As part of the One on One conversation series I do over at SmallBizTrends.com, I recently talked with Cory Hartlen, a product marketing manager with Radian6.  During our discussion Cory mentioned quite a number of things that hit on the topic of social media ROI.

One story that really caught my attention was around how some of their clients were using listening tools from an HR perspective. By listening for mentions of people that have graduated with their MBA, or are looking forward to graduating with their MBA, a few of their clients had success in finding potential candidates for their junior executive training programs. So instead of having to rely on more traditional avenues for recruitment from headhunters, they were able to use social listening to help reduce some of those costs.

From a more traditional angle, Cory said Radian6 themselves listen to social conversations so when people reach out to their social networks and ask for advice, they can lend a hand and share a link to our review of monitoring systems. Then those conversations are very measurable because they can figure out how many leads they are getting from the social space over a given time period and get those input into their system.  Then they actually see how many of those leads they are able to close on over a given time period to get their ROI from a program like that.

One last point Cory made is that he believes when it comes to social media ROI it all comes down to goals and strategy. And this seems to be backed up by the results of CRM Essentials/SMB Group Social Business Study performed last year.

Our survey of 750 executives at small and mid-size companies found that companies who characterized their approach to social media as strategic seemed to find more success with it than those who felt their organizations were more informal with its use.  In fact, people working at strategically social companies were twelve times more likely to predict an increase of twenty percent in 2011 revenues over the previous year, compared to more informal social media users. And employees who said their companies did not use social media were twice as likely to expect a decrease in 2011 revenues compared to strategic users.

Below are a few differences in approach to social between strategic vs. informal users:

• Strategic users 2.5X more likely to have Sales involved than Informal users
• Strategic users 2.5X more likely to have HR involved than Informal users
• Strategic users almost 3X more likely to use social media for product development than Informal users
• Strategic users 2X more likely to use social media for research than Informal users
• Strategic users 2X more likely to use social media for internal collaboration than Informal users
• Strategic users 2X more likely to have integrated CRM with social than Informal users
• Social media was 2X more likely to be selected as top activity for improving customer service by Strategic users than Informal users

And along with the differences in how strategic organizations leveraged social media throughout the organization, they also kept track of KPIs differently:

• Strategic users 5X more likely to measure customer retention metrics than Informal users
• 3X more likely to measure sales conversion rate from online community
• 2.5X more likely to measure number of followers on social networks
• 2X more likely to measure net promoter score
• 3X more likely to measure share of conversation
• 1.8X more likely to measure new ideas generated

When asked about the ROI of social media, Cory says you could very easily ask what the ROI of his telephone is.  Without a goal and a measurable strategy, you pretty much are left in the dark. But if you decide to make three more sales this month, then you know you need to make X number of phone calls to be able to close that number of sales.  So now you have a goal and a strategy which can be measured to prove how successful you were.

He thinks that social media is no different, and the numbers seem to back this up.

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First off, people are getting more comfortable with social media and social behavior and the “social media is a pure engagement temple mentality” of some early adopters has faded.

More importantly, however, is that smart marketers are testing, tweaking and trying lots of things and figuring out how to build know, like and trust – the path to selling anything, anywhere – on social networks.

In my own experimenting I can tell you that generating and converting leads using social media takes a more patient approach, but once you find the right path, it’s actually a better way to sell in any environment.

The reason I see many people’s social media marketing efforts fail is that they are still simply broadcasting sales messages. This approach still works to some degree in an advertising setting because people often stumble upon your ads with a buying intent. It still works to some degree in email marketing efforts because people have asked to get your messages and you can easily earn the right to sell in that relationship.

However, most people don’t participate in social networks to shop so any sales message can feel sort of harsh and in the snack sized, feverish world of tweets, shares and likes any and all messages are very easy to ignore.

If you want to sell using social media, here’s one path:

Test your message

Using 140 characters or less to basically write an ad that makes people want to retweet and click isn’t something most people can muster in real time – and yet, that’s what most try to do.

I’ve had tremendous success using Google AdWords to test very compact messages. Once I find a message that draws clicks there, I know I’ve got a winner that will get action in the form of a tweet or share.

This somewhat scientific approach is one of the most overlooked aspects of marketing in social media and it’s the primary reason people that contend you can’t sell there say so.

Target your message

Here’s another proven technique that seems lost on many marketers. Just because there are 800 million people on Facebook doesn’t mean you need to appeal to all of them.

The quickest way to get the right kind of attention is to announce “hey you 437 people that need to get better at X” I’m talking to you.

If you want to learn more about the impact of using data to form your social media messages look no further than the work Dan Zarrella is doing.

Prove your worth

It’s nearly impossible to get someone ready to buy simply by crafting a mouth-watering tweet. There’s just not enough information to develop trust.

You must make your initial relationship building all about valuable content. Give something away that you know your targeted prospect wants and needs. Move the free line to the point where your free stuff is better than most other people’s paid stuff and watch how enamored people get.

Here again, there’s nothing new about this. For years, smart marketers made tiny little inexpensive classified ads in the back of magazines like Popular Mechanics pay off nicely using this exact approach.

Engage

Now, here’s a step that just might be unique to social media and online marketing in general and it’s a very powerful one.

In the process of giving away all that great information ask your prospects to tell you things, share things, rate things and help you make the world a better place for all who inhabit it.

Seriously, create feedback forms and make that part of the deal for why you are giving away such great stuff. Socialize your content and make it easy to email, tweet and like. Send a series of emails during your content sharing phase that reinforces the important takeaways from the content and offers more engagement like email support or live Q and A sessions.

Ask for the order

Once you’ve done all this work and logically and authentically led a prospect to the place where they do indeed have some level of trust, it’s time to tell them where this journey is ultimately headed.

Paint the picture you know exists in their “current reality”, remind them of the incredible glimpse you’ve shared and then illustrate what the picture could look like.

Don’t make the mistake of assuming they will connect the dots – show them how to get the value you know you have to offer and be extremely clear about it. One of the benefits of this approach is that, if you do it right and they still don’t buy, you’ll earn the right to ask why and they’ll gladly help you understand how to get it right.

There’s nothing that magical about this approach really. Marketers have been using some form of these elements for years, but it’s the total package, including patience and hard work, that makes it pay off in the world of social media.

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If not, you should. And if you already do – or you regularly promote other entrepreneurs as an affiliate – then today’s article has a simple yet powerful tip to make your efforts more effective.

But let me backup here and make sure we’re on the same page…

In case you aren’t familiar with affiliate programs; they’re basically a simple way for others to refer prospects your way online and get credit for it. And they’re great for small businesses.

Typically, you set up an affiliate program using your shopping cart or other online tool. And you make sure to include a set affiliate commission (basically a referral fee) of either a dollar amount or a percentage of the price for anything you’re trying to promote.

Then you invite people to join who know, like and trust you and would be willing to promote your stuff to their community. Each person who joins gets their own, unique affiliate link. This lets you track who sends you each new client or customer so you can pay them their fee.

Once you have a few affiliates, it’s time to promote your products, events and/or services via your new affiliate partners. That means you’re going to put together emails, Facebook posts, tweets, ezine blurbs and more for them to use.

Now, here’s where it gets tricky…

In order for an affiliate program to be successful, the affiliate link included in each promo needs to send prospects directly to the page for that product, event or service. NOT to a generic products or events page, or worse to your home page. Do this and you WILL lose sales.

The problem is, every affiliate is automatically issued their own affiliate link via the system. And that link goes to one Website page and one page only.

So what do you do when you want your affiliates to send prospects directly to a specific page for a new product, service or event (Or when you want to promote a new product as an affiliate, but you only have the one link)?

You could set up separate affiliate programs for each item. But that’s a huge pain on your side. Plus then affiliates have to sign up to promote each one. Uggh.

Instead, here’s a cool little trick to customize affiliate links I learned years ago from my VA Erin Blaskie…

All you need to do is add this little piece to the end of the affiliate link (be sure to include the landing page URL): &u=www.URLHERE.com

So let’s say the generic affiliate link is:

http://www.myshoppingcart.com/app/?af=651317

But you want the link used to promote your new book, “Buy It Now” from buyitnow.com. In that case you simply copy and paste &u=www.buyitnow.com to the end of the affiliate link like so.

http://www.shoppingcart.com/app/?af=651317&u=www.buyitnow.com

Make sure there are no spaces between the original link and the bit you just added and it should work like a charm. Of course, be sure to test it before you use it yourself, and advise your affiliates to do the same. Then shorten it using a service like bit.ly or tinyurl.com for ease of use.

Simple. Effective. And sure to increase your affiliate-based sales.

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What is Foursquare’s new “Save” button for and how does it work?

Foursquare’s new save button is meant for websites of businesses with physical locations (such as shops, restaurants, tourist activities, etc. ) in order to allow online users to add the location to their queue of places to visit next time they are in that geographic area. The idea is quite brilliant and I predict it will have the necessary kick to move Foursquare into bigger leagues sooner than later. This positive outlook for Foursquare is greatly improved from my impression of the service (which I was an early adopter of) over the past while; which has been lackluster at best since Facebook and Google launched similar check-in services.

A quick sideline: what is Foursquare? You would be easily forgiven for not knowing much if anything about this company because it has largely been an app-driven service for smartphones. Here is a bit of background from their About Page:

Foursquare is a location-based mobile platform that makes cities easier to use and more interesting to explore. By “checking in” via a smartphone app or SMS, users share their location with friends while collecting points and virtual badges. Foursquare guides real-world experiences by allowing users to bookmark information about venues that they want to visit and surfacing relevant suggestions about nearby venues. Merchants and brands leverage the foursquare platform by utilizing a wide set of tools to obtain, engage, and retain customers and audiences.

What is the advantage of the Foursquare Save button for businesses?

Foursquare explains this best in their news release:

When readers use the ‘save to foursquare’ button, the saved places will show up in their foursquare app with your branding, along with a link back to the original article on your site. Find out how to add the button to your site here.

In addition to this, consider that Foursquare’s button is the perfect compliment for your physical business if it tends to convert visitors to customers better in-person because it will increase the likelihood your physical location will get visits from those who found your business online. Taking this a step further, in my opinion Foursquare is setting itself up nicely as the social media leader of converting online traffic into offline business which means this button will be a MUST for all bricks & mortar establishments with an online presence.

Here is an example of the button on a profile shown on New York Magazine’s website:

This is a 12 second clip showing the button in action (I have no idea why Foursquare didn’t jazz this up a bit):

Here are some sites who already have the Foursquare button in-place: Time Out Boston, CBS’s list of “The Best Burgers in New York”,  Frommer’s Travel.

Wal-Mart plans on special discounts the night before Black Friday. On Black Friday midnight, products such as Xbox 360 with Kinect console will sell for only $199.96, originally priced at $299, plus a $50 Wal-Mart gift card with the purchase.

Duncan Mac Naughton, Walmart’s chief merchandising officer, explains how Wal-Mart’s “customers told us they would rather stay up late to shop than get up early, so we’re going to hold special events on Thanksgiving and Black Friday.” Walmart will start at 10 p.m. on November 24, earlier than any other retail stores, with their deals on toys, clothes, and home accessories.

At midnight, Walmart will begin discounting electronic devices as well, such as a 51-inch Samsung plasma TV for $498, down from $649. From 8 a.m. throughout the weekend, another round of discounts begins on tires, cameras, GPS devices, and other merchandise.

For the first time, retail stores such as Macy’s, Target, Kohl’s and Best Buy are opening at midnight on Friday.

Best Buy’s executive VP and chief marketing officer Barry Judge commented on the holiday deals and how they offer their Facebook fans special offers. “We are thrilled to offer our customers and over 5 million Facebook fans a sneak peek into this year’s hottest Black Friday deals today with additional items revealed soon. We will continue to provide an advantage to our Facebook fans with early access to more offers and experiences than ever before,” he said.

There are negative consequences for opening stores this early. For one, customers now have to leave home early on Thanksgiving, leaving some good turkey dinner on the table, just to start shopping and to be near the front of the line.

For two, salesmen and women have to work extra on a day that is supposed to be for family gathering. “I just don’t think that’s good business, in a sense, to make your employees come in on one of the biggest holidays of the year and cut their family time short,” said a saleswoman for a molecular biology company saleswoman.

On the other hand, a handful of employees think that this is an opportunity to receive incentives. “There are many associates who would prefer to work this time as they appreciate the flexibility it affords their schedules for the holiday weekend,” said Holly Thomas, a Macy’s spokeswoman,

This week Ogilvy published a new study that shows the impact of social media marketing on retail sales. The study used five Quick Service Restaurants (i.e., fast food chains) and analyzed the correlation between social media exposure and changes in purchase behavior before and after the social media interaction. The results clearly show how social media marketing leads to more spending and consumption.

Multi-Channel Integration Boosts Spend and Consumption

Consumers who were exposed to social media marketing in addition to PR, OOH (out-of-home) marketing and TV advertising spent more money and consumed more food from the restaurants. The results show a sizable increase in sales:

• People who were exposed to social media marketing and PR spent 17% more in the fast food category.
• When exposed to social media marketing and TV commercials, consumers were twice as likely to eat more from Wendy’s.
• Social media marketing and OOH also proved to be a good match, resulting in consumers being 1.5 times more likely to spend or consume more across the QSR industry.

Social Media Alone Yields Higher Spending

One other point worth noting in the study was the impact of social media-only campaigns. For KFC, people who were only exposed to social media marketing were seven times more likely to spend more money. How’s that for social media marketing’s impact on sales?

Motivation to Re-evaluate the Marketing Mix

These numbers should inspire us all. They should encourage retailers to revisit their marketing mix to make sure their marketing channels are integrated and optimized to drive sales. The statistics should also motivate marketers to, in the words of the legendary Vanilla Ice, stop, collaborate and listen to determine the multi-channel marketing approach that drives the most sales for their clients.

So back to the million-dollar question. Instead of asking how social media marketing drives sales, I challenge you to start asking how the right mix of social media marketing and multi-channel integration can drive sales for your company.

If you’d like to learn more about this topic, our very own Kevin Briody has written a post that breaks down the 4 types of social media ROI.

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Here is the excerpt from the email:

Our advisers are working with us to develop ideas that we will pursue proactively. At the same time, they are fielding inquiries from multiple parties that have already expressed interest in a number of potential options.

We will take the time we need to select and structure the best approach for the company, its shareholders and employees.

This translates to: For the right price, you bet we will sell!

One company that has expressed interest in buying Yahoo! is China’s Alibaba Group. Its CEO Jack Ma told the conference at Stanford University recently that “We are very interested in Yahoo. Our Alibaba group is important to Yahoo and Yahoo is important to us … All the serious buyers interested in Yahoo have talked to us.”

Even though it’s been reported that Yahoo’s board of directors are considering a possible selling of the company in parts or in whole as an option, the company was unavailable for a response to Jack Ma’s interest in acquiring the company. This is probably due to the recent souring of the relationship between Alibaba and Yahoo! after Alibaba transferred ownership of Alipay, their premier online payment service, to a third party company without informing Yahoo! which owns a 43% stake in Alibaba.

Ma has indicated that he is very keen  to buy back the 43% stake Yahoo! holds in his company and that he has also held talks with potential investors including Silver Lake Partners, Microsoft, Hellman & Friedman and Andreesen Horowitz to join him in a Yahoo! acquisition bid.

The only question that remains is, will Ma make Yang an offer he can’t refuse? I guess only time will tell.

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Interview Screen Grab from the 2011 Vocus Users Conference

So I’ve paraphrased the transcription and shared below.

When people look at analytics from their website while developing content plans, what kinds of things should they look for to help improve online sales?

To start with, a company can do some research to start developing personas that reflect the kinds of customer segments they’re after. That information can get things going in terms of an Editorial Plan and keywords used to optimize content and attract links, resulting in content that ranks well on search engines and drives traffic to product and services pages. As you attract that traffic from search engines, there’s some data to work with – to analyze and refine.

Through web analytics you can see which search terms are driving outcomes that you want, like conversions.  You might see really broad phrases, if you’re fortunate enough to rank highly for really broad phrases, driving traffic that results in behaviors that are more indicative of “tire kicking” during the initial phase of a buying cycle.

More specific phrases may be more characteristic of buyers that are further along in the search process. You can see that by looking at referring search queries for instances of pricing, specific nomenclature or model numbers. That kind of search can be more representative of someone who is ready  to buy.
So in terms of your editorial planning for content, you can take a look at this sort of cycle and anticipate what people want, optimize and promote. Observe how they visit and behave on the site. Then identify and refine subsequent content creation, optimization and promotion to make the content even more relevant and valuable.  The result is a shortening sales cycle, more revenue per sale and a better experience for customers.

Paid search marketers can refine their ads on the fly and see the effect on sales. What do you look for you in your web analytics to refined web site content to become more “findable” and more likely to convert visitors to buyers? Do you incorporate social CRM tools with web analytics? Any other tools?

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Originally the no sales tax was an awesome idea to help a new industry get a good foothold in the market place, backed up by federal laws and a ton of states wanting these companies to come in and provide awesome jobs to people. It worked, we now have a number of 800 pound gorillas in the online marketplace, which serve the needs of millions every day. This is a good thing, and what the internet should be about.

I do not have a love affair with taxes, but I also understand why we need them, I like good roads, good schools, I like feeding the starving regardless of their immigration status. I also love it when my taxes go to bust fraudsters who are not doing what they need to do to keep on getting benefits. I love paying for people to retool and retrain by going to college. I am just a diehard liberal when it comes to that aspect of taxes and I have no worries about it at all. My taxes go to good things, even if those good things are not necessarily what I happen to believe in, but see a value in them. That is where California wins on this one, and why the party is starting to wind down on tax free shopping online for everyone.

We often like to talk about “game changers”, this is the big one for states struggling to pay for anything, or in the case of California, in serious danger of some bad adverse consequences due to the lingering downturn in the economy.

This is not big win for shoppers, this is not   a big win for Amazon, this is not a big win for people who use Amazon to support their companies. This is a big win for box retail and the states. EBay and others are next, if Amazon cut this kind of deal, everyone else will have to fall in line, the dam has been breached, and taxes are now coming to your online shopping experience.

Under the deal, Amazon would delay collecting taxes until September 2012, Assemblyman Charles Calderon (D-Whittier) said. The new law had mandated that Internet retailers start collecting state taxes in July if they had offices, workers or other connections in California. Source: LA Times

So there it is, and this will make it much more interesting for people trying to find a deal online without taxes. Every state is going to jump on this one, so if you are planning a big ticket purchase best to do it sooner rather than later. This is not a world as we know it ending, rather this is more about what is probably the right thing to do, and while I do not know what this will do to any sales we have in California, I am really hoping that the taxes will be collected at the Amazon/Ebay level so I don’t have to try to sweat this one at all.

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Educate then inform

A common marketing myth is that you need to market your services based on benefits and that’s it! This is incorrect.  Selling on benefits is only half the deal.  First, the other person needs to believe they have a problem, which your benefits solve.  If they don’t believe they have a problem, they are not going to buy your solution. The challenge here is that many people who really need your services, don’t know it yet.  For these people, you need to educate them that they have the problem, before you stand a chance of them becoming a client.

For example, if someone is using a “cheap” accountant, they may think they are getting a GREAT deal.  It’s only after they learn that their cheap accountant is losing their business 50k a year needlessly, by giving them bad advice, that they are aware they need a good accountant, and quick!  An hour before they discovered they were losing out on 50k a year, they would have been bragging to their buddy about what a great deal they got from their accountant and not remotely interested in finding a better accountant.

Yes, the benefits of your service are extremely important to your marketing, but they are of little real marketing value, until you have convinced your prospective client that they actually have a problem.

Use this idea and become the only show in town!

If you are really smart, you will develop a unique solution that your competitors are not offering.  This way, when you educate your prospective clients that they have a problem, your service becomes the answer, rather than simply an answer.

Get this right and you will never have to sell based on fees again, plus you will always be in demand.  It’s one of the many things I work on with my clients and the results can be amazing!

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