Social Media ROI

Social media is rapidly becoming one of the most relevant platforms with which companies can promote their brand. Unfortunately this means many businesses are now drowning in an overwhelming amount of new information that they are unable to sift through. Companies are putting an extensive amount of time into creating social media campaigns, but are not following through to see if they are actually effective.

After a little research through the ever informative website Mashable, I came across an article that breaks down "How To: Calculate the ROI of Your Social Media Campaign".

The article focuses on three main objectives; Quantitative Metrics, Qualitative Metrics, and ROI Metrics. The main objective (ROI Metrics) of the article is to show businesses that the ever-daunting math related tasks that come with calculating their social media ROI are really quite simple. These metrics allow companies to effectively sort through the vast amount of information provided for them online and find what is effective for their business.

The article also really wants to hit home the idea that social media for a business is not about socializing, it's about building a brand. A companies online value proposition must be consistent throughout their entire online presence.

I felt as if this article went hand-in-hand with the Google AdWords project we're currently working on. We may be solely focusing on driving traffic toward our companies' websites, but it's important to be aware of what kind of traffic these ads will also funnel toward their social media sites. So, think about it, is your company using social media to its advantage?

Hashtaggery.

Hash

I stumbled upon this article and it reminded me of the Linda's English 2.0 post.

Not only is there a broad range of online languages, but the deeper you get into one particular language, the more complex it seems to get. The Twitter hashtag seems to exemplify this complexity.

I am mildly aware of Twitter language, so I know that a hashtag is a way to mark words or phrases in order to make the post appear in searches and contribute to a trending topic. However, after reading this article it's become quite apparent that the hashtag has taken on many different meanings in the Twitter world and all over social media.

The article takes a witty stance when explaining the different ways to communicate via a hashtag and it made for an amusing read. I'm interested to see how this Twitter language will continue to evolve and see how it seeps out into different branches of social media.

A Shift in Business.

Savvy Youth Benefit From Free Resources

With the internet becoming such a prevalent business tool it's no wonder young entrepreneurs are beginning to take advantage of the wealth of information available to them online. Young students are using the free tools provided to them to create viable business plans that have even blossomed into some of Canada's most renowned online companies.

As Nicholas MacLeod (who is highlighted in the article) says, "I did a lot of reading online about what one needs to know about starting a business and then I just taught myself as I went along."

This may sound simple, but it obviously requires an intense about of dedication and focus on the part of the individual starting up a company, but it is also a testament to the fact that the internet has provided people with a launching pad for success. Be it with viral media or simply having the information readily at hand for you to create your own success, the internet has indeed spawned an interesting change in the world of business.

The internet has opened up the global marketplace to businesses and consumers. As discussed in class I don't believe that the world is going to become one homogeneous global market mainly because the value systems of different cultures tend to be persistent, stable, and unlikely to change over time. But, the fact that people all over the world have the opportunity to access the same information makes having a solid internet marketing strategy even more important.

It seems as if there is nothing you cannot learn if you sift through the resources on the internet carefully, as has been exemplified by MacLeod and his company Future Web Design.

On a smaller scale Facebook has now emerged as a viable business tool and they have taken advantage of this with the newest batch of changes. Users can now post high resolution photos, have private live discussions via the New Groups feature (perfect for "focus groups" perhaps?), and engage their audience via Facebook Questions.

Facebook is all about interacting with your audience and keeping them interested through two way conversation. A business can no longer talk at their customers; relationship marketing has been taken to a new level with the internet (and especially Facebook) because consumers want to interact directly with the business.

So what do you think about this shift in business? Will the internet become a more viable base for a business then perhaps a bricks and mortar style business?

Article on the new features Facebook has implemented that will assist businesses in marketing themselves effectively

New Facebook Marketing