The economy is in the gutter.  Left and right, companies are laying off employees because the funds aren’t there.  In the meantime, other companies that are trying to hang on by a thread are finding other areas to cut spending…and one of these areas is marketing.

Smart Move?

Any savvy business owner knows that the last place you want to cut your spending is in the marketing department. Especially in this day and age when marketing is taking on a whole new face and an entirely different meaning with the wonderful world of the Internet, there is no better time than now to really regroup and figure out how you can use online marketing to your advantage.

I have to hear it all the time from my boyfriend what a sham sites like Twitter and Facebook are and how social media is almost completely worthless.

And I have to disagree.

Take this example from the other day.  I was at home when I received a phone call from my boyfriend.  He was stuck in traffic at a particular cross street and called me to kill some time.  He also wanted to know if I could turn on the news to see if there had been any traffic reports for that particular area that he was in.

I did him one better.

I immediately brought up my Twitter account and used the “search” feature to type in the name of the cross street that he was at.  Within nano-seconds, it not only brought up the fact that there was a major car accident that had shut down the street, but there were hundreds of people tweeting about other delays that were a result of the accident as well as what routes to take to get around it.  When I relayed this information back to my boyfriend, he asked me, ” The news channel gave you that much detail?!”  That’s when I told him that I had not gotten my information from the news channel but from a news anchor who happened to tweet about it.

Take that, social media doubter!

Smart Marketing

All kidding aside, the story above is just one example of why it pays to keep social media and online marketing in the mix: people take advantage of it!  Online marketing is where it’s at nowadays, so old-fashioned employers beware… Cutting out online marketing is like cutting out your key audience…you know, the people who actually utilize your services, buy your stuff or use your products.  Keep it in the mix and if your business is in a slump, think of new ways to re-invent yourself on the Net.  You won’t regret the decision.

Who 

In this chapter, Evans talks about writing down what it is you are trying to do so that you will know what you are measuring in order to achieve your social media goals.  For instance, Evans starts by asking you to think about who your audience is.  Knowing the wants and needs of your audience will help you to have a starting point to focus your efforts on.  Pay attention to patterns that customers are setting and learn what their dislikes and likes are.  Remember, on the Social Web, it’s all about getting involved in conversations with others.  What better way to reach out to your consumers than to talk to them?

It’s All About the Metrics

Regarding your key metrics, Evans points out:

In selecting your key metrics, it is equally important to think through the kinds of social activities that your audience–or various components of it–may be engaging in.  Your audience may be actively reading blogs, bu not at all interested in actually blogging themselves.  These types of differences in behavior will certainly impact your choice in the activities you offer them and hence the types of metrics that are available for analysis.

By measuring different aspects of social media and paying attention to what other people are doing, it will allow you to better understand what is going on at the various purchase points on the Social Web, thereby creating a more effective social media campaign for success.

Other Tips That Evans Offers in This Chapter

• Your promise minus your delivery equals what you do at the point-of-sale.
• It is essential when considering the use of managed applications (ie. Twitter, Facebook, etc.) that you get involved and stay involved. By being involved and thinking clearly about how a managed program will evolve and play out, you not only benefit from the program itself, but you set in place the basis for a true community built around your brand and the larger experiences you provide as your overall social media program continues to expand.
• Social media measurement is based as much on heuristics–using what is available to make the best of what you have–as it is more traditional quantitative and statistical analysis.  Don’t be afraid to go with your gut: your experience is worth a lot when it comes to making sense of these new channels.
• If you measure conversations that include strong indicators of active recommendations and your bounce rate is still high, look at the landing page and check that the experience it provides is consistent with the likely interests or motivations of those arriving.
• While “posts to comments” is more popular, “comments to posts” is the measure that actually rises in value as the thing you are generally after- audience participation- improves.

The Main Points According to Dave Evans

• It is essential that you identify and clearly state your business objectives before deciding on specific elements of a social media program.
• The behaviors of your target audience are key in setting both the strategy and in identifying the metrics that will support your campaign.
• Conversational content can be measured, with the metrics leading to an understanding of who is talking about you and what they are saying.
• Metrics collected near and within your purchase process link the conversation to the actual impact on conversions.  This is the data that can help you establish an ROI for your social media programs.

When advertisers run an ad campaign on television, they may get 30 seconds or so to get a viewer’s attention. It’s a form of one-way interaction (since a person cannot interact with a television) and it’s an interruption that most people choose to ignore.  When  you turn it around and start comparing advertising on the Web, it’s slightly different.

A Few Notes About Interruptive Advertising:

When you’re watching television, you are typically watching it to relax and be entertained.  When you are using the computer, you are typically using it to relax, be entertained, communicate with others and quite possibly gain knowledge.  Therefore, when you throw advertising in in the form of commercials, pop-up ads, or banners, it’s an interruption- an annoyance.  However, most people accept television commercials the same way that Internet users accept banner ads and pop ups: they are a tradeoff and something that can be ignored.

Evans cites Myspace as an example stating that most people know and understand that the reason Myspace is a free service is due to the presence of advertising….EVERYWHERE.  The reason that the majority of social networks online (i.e. Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) are free is due to the presence of ads, so I guess the ad people must be doing pretty well.  However, if you’re anything like me, you never click on the PPC ads on the sidebar which begs the question that Evans brings up:  If you knew that no one was watching, would you still pay for the ad?

On the Internet, the only real way that your advertising message receives any attention is if people are interested to begin with.  If you depend on iterruptive advertising to earn revenue, then you might as well pack up your bags now.  This is why so many ad campaigns have turned towards social networks and microblogging services such as Twitter.  The thinking is that if you generate enough of a buzz about your product/service to a targeted audience, then eventually you will succeed in having people purchase that product/service.

Participation is Everything

On the Internet, the social media element demands your full attention and presence.  According to Evans:

On the Social Web, if your profile isn’t up-to-date, if you’re not commenting, if you’re not making connections, you don’t exist.

The Main Points According to Dave Evans

• Social networks lend themselves to direct participation.
• Participation and transparency are central to success on the Social Web.
• You can tap existing social marketing applications that operate within leading networks.
• You can use white-label platforms to implement your own community and support services.