Can Social Media Actually Make You Money?
If you’ve ever asked the question, “Can I make money with social media?“, you might have heard a variety of answers such as, “No!”, “Maybe” or “It depends.”
Rarely (if at all) have you heard the confident and unwavering response, “Yes, you can!”
In their book, How to Make Money with Social Media—An Insider’s Guide on Using New and Emerging Media to Grow Your Business, Jamie Turner and Reshma Shah explain that there’s a big difference between people who make money with social media and people who don’t.
Sony Combines Social and Local for Successful Product Launch
Sony Electronics makes tens of thousands of products. But the launch of its Tablet S – going head to head with Apple’s iPad – called for something special.
Adding to the pressure, Sony’s social media team had a relatively small budget for the project.
With a creative mix of social media and in-person events, Sony brought out thousands of people to locations to “Catch the Tablet” and tell their friends about it.
Most notably, the campaign created buzz that inspired 1,000 clicks from Facebook to the Tablet S pre-order page, making it the most successful social media effort yet for the company.
How to Measure the Return on Social Media Contests
Have you thought about running a social media contest? Wondering how to best measure your return on investment (ROI)?
This article will help with three case studies.
But first, about that ROI… It took some time after the advent of online advertising before marketers started asking, “What are these ‘eyeballs’ worth that I’m paying for?”
With social media, the tough questions around metrics started being asked much sooner. As marketing budgets stay tight, it’s no surprise that the need to show results is high.
So when it comes to contests on the social web, how do we go about evaluating ROI?
Investing in Your Social Media Contest
Before you can demonstrate a return, you must first make an investment!
How Social Media Generated $300,000 in Software Sales in a Weekend
Logos Bible Software has worked hard to build its email list of 300,000. So choosing to shun that email list for its Black Friday promotion says a lot for the chosen alternative – social media.
Practically every other online retailer – and Logos is 100% online – blasted customers with their post-Thanksgiving email promotions.
But this software company solely relied on social media, from testing its ideas to launching the promotion to letting the resulting word of mouth do the work for them.
In response, Logos generated $300,000 in sales in those few days – three times what it brought in during the same period the year before. Not only did it add to the bottom line, but also Logos significantly expanded its fans, followers and customer connections to support future efforts.
4 Ways to Measure Social Media and Its Impact on Your Brand
Do you know how social media is helping your business? Want to find out how Twitter, Facebook and other sites are impacting your brand awareness?
The good news is social media has finally made it to the grand stage of “accountability.” A place where there are lots of people who want to measure it. The bad news is there isn’t a single clear-cut answer.
However, with a few simple steps, you can build a measurement strategy that accomplishes your goals.
Defining Terms
To start, let’s agree that brand awareness is a measure of how recognizable your brand is to your target audience. For those looking to get ahead of the curve on social media measurement, the first step is to align your social media metrics with metrics your company is already comfortable with.
10 Ways to Cut Through the Social Media Noise and Be Heard
Once you find time for social media and move from social chatter to using social media for a purpose, you’ll see firsthand how difficult it can be to get noticed.
You might be using social media for marketing, campaigning or bringing attention to a worthy cause, but you’ll be battling against every other person who has the same intention or is just there for a fun time.
How do you cut through all the social media noise and get people to notice what you have to say?
Fact is, it’s not always easy. To help you, here are 10 ways to make your message more likely to get noticed …
The 5 Essential Pillars of a Social Media Campaign
The biggest mistake marketing and brand managers make when approaching social media is not thinking of the social web in the same strategic light as everything else they produce.
Social media is no more a one-off playground for brands than television advertising, direct mail campaigns or customer relationship management programs. It’s serious business and should be treated as such.
The following question then becomes relevant: “How do we think about social media strategically?” The good news is that it’s not that difficult, provided your planning team has an understanding of two things and a healthy grounding in another.
The two essential knowledge bases you’ll need are an understanding of the social media tools available (from blogs and social networks to wikis and beyond) and the philosophical foundations to be successful in social media (think share, not sell). The healthy grounding should be in the 5 essential pillars of a social media campaign.
