Forget traffic. Forget dollars and cents. For measuring ROI in social media, engagement metrics are all that matter.
Okay, we all know that pure numbers can’t measure the world. Social media is particularly tricky to tack down to numbers; how do you measure the quantitative value of this comment thread on Facebook?
Is that one point for iPhone? A negative point for BlackBerry? How many for Android? Does it add .000001 percent to Apple’s brand valuation? You get my point. We know this post has value, but trying to quantify that value might not be the right exercise. More...
Tags: that's debatable, social media, engagement, financials, metrics, traffic, numbers, online, internet, roi |
Categories: Social Media, That's Debatable
Introducing That’s Debatable – a new approach we’ll be taking to expand upon the popular brandchannel debate section to provide a platform for debating the “big picture,” sharing more perspectives, and delivering more value to our readers.
That’s Debatable will take on big topics in our industry that offer rich opportunities for debating the merits of different points of view. We’re jumping in with one of the most widely debated topics out there right now: social media. What does it do for brands? How does it work? How do we measure it? How do we use it to a brand’s best advantage?
Over the next 10 weeks, we’ll be posting a new point/counterpoint on a social media hot button each week to hear what you have to say on the matter. We’ll also be sharing some thoughts of our own – Interbrand experts across the global network will be weighing in on each topic with perspectives and examples to keep the fire of controversy burning bright. We’re also posting a social media survey that covers the Top 10 questions we hear most often – from clients, industry thought leaders, and readers like you – so we have some data to round out our understanding of how people feel about social media. When the 10 weeks are up, we’ll do the legwork to collect all of the ideas and conversations shared throughout this edition of That’s Debatable, and share the results with all of you.
We hope you’ll share your thoughts with us – take the survey, offer your comments, suggest new topics, tell us what you’ve posted on your own blog that’s relevant to the conversation. That’s Debatable is here so all of our opinions can be heard and used to collectively shape the best way to build brand value.
Thanks for playing.
Beyond pioneering and popularizing what is arguably one of the most revolutionary art forms of the last two decades – and some of the most meaningful recasting of pop culture since the work of Warhol – the video remix-master-DVJs of Eclectic Method are serving up the latest Holy Grail of communications: A glimpse into the experience of today’s multi-channel multi-media info-content consumers.
I’m talking about people like you and me who are surfing facebook, chatting online, fast-forwarding commercials to get to the next scenes of The Soup, writing a blog post and reading a magazine – simultaneously. The rapid rise of this type of consumer has been a hot topic at almost every communications conference or future-forward planning session over the past few years. And the same questions always arise: How do these people experience the world? How do they integrate and filter the copious amount of content coming from mainstream media and mainstream everyone else? How can we penetrate the chaos and get our message across? Really: WHAT DO THESE PEOPLE WANT? More...
It seems to be almost too good to be true. Hundreds of new ideas, straight to your desktop, for a fraction of the cost that a real-world ad agency might charge you to serve coffee in a meeting! So what is idea "crowdsourcing"? Where does it fit in to a marketer's work? And should a CMO even bother to fire-up his or her browser to find out more?
Several weeks ago, the CMO of a company I am involved with in Europe sent me a note pointing out that an agency was offering "hundreds of marketing ideas" to help the company build its business for only $25,000. "Surely we can't lose; it's worth a shot," he said. Two days later, back in the U.S., I found myself discussing the merits of the "executive creative director versus the crowd" with the head of an advertising agency and a journalist.
Read the rest of the article on Forbes.com...
Read more on crowdsourcing and social media here...
We learned the hard way, when the world wide web opened up for mass use, what it means to have cyber-squatters. Brands late to the game found themselves in the midst of fighting for usage rights of their own URL handles, and squatters rubbing their palms – and coins – together in profitable glee.
And yet, it seems our memory is short. Some did not learn from these costly mistakes.
As the likes of Twitter, YouTube and Facebook have gained mass adoption, those brands treading cautiously around them forgot one simple rule: always protect your brand name. Always. Regardless of approach – whether you want to take your time deciding on the right strategy for social media, or even if you never intend on using these platforms – it always pays to protect your name. More...
Tags: brand, branding, digital, legal, name, naming, online branding, social media, strategy, trademarks, verbal identity |
Categories: General, Social Media, Verbal Identity
