I think for me, as someone who’s on the ground trying to encourage the business to embrace these new marketing methods, talk of ROI can be frustrating as these things don’t just happen over night. Slowly, slowly, catchee moneky

The other thing is, people talk about Twitter etc being free – technically yes they don’t cost companies £’s and $’s in the accounts but to do it right, you need time, expertise, the ability to engage and debate – all of which do come at a cost to the business and generally can’t be farmed out to a lower paid minion to deliver. Which is ultimately why ROI and measurement has to come into it somewhere!

Look forward to the next…

Kate

And I totally agree. I also believe in seeing social media integrated into marketing and not viewed as a separate channel.

Just as in 5 years, there will be some new concept, maybe augmented reality marketing or else – and this too will have to be developed in a holistic manner.

By the way, I really like the process you developed. Very well thought-out. I look forward for Part II.

Thanks for sharing.

Excellent blog post!

Tigerfish / you have obviously devoted a lot of time into researching this new area of marketing to come up with these two diagrams, which I think visually represent the process of social media strategy very well.

I absolutely agree with you on listening and trialling different networks first – I think some people are still just diving in without really thinking about a strategy – and we both know that social media needs a strategy just as any other marketing activity does.

Looking forward to reading the next part …

Katie

@VolumeGroup

Your work highlights an often (it seems) overlooked component of social media—pre-planning! While it’s nice that ABC Corp now has a Facebook Fan Page, we’re left wondering where it all fits in. So if we (the marketplace, for instance) don’t see the connection, I wonder what “internal” customers are thinking?

Taking the time and discipline to follow through your Cascade would help clarify goal and roles considerably. You’ve heard the clamor regarding ROI. Much of that noise churns, not because people are obsessed with analytical calculations (they really are not, or else they would raise a ruckus about country club memberships, planes, leased Town Cars, and a whole host of stuff the spend money on because they WANT to), but because they’re simply not sure where social media fits into the overall marketing program, where it will take them, and why they would even want to go there or by that route.

In other words, it’s not a question of a 15% return on social media (for most) vs. a 12.75% return on direct mail. Instead, it’s “where does social media fit and how does that help me?”

Your Cascade is pregnant with profit potential for people who will ponder it.