Are you Being Anti-Social?
Your company has a Facebook page. You love tweeting about your overall corporate brilliance. You are hip to the idea of Foursquare even if you aren’t entirely sure what the heck it is. Fantastic. Go you! So what else are you doing? Wait, that’s it? Oy… Take heart. According to a survey taken by Harvard Business Review Analytics Services earlier this year, you are not alone. The survey revealed that just over 10% of companies believe they are effectively leveraging social media. This clearly illustrates that the social network as a corporate communication vehicle has a long way to go before it can truly earn the collective title of “game-changer”. Social networks need some help. They need the fab five channels of online performance marketing – Affiliate Marketing, Data Acquisition, Display Advertising, Email Marketing and Search Marketing - to drive brand awareness and results.
Affiliates can utilize social media to monetize publisher traffic, blogs and websites. Advertisers and publishers can increase brand awareness and product buzz by leveraging Facebook Likes, Tweets and Foursquare Badges. Becoming part of the social conversation will result in social conversations-to-sale across the affiliate marketplace. But affiliate marketing is not the only online performance channel that should empower social.
Social media and online blogs have greatly benefited data and customer acquisition initiatives. According to a report published by marketer Hubspot, 4 out of 10 companies have acquired customers through social channels. In this instance, Facebook is the dominant force helping 44% of companies land new consumers. Data acquisition experts have effectively leveraged Promoted Tweets to engage their target audience, enhance brand awareness and increase buyer intent.
Promoted Tweets have driven great results for display advertising campaigns. Yahoo! Finance reported that twenty four hours after purchasing their Promoted Tweet, Coca-Cola drove 85 million ad impressions with an engagement rate more than 5.5% above normal levels. Display advertising has become a billion dollar revenue generator for Facebook. Intent on driving similar results for our clients, we are proud to have recently had adNet, the MediaWhiz display advertising network, named as one of Facebooks’ display ad providers.
The dynamic duo of email marketing and social media provides immediate and cost-efficient user engagement. According to Digital Life, online users spend on average .2 additional hours on social sites than on email. Time is money. Social can extend your consumer reach, drive sign-ups to email discount campaigns and e-newsletters and ensure that your message is hitting your intended target.
In 2010, the online analytics firm Compete reported Facebook had eclipsed Google as the top source of search engine traffic. The earned media element of social is consistently trumping paid media. Trust is the new black: prospective customers are more likely to trust a user blog than a corporate branded message. Facebook Likes only heighten this type of traffic; therefore, it should come as no surprise that according to eMarketer.com, 48% of shoppers use a non-traditional search engine – the social network – as their purchasing path.
Online performance channels drive results for clients and continuously improve upon them by incorporating technologically advanced metrics for ongoing optimization. To invoke a little sports speak, they are the winning starting lineup. But every team needs a great sixth man. This should be the role of social media. Without performance-based programs, your current social media strategy is, well, anti-social.
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