content. Unlike magazines and TV where brands are speaking AT consumers, the Internet and social web allows for more back and forth interaction.Today, 78% trust peer recommendations and a majority of consumers (74%) rely on social networks to guide purchase decisions. (Gartner, July 2010)Brands not paying attention to what their customers say about them on sites such as Twitter should reconsider that attitude. A recent survey showed that 60% of people have chosen not to buy or use a product or service after reading negative comments about them online.On top of that, according to Forrester, by 2014, 53% of total retail sales (online and offline) will be affected by the Web, as consumers increasingly use the Internet to research products before purchasing. (Forrester, March 2010)
Social web has profoundly changed how customers interact with each other and with brands. You can no longer ignore and pretend like it does matter to your business.But what is the role of social media and social businessin your organization?
A study by Marketing Leadership Council (MLC), looked into 250 prominent brands and found that measured social media success is actually rare among brands. Only 1 out of 10 brands are seeing significant business results from their social media efforts. So, despite the large number of exciting social media campaigns, very few companies are actually seeing returns. Why is that? Or perhaps a better question: what distinguishes the 11% of brands seeing business results from the rest? And what can we learn from the 11% in terms of the role of social media fits in the organization.
What really distinguishes the 11% is a broader view of social media’s potential. More specifically it breaks down to three traits: Strategic focus – social media are used to enhance the brand’s competitive position by creating new value for consumersFirmwide collaboration – (and this is very important) social media has to be managed collaboratively to build and deepen firmwide customer relationshipsExecutive leadership – CMO advocates for social media across the enterprise and actively leads the firm’s efforts
So now that we have a better understanding of how social media fits (or should fit) into and across your organization, let examine some of the challenges with measuring ROI.