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Each issue of CMO Close-up features an interview with a CMO, as well as other marketing executives answering that issue's "Big Question."
This week's feature:
Close-up with Keith Pigues, VP-CMO, Ply Gem Industries
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One of my blogs gets up to 3,000 visitors a day, yet has produced just one business opportunity in two years. My newsletter goes to barely 1,300 subscribers but delivers inquiries almost every week. Which do you think has more business value?
That giant online abacus called the Internet often yields surprising ROI results. It's fun to watch your followers, friends and visitor stats pile up, but what is it doing for your business?
“Clients know they've got 2,000 Twitter followers and an average of 2.5 retweets per message, but it's amazing how many can't talk about business measurements,” says Todd Van Hoosear, a Cambridge, Mass.-based social media ROI consultant. His advice: Gather stakeholders once a week to pore over the important numbers and adjust tactics constantly.
Here are 10 simple tactics:
1) Focus. Choose five metrics that matter for your strategy—no more—and laser-focus on those. If you want buzz, monitor conversations. If it's transactions, use tracking codes. Always start with the business goal.
2) Know what works. Everyone on your marketing team should know your five most productive referring Web sites. They should get 80% of your time and budget.
3) Understand influence. A retweet from Guy Kawasaki can send 1,000 people to your Web site, while a retweet from me might send 20. Who's more important to you?
4) That was a trick question. I may actually be more important to you if my referrals stick around longer. Are you tracking visitor paths? It's one of the most valuable metrics you have.
5) Make everything unique. The link you post on Twitter should use a different URL than the one you post on Facebook. Know the source of every click. Then watch where people go.
6) It's not just about your site. The most important conversation about your brand may be happening in conversations on another site. “Communities are the new search engines,” said Marc Engelsman, VP at Digital Brand Expressions, an online visibility firm. Are you tuned in?
7) Coax conversations back to your site. That's where you can measure them.
8) Monitor the competition. Success is relative. The same tools that track your progress can keep tabs on your rivals.
9) Use one big-picture metric. Net Promoter Score is one to consider: A single question assesses brand perception on an ongoing basis.
10) Give it time. Successful programs build affinity over one to two years. Ditch 13-week thinking.
What's working for you? Go to BtoBOnline.com's New Channels archive and post a comment. M
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15 Comments
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oz
August 1, 2009 04:56 pm
Sorry but this article didn't help at all. It's too short and leaves the reader confused.
For those looking for more interesting b2b material I'd recommend this link:
http://schaefersolutions.blogspot.com/2009/07/social-media-measurement-its-like-being.html
Thats part 8 of an 8 part series about social media measurement. A lot more information included.
Better luck next time!!!
Craig Stark
SalesForce Strategies
August 1, 2009 10:44 pm
Hi Paul;
I agree with your thoughts and suggestions.
Most articles on SMM ROI seems to skip over the fact that Sales should be part of the strategy as much as Marketing. SM is but one extensible channel to provide sales execution.
Sales drivers have to be intrinsic by design, not an after thought. There are some great new tools which support this model and are actually trackable as SM driven leads into CRM.
I think this is what CEO's consider "rubber meeting the road".
regards,
Craig
Paul Gillin
Paul Gillin Communications
August 10, 2009 11:56 am
ROI depends on what your objective is, doesn't it? That's why this question is so difficult to answer.
If your goal is to contain bad news or raise awareness about a new product, then sales are probably not an effective measure of ROI. I think of social media ROI as being similar to that of public relations. We know it has value from experience, but it's difficult to pinpoint the dollar figures. Of course, the problem with social media is that it is so new that many people don't yet have that confidence that they have in PR.
Joe Buhler
August 12, 2009 03:33 pm
The most overused expression in business is ROI, especially when it is regularly raised in connection with social web activities, immediately tied to the criticism that it can't be measured for them.
As you correctly state it's a matter of the objective. Based on that the best suitable ROI or ROE as in engagement, can be defined. The problem I see today is that too many people try to apply the same measurement to all activities. It's like using a tape measure to calculate volume. Define the objective what to measure and how will follow.
Dean Adams
LEVEL -- Principal Brand Strategist
August 17, 2009 12:41 pm
Paul,
Good article, hard to get more advice into 400 words. I agree strongly with your distinction between the quality of the relationship versus the volume of activity.
Still a lot being written on ROI but precious little shared that actually moves the financial numbers.
Paul Gillin
Paul Gillin Communications
August 30, 2009 11:05 am
Apologies for not being able to go into more depth, but 450 words is quite limiting.
They key to measuring ROI from a sales perspective is knowing where the lead came from. Referring URLs and unique URLs can help there. Then you need good lead tracking internally to find out how that lead became a customer. That's probably not a social media issue but more a CRM issue. There are good third-party services (Salesforce.com, SalesLogix, NetSuite) that can help there.
Two people who specialize in measurement and who offer lots of good free advice are Katie Paine (http://kdpaine.blogs.com/) and Shel Holtz (http://blog.holtz.com/). Both have books on the subject. You can learn more on their websites. Highly recommended.
Taylor Adair
Magic Logix, Inc.
August 4, 2009 01:25 pm
You're right Paul, I think SMM is a big concept in today's marketing world. Engaging in communities to which your buyers are actively involved in is a great point. However, what is the best way to reach your target and ROI from those communities?
Kelsey
BIGSHOT Design Co.
July 21, 2009 11:39 am
This is a great article- a good way to measure social media for companies that are new to SM.
Paul Gillin
July 21, 2009 11:49 am
Thanks! Let's hear what's working for other people.
Dianna Huff
DH Communications, Inc.
July 23, 2009 08:06 pm
Paul,
I agree, this is a great article with lots of info you can use. I especially like tip #10 -- ditch 13-week thinking.
By the way, my newsletter,too, brings in more inquiries than Twitter/LinkedIn/blog.
(I tweeted this article.)
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