Social Marketing Conversations

In this episode we press Marcel for the answer to the ROI question and he really delivers.  According to Marcel, the social web provides a greater capability than ever before.

When we examine the traditional media measures, PR and marketing professionals use the circulation of a magazine, times the cost of an ad in that magazine and that is the ROI.  The difficulty is than when you publish an article in say a magazine, you cannot tell who read the article, dog eared it, forwarded or took action on it.

In social media the ability to measure activity and behavior on the social web can be much more precise is what he says – and based upon what I’ve seen so far, I agree. continue reading »

I was treated to a demonstration of the Radian6 platform the other day and was able to see for myself the level of functionality and capability of the product.  It showed me just how far this technology has come and instilled in me thoughts about how far I think it can go.

Mind you my involvement in advanced applications and enterprise solutions spans a few decades, having worked with Computer Associates handling large accounts for database and development tools and then handling a global responsibility with MicroAge for enterprise systems management (ah… I remember Paris…) continue reading »

We’re past the guessing stage as to whether or not social media in a marketing sense is here to stay or not – media that includes social elements are definitely here to stay and we expect them to be come more, much more pervasive over the next few years.  The question now is about the tactics, tools and strategies of what a successful social media presence for a business or a brand looks like.

Marcel LeBrun, CEO of Radian6, a tool in social media metrics and listening technology, sat down and shared an extended conversation about how he sees companies thinking about social media.

He observes three level of maturation in the evolution of using social media in business -

• Level 1 = listening
• Level 2 = listening /engagement
• Level 3 = listening / engagement / meaningful response

Marcel suggests that there are different models for different uses of social media in different business processes.  When it comes to a model of using social media in Customer Support, he cites the Comcast experience that recognized that the customers time is just as important as the customer support departments time – perhaps even more so.  The response is @ComcastCares on Twitter and a steady effort to find and support customers. continue reading »

It might be a trend that I am just now seeing more often than ever before because of my work with Guy Powell, but it seems like lately every time I turn around, I’m seeing people discussing the ROI of social media with more and more earnest.  From my perspective, this is a good thing for companies, individuals and the industry of social media at large.  It validates our work and the years invested in developing a background in social media as a springboard for even better work.

Radian6 is one of the early developers in this space and continues to be a preferred monitoring and brand management tool in the space.  Marcel LeBrun is the CEO for Radian6 and he carved out a good deal of time to talk with us about the ROI of social media and how they see the space shaping up.

In this episode, Marcel and I discuss the question “Is social media the next enterprise application?” and we explore the use of the phrase “social phone” that Radian6 has coined and how it is a model of the conversational aspect of social media and inbound, consumer invitation-based marketing.

The previous podcast is here and the next one will be posted in a few days after I help facilitate the 4th Annual Arizona Entrepreneurship Conference, attend WordCamp AZ (maybe my blog will improve!) and my 3rd year of PodCamp AZ.  A very busy ‘Geek Week’ in Phoenix (use of the phrase Geek Week has been approved by Brian Shaler, a local Geek Week Proponent and Activist, and Brent Spore, who was interviewed by the Arizona Republic last week and ‘Geek Week’ was the headline topic!)

BTW: We introduced Guy Powell in the series, but Guy was (and is again) travelling on business.  He was not able to join us in the recording; he did get a word in edgewise on the last recording and will make it in future recording – no worries and safe travels Guy!

Play / Download Marcel LeBrun Episode 2 Podcast Here

I just read Jay Deragon’s post at The Relationship Economy blog titled “What Do CEO’s Think of Social Media”.  He has pulled together details from MarketWatch and BusinessWeek and made the assessment that those companies and CEO’s who ignore the impact of social  media and it’s impact on marketing do so at their peril.

As a co-founder at TheSocialMediaBible.com, this is a question that I needed to approach as part of my business plan and the challenge I see myself dealing with is how best to communicate that to executives that are one of the target audiences for the site.

I can trust the intellect of the executive suite, but what I also endorse is the perspective that these men and women are more concerned with is the overall profitability of their respective organizations versus what tool or tactic they use.  The decision to implement a social media strategy however is the executive suites purview if not their responsibility; it’s becoming more a question of not if but more about when.

What’s the appropriate strategy though?  What kinds of strategies are available to a company who first accepts that social media IS going to be important to their company?

Let’s start by looking at the aspects of the company that will most affected by social media; marketing, sales, customer service, customer support come up first.

What do all these have in common with one another and social media?  They are public facing first and second is that they are the functions that will be impact by a lack of a coherent social media strategy.

What will the social media push do for a company though?  It has the potential to create a bi-directional conversation with the people they most want to connect with – customers with the ability and resources to invest with your company.

It is at the executive suite that the decision get made if this is important to the company, it is in the executive suite that the allocation of the two limiting factors in any business equations gets made – the allocation of time and money.

The answers to the questions posed here are as varied as the organizations involved so I’m not going to suggested a panacea answer, but if you do want to discuss it, send me an email or create the conversation here.