Matt Morin identifies very valid points about the use of social media (channels/tactics) and impact on revenue and sales. Traditional media separates the use of branding tactics and tactics which drive sales. For social media, in some cases the usage of these channels are not clearly identified so that the impact (brand awareness or sales) can be difficult to tracked. There needs to be clear objectives such as is creating brand awareness or creating sales – of course these are not the only objectives. Then the tactics must align to objectives. This is where strategic planning is really key of the strategy research is even more important.
The old rules and questions still apply to social media and are used to justify and substantiate plans and budgets:
- Why is are we doing this (objectives must have brand, business, and consumer directive)
- Who is the target market
- What is the message, content are we trying to convey
- Where is the target market (are they on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter)
- When is the best time to reach them
- How do we deliver? (tactic/channel)
Measuring success is not by the number of likes but how those likes translate into sales. Marketers must not shy away from measuring the acquisition, retention, and sales this should be an important part of every strategic plan.
Marketers can be easily seduced by sexiness of new types of digital channels such as social media but remember what happened in the early days of digital…so critical thinking still applies to digital.
If we continue to throw away the things we learn from past we’ll never understand the mistakes we are making now.
Thank you @sassymikita for bringing this to my attention!