Aug 5

Written by: marketing
Thursday, August 05, 2010 1:01 PM 

Source: adoimagazine, April 2010

Matt, there is certainly value in social media, and of determining which metrics to tie value with. How long do you have to keep measuring to make the ROI appear significant?
One of the key challenges that social media has placed in front of marketers is that it can’t be measured in a traditional ROI sense – that’s if it’s at all possible to speak of anything in online as traditional yet!

There are some great tools out there that enable marketers to measure traction within social media environments along the lines of things like brand mentions, product mentions, etc. Given the amount of time huge numbers of people spend in social media environments it’s a given that brands need to be there and if they’re going to be there, they need to be there for the long term. For the committed clients, ROI is an ongoing metric for an ongoing presence.

What are the ‘standout’ social media campaigns Aktiv Digital have managed for clients?
As a vendor, we deliver space within social media environments rather than manage specific ongoing presence. We’ve delivered great results for Nestlé by providing content-rich, engaging space within apps and games, delivering views of their TVC assets and new ‘Likes’ for their fan page.

What is the impact of social media profiles on search engine rankings?
One of the obvious impacts of the digital age is the more public arena in which individuals and brands choose to live their lives. It’s now possible to get a gauge on the dialogue around brands by tapping into social media conversations through search. The impact of which, I don’t think anyone has really measured!

There’s a huge ‘trust gap’ with traditional advertising which many say will be finally addressed through social media since it makes marketing more personal….how do you see this ‘correction’ shaping up?
I think if anything, ‘traditional’ marketers are more scared of social media than anything else. I think with anything in life, it’s about giving it a try with the right partner. Digital media is the fastest growing media in the world in terms of ad spend as it’s the fastest growing media in terms of consumption. The correction will be an organic one – in the end advertising dollars follow consumers.

Time Inc, recently collaborating with e-commerce developer Alvenda to allow Facebook users to buy magazine subscriptions via Facebook news feeds. Do you see this as a beginning of e-commerce being driven by Social Media?
It’s not the beginning. As the British band Morcheeba would say, “They are all parts of the process”. One need only look at QQ in China to see the massive commercial opportunity that social media represents and witness Facebook’s partnership with PayPal – more to follow I think!

What are the opportunities, challenges and ethical issues In measuring Social Media ROI?
The opportunities are to give stakeholders some numbers to justify why they’re there.The challenges are in interpreting and analyzing the results in a way that makes sense. Ethical issues? I don’t think anyone has really touched on this yet but I guess if it’s OK to ask that girl out for dinner in a public arena, then it’s OK for your opinions on that new mobile phone to be recorded!