Social Media ROI
After attending about a half dozen speaker presentations at yesterday’s MIMA (MN Interactive Marketing Association) Summit, I find myself still reflecting on a couple of key things — many thoughts squarely planted in the bucket labeled “social media.”
As we head into 2010, there are clear business expectations around social media, and clear risks for keeping your head in the sand.
Laura Chavoen, EVP of Strategy at Imagination in Chicago, presented a talk on “Creating a Social Media Roadmap.” The audience nodded along with much of what she said, particularly since there were many traditional marketing parallels: Know your business objectives, know your audience, know your strategy and know your tactics. And then take what you know about those things and integrate them.
But before you do that, and while you do that, and after you do that, listen. Listen hard. Listen often. Listen period. No one will talk to you if you don’t listen. No one will want to support you/your company/your product if you don’t listen. And no one will want to embrace you/your company/your product if you don’t listen.
Ms. Chavoen said that companies who choose not to play in the social media space are essentially telling the world they are mute. And those who don’t listen to social media are telling the world they have decided to openly ignore them. Social media ROI = Ramifications of Ignoring. The high price you pay (ready or not!) when you as an organization decide not to listen to what is being said all around you. And it doesn’t end there. The ripple effect is ugly so long as Google, YouTube and the Internet exist.
Social media is today’s traditional marketing. And it’s key to fully integrated marketing because it mixes PR, marketing communications, interactive solutions, customer service and product development in a big blender. Of course that presumes you attentive companies have also added about a gallon of listening into the mix. For those who aren’t paying attention, let’s hope you have lots of paper towels near the blender to clean up the mess.
So where is your company’s (or your clients) social media roadmap headed? Do you know? And are you listening?
posted by Popular Front on October 6th, 2009 at 1:33 pm Permanent link to this post
