Facebook, Twitter, & Wikis Really Do Impact the Bottom Line - GoFuckYourself.com

Barefootsies · 07-21-2009, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Most Engaged Brands Reaping Financial Benefits

Companies have long had problems putting numbers on social media marketing results. Wetpaint and the Altimeter Group have now released a study looking at how engagement with consumers through social media correlates with financial performance. How much emphasis does your company put on social media efforts? Tell us.

The "ENGAGEMENTdb study" shows that companies who measured as having "the greatest breadth and depth of social media engagement" grew revenues by 18% over the last year, while the companies that were the least engaged dropped 6% on average.

"This is the first study of this depth on the top global brands and we think the results provide a good guide for corporations and brand marketers in every industry," says Charlene Li, Founder, Altimeter Group. "The success stories we have uncovered provide a blueprint for companies making decisions about how to best apply their marketing and consumer relations resources."

Channels taken into consideration for the study were:

- Blogs
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Wikis
- Discussion Forums

Brands looked at were the 100 most valuable ones as identified by the 2008 BusinessWeek/Interbrand Best Global Brands ranking. In case you were wondering what the top ten brands are according to the ENGAGEMENTdb study, they are as follows:

1. Starbucks
2. Dell
3. eBay
4. Google
5. Microsoft
6. Thomson Reuters
7. Nike
8. Amazon
9. SAP
10. Yahoo!/Intel (Tie)

So what are these brands doing right?

According to Wetpaint and the Altimeter Group, the companies that scored well have dedicated teams (of varying sizes) who are active in the social media channels they utilize. Basically, it shows that it pays (literally) to have a team working full time on engaging with customers via social media. Even if that team consists of one person, it means they will not be distracted by other tasks and can give the social channel the attention required for it to make a significant impact.

As the social web continues to grow (meaning more people joining social networks, more people blogging, and more sites becoming social), there is a growing number of channels that require said attention.

"The ENGAGEMENTdb study goes a long way towards validating the importance of social media for business," says Ben Elowitz, CEO of Wetpaint. "The closer any company is to its customers, the better, and it's hard to argue with the ability for social media to create such proximity. In this day and age, companies should feel much more comfortable investing in social media -- the correlation to results is so clear."

It is in fact that clarity that many companies have had a hard time seeing in the past. Social media is still in its early stages though really. In the grand scheme of things, it's still a relatively new concept. Keep in mind, that many businesses still do not even have websites, let alone a social media presence.

It is going to take studies like this and concrete data showing the financial benefits for more small businesses to truly get on board and engage. Having dedicated teams is a strategy that will likely become more commonplace as companies realize that half-assing it is just a waste of time.

A couple of other highlights from the study:

- The study found that the most successful teams evangelize social media across the entire organization to pull in a broad range of stakeholders.

- These companies view social media as an indispensable tool to help them achieve results, and their approach is conversational.

Along with the study, the ENGAGEMENTdb site was launched as a tool where companies can measure themselves against the top 100 in terms of the strength of their social media efforts. It's probably not a bad idea to take a look if you're serious about those efforts.

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/20...-line#comments

slapass · 07-21-2009, 12:12 PM

It could just be the brands that are expanding have mroe money to throw around. I would be very surprised if you did not find the same thing in regards to their advertising budgets in general.

Barefootsies · 07-21-2009, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slapass

It could just be the brands that are expanding have mroe money to throw around. I would be very surprised if you did not find the same thing in regards to their advertising budgets in general.

That is a very good point.

Especially considering some of those brand names.

TheDoc · 07-21-2009, 12:25 PM

Advertising costs huge money... everyone at that level does it.

Social Media, may require staff (no more than any marketing team though). But to reach millions and millions of people, it doesn't require a dime in SM.

SM marketing is about personality, friendship, providing something of value without direct marketing them, interaction, etc..

All of which, cost the company nothing.. but gives them everything.

Ronzo · 07-21-2009, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barefootsies

That is a very good point.

Especially considering some of those brand names.

I would have to agree also. Whatever Starbucks is doing online to engage people that's so prolific is missing my notice... the same applies to a couple of other brands on that list.

woj · 07-21-2009, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronzo

I would have to agree also. Whatever Starbucks is doing online to engage people that's so prolific is missing my notice... the same applies to a couple of other brands on that list.

Same here, what exactly is starbucks doing? or even any of them? I'm not sure I can tell what "social media" presence any of the top 10 companies have...

d-null · 07-21-2009, 02:15 PM

07-21-2009, 12:25 PM	#4
TheDoc Too lazy to set a custom title Industry Role: Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Currently Incognito Posts: 13,827	Advertising costs huge money... everyone at that level does it. Social Media, may require staff (no more than any marketing team though). But to reach millions and millions of people, it doesn't require a dime in SM. SM marketing is about personality, friendship, providing something of value without direct marketing them, interaction, etc.. All of which, cost the company nothing.. but gives them everything. __________________ ~TheDoc - ICQ7765825 It's all disambiguation

07-21-2009, 02:15 PM	#7
d-null . . . Industry Role: Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: NY Posts: 13,724	__________________ __________________ Looking for a custom TUBE SCRIPT that supports massive traffic, load balancing, billing support, and h264 encoding? Hit up Konrad! Looking for designs for your websites or custom tubesite design? Hit up Zuzana Designs Check out the #1 WordPress SEO Plugin: CyberSEO Suite

07-21-2009, 12:12 PM	#2
slapass Too lazy to set a custom title Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Earth Posts: 14,622	It could just be the brands that are expanding have mroe money to throw around. I would be very surprised if you did not find the same thing in regards to their advertising budgets in general.