So when General Motors pulled out of Facebook, everyone came out with their opinion about the issues around new medium, digital constraints, and limiting ROIs that impact marketing decisions, and impede managers from investing in new fangled ideas. However- in my last post, Pete Blackshaw talked about digital being embedded in sense, and response principles, I'd like to draw an analogy, and say that social media is embedded in the principle of word-of-mouth. A marketer ten years back relied on buzz, and Word of Mouth, and they still do- content marketing is a pivotal piece of a bigger campaign. Yes-the vehicle has changed, and the platform has become innovative. However- the objective is still the same. Raising awareness, driving buzz, and creating positive word-of-mouth.
So maybe its less about bashing social media and more about tapping into these 5 metrics, which help determine how good is the content that is put on Facebook.
Virality of the medium. A good video, or content gets shared, and commands eyeballs, and attention.
Segmenting through engagement levels. The higher the number of people visiting a brand page, there are higher chances of reaching new segments. For example- two consumers- Mark, and Smith click on a travel page on Twitter. Mark is a consumer who has more money, and time to look at a holiday package and decide where he is headed. Another consumer-Smith might just be cashstrapped, and working on fixing a package with a limited budget. If each of them like the brand page, perhaps it would be good to look at them as audience of two distinct segments, with distinct strategies, marketing message, and engagement levels. So audience response can help in tapping into their engagement levels, and also into the broader segment that they represent.
Advocacy and Recommendations. Often we befriend those who are in our circle of trust. They advocate the right and the wrong, and recommend strategies that help consumers choose in a transparent fashion.
Influence, and Trust. These are aspects that might sound not very technical. However researchers have put scores around each of these areas, and helped marketers crunch numbers, and create analytical dashboards that share the Influence, and Trust Scores for brands that are shouting out loud to get to their target.
Mobile: What is the participation through mobile medium. A medium is popular if it is being used through mobile. Remember FourSquare a location checking application that held its own by becoming a favorite for the on-the-go consumer. The more mobile friendly the content, it just showcases the level of excitement that it generates. So- if someone can engage over a mobile, maybe they are closer to the sales funnel, and ready to tap into their wallets to make that purchase.
So in brief before we analyze about a channel of marketing, it's time look at these 5 metrics- virality, engagement (likes), advocacy, influence, mobile participation, and assimilate data: If the basics are taken care of there are much higher returns on the investment, and analytics will come a long way in giving marketers a cue into CONTENT. Social media is a medium which might fail if the content does not evoke excitement. Setting the context around this issue is the aim of those who attempt to create social media analytics. They need not advocate social media, but share the gaps in the execution through the numbers on each metric shared above.
