New Media and Business as Usual

It appears that there is no shortage of tools for measuring different metrics around social media activity. Counting likes on Facebook is simple enough. Searching Twitter gives you good insight into real time brand conversations. What do likes, shares, and tweets ultimately mean for the organization?

This interesting case study of Burberry discusses how the company used Social Media as the focus of its launch of "Body." The success of the campaign was measured by using real world metrics showing a 29% increase in revenue. In the same article, Alex Pearmin of Q2 makes an insightful statement about the presentation of social media within the context of the organization, "Don’t shove the youngest guy in the room in front of them and say “we must do it because it is what the kids are doing”. Marketers need to present social media marketing as part of an overall integrated marketing strategy.

In a separate article, author Erica Swallow seems to agree with Alex Pearmin's sentiment by presenting 3 Things to Consider when measuring Social Media ROI. 1. Social Media is the Vehicle, not the Destination. 2. Listen and Apply Learnings to Every Department. 3. Performance Metrics are Media Agnostic.

These articles do an excellent job of presenting the value of social media, and how the value is dependent on the structure and metrics of the individual organization.