Here is the next issue of the MontAd newsletter.   As always, we welcome your discussion, comments and criticisms.

Sincerely,

Al Haberstroh
President
MontAd

"Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted." Albert Einstein

It will come as no surprise to my readers that I am no Einstein.  When it comes to quantum physics I am a dunce.  Nonetheless, Einstein's quote came to mind as I was preparing to write this newsletter about social media marketing measurement and metrics for success, especially for B to B marketers. 
 
Smart marketing is more complex then ever.  An intelligent digital strategy is a necessity for most companies.  But is having a social media strategy also necessary?  What if your business engages exclusively in B to B marketing?  Will social media still be a necessity?  The answer is yes.  The reason is that social media, as it should be defined, encompasses much more then having a Facebook account or Twitter followers.  When you expand the definition of social media to include blogs and forums, online videos, articles, power points and press releases, all of which can be broadly defined as content marketing, then it is easy to see that the answer is yes.  When you consider that more than 3 of 5 business people use social media to obtain information about products and services, the answer has to be yes.    If, however, your company has no story to tell, if the products or services your company has to offer have absolutely no interest to any audience, or if you have no reason to try to reach an audience that might be interested in your story, then your answer might be no, you don't need a social media strategy.
 
You Can't React If You Don't Listen
 
I was recently at a meeting with a large company that is struggling with its interactive strategy.  Their entire focus is business to business. Shortly into the meeting, my contact suggested that a friend of his in a similar industry could use our services to help with a problem his company is having.  It seems an untrue, negative story about the company was posted online.  By the time this company was aware of the story it had spread like wild fire and had been widely distributed among potential customers and the damage was done.  This company had neglected a very important aspect of social media - listening.  Companies need to be concerned not only with what social media can do for them, they also need to be concerned about what social media can do to them.  If the aforementioned company had been listening, they could have intervened and refuted the untrue story before it caused them much damage.   Social media is about communication; how can you adequately communicate if you don't listen?
 
Where's My ROI?
 
Okay, so you need a social media strategy.  But how do you know if you are successful? This stuff isn't free so how do you measure the ROI?  And how on earth do you measure the ROI of a listening strategy?
 
First, let's start with the idea of your company's brand equity.  This is something many B to B companies might not give enough consideration.  It is the value of your company's name and reputation. Large consumer companies know how to measure it and know what it is worth.   It is estimated, for example, that McDonald's "brand" is worth more than its physical assets.  Our company's brand certainly is.  Social media can help elevate your brand image but it is difficult to measure the actual ROI unless you want to invest in expensive research (if you do, we can help with that).   So, it is easy to see the value of social media for your brand, it's just hard to measure.  For this reason, most B to B companies use the simple metric of web site traffic to measure their social media success.  Driving more hits to your site is certainly one benefit of social media but to leverage the full potential of the traffic-driving benefits of a social media strategy, your site must be properly optimized. 
 
Finally, another benefit of a smart social media strategy is to give you greater insight about potential and current customers.  While measurement analytics, metrics and reporting are important, they do not tell the whole ROI story.  The data may impart important facts but it takes people to glean insights.  That is the true value of social media.
 
Insight, anyone?

We have been helping clients thrive and grow their businesses since 1977.  We blend the newest media with traditional media to create marketing programs for our clients that elevate their message above the cluttered media landscape.  Call or email us for a free consultation. You have nothing to lose and a lot more business to gain.