The amount of social marketing conversations with clients has definitely proliferated over the past few months. As a direct response agency, prior discussions usually started — and then died — when someone asked “but where’s the ROI model?” Translated, this really means “it’s not trackable” and “I don’t get the metrics,” but considering that all of them — Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others – are free, the ROI isn’t really questionable. It wouldn’t take a lot of sales to offset the expense of maintaining even a limited social marketing presence.
There was an article in the New York Times recently saying how small businesses are effectively using Twitter to grow their sales through mass, simple, quick communication with their customers (at no cost – a model small businesses love). We do know that larger companies are less nimble, harder ships to steer, and as such, have been slower to adopt. If you consider what these smaller businesses have done — neighborhood food carts significantly leveraging sales (a highly competitive field here in NYC) — it’s pretty compelling. Larger companies with way more resources should be able to do better, but I’m not sure how many have.
What is striking in the more recent conversations I’ve had with clients on social marketing, though, is that there is pretty monumental shift from “if” to “when.” Better, there is a widening acceptance of the benefits of having a social presence beyond the inability to track through traditional means. If you look at these benefits through a direct marketing lens, it could be considered akin to a two-step. Social marketing is a way to obtain client feedback, disseminate product and promotional info easily en masse, and cultivate conversations with customers which could lead to product improvements and newer, different forms of marketing. Acting on this communication could be more than just goodwill. From an ROI perspective, the impact on the bottom line could be significant, and the metrics are there, albeit different.
In a recent client meeting, I was introduced to the guy managing their social strategy. Prior to his employment with this firm, he had amassed 7,000 fans on a Facebook page he had independently created for them. As a result, they tracked him down and hired him (good move!) I asked him why he did it initially, and he simply said he loved the brand. In another meeting I had the same day, the client told me that hundreds of people had created Facebook fan pages on their behalf. Their mission was how to reign in control of their brand. With these stories emerging (two for me in one day!), I suspect the adoption of social marketing among all brands will be rapid from this point on, even among the most tried-and-true direct marketers.
Suzy Sandberg is President of PM Digital.