What is the return on investment from Social Media? This is a question that has been debated consistently over the past few months by a variety of thought leaders across the web. Erik Qualman, Gary Vaynerchuk , Guy Kawasaki, Seth Godin have written books that address the topic of Social Media ROI
The value of social media for business has been debated by early adopters and those slow to commitment to Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, Stumble Upon and other social platforms as an import part of their overall marketing and client relations strategy. The debate rages on, but what is undeniable is the impact that social media has had on small businesses and multi-national corporations alike.
I want to share a short video today that makes a powerful statement. The ROI on social media has been huge for many companies and transformational for others. New industries have emerged and old business models have been given new life as the world has become a much smaller place. I encourage you to invest a few minutes watching this powerful video and reading the associated blog post from across the social web.
Socialnomics Presents Social Media ROI
Who is Erik Qualman?
Often called the Digital Dale Carnegie, Erik Qualman is the author of Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and do business. Socialnomics made Amazon’s #1 Best Selling List for the US, UK, Canada and Germany.
Here are 15 Fast Facts Related to Return on Investment and Social Media:
- By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers….96% of them have joined a social network
- Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web
- Years to Reach 50 millions Users: Radio (38 Years), TV (13 Years), Internet (4 Years), iPod (3 Years)…Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months…iPhone applications hit 1 billion in 9 months.
- % of companies using LinkedIn as a primary tool to find employees….80%
- The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year-old females
- There are over 200,000,000 Blogs
- Because of the speed in which social media enables communication, word of mouth now becomes world of mouth
- 25% of search results for the World’s Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content
- 34% of bloggers post opinions about products & brands
- 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations
- Only 14% trust advertisements
- Only 18% of traditional TV campaigns generate a positive ROI
- In the near future we will no longer search for products and services they will find us via social media
- Successful companies in social media act more like Dale Carnegie and less like David Ogilvy Listening first, selling second
- Successful companies in social media act more like party planners, aggregators, and content providers than traditional advertiser
Source: Socialnomics
Here are a few blog post from influential publishers on this topic:
1. Mashable Social Media ROI Cycle
2. Tech CrunchHow Social Media Drives New Business Six Case Studies
3. Gary Vaynerchuk ROI on Social Media
Regardless if you chose to engage with your market with social media or chose to ignore it, I would encourage you to actually decide, make a conscious decision either way. Social media is not a fad, it is not trivial, and it is not going away – it is actually just in its infancy. If you invest the time required to craft a thoughtful social media strategy your results will be transformational for you and your brand.
I would love to read your thoughts and comments on social media. I invite you to post a comment below and share how social media is impacting your business and niche market.
I am here to help you succeed!
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New to Social Media? Grab a free download of my guide: Maximum Impact Social Media
(c) Copyright 2008-2011 James A. Holmes. All Rights Reserved.
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James Holmes, Global Team Builder, Coach and Trainer, combining online and offline techniques to help you grow your business. To request a free 30 minute consultation contact James by phone at 303-523-9503 or email at james@AskJamesHolmes.com
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