Social Media & Interactive Marketing: Intangible is not Invisible Part 2

I’ve heard the question many times, often from someone who genuinely wants to know and sometimes from someone who thinks the whole thing is smoke and mirrors: social-media and interactive marketing—what’s my ROI? If you’re looking for a number you’re not going to get one.

Original Post: http://tinyurl.com/ye5wqd5

It’s not an absurd question but it doesn’t exactly have an answer either. At least not a short one or one that’s wrapped up in a nice bow. But, in a nutshell (again, that unit of measurement), what’s it cost and what do I get? Well, you get intangibles.

I can hear the bean-counters groan.

Okay. The world does not exist in binary: black/white, up/down, Metallica/Poison—an either/or proposition. So, to begin with, social-media and interactive marketing (SMAIM, because that sounds way cooler and is less to type) isn’t now and never has been a one-to-one configuration. It shouldn’t be expected to. It shouldn’t be defined as. As soon as something is controlled, put into a box, the mystery and thrill are gone. Consumers/clients/customers/users will move on to the next thing just when you’ve gotten a handle on this.

That’s all fine and good, but why would I want to have anything to do with SMAIM then? Because, even though (for the most part) they can’t be dollarized (it’s not on Websters.com or dictionary.com, so I want credit for making it up), recognizing and utilizing the intangibles will present you with more information than you could have ever achieved if you tried on purpose. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not critical. I’ll explain.

Everybody has a different set of terms or charts or graphs, but this is how I see the breakdown of SMAIM intangibles:

1. Credibility
2. Market Research
3. Immediate Messaging/Immediate feedback
4. Viral Marketing Savings
5. Customer Service
6. Advocates


1. Credibility: The Man in the Box
See that person up on stage speaking? See that person on television talking? Well, if they’re up there then they must know what they’re talking about, right? Well, I would hope so. By being up in front talking about what you know, what you can do, you are cultivating the persona of credibility. By being a part of the community, by posting, by sharing, by not cramming your message down people’s throats but by communicating with them. Friends first, partners second. Develop a rapport, not by trying to impress them but by being one of them. If you demand someone listen or assert that everything you say is gospel, you’ve lost. SMAIM will help foster this.

2. Market Research: Who Be What?
Demographics, statistics, metrics, analytics (who’s buying, who’s liking, who’s ranting), this is the kind of information companies drool over. What better way to market than to understand who you are marketing to? This one really seems like a no-brainer but never quite appears to be acknowledged. Consumers/clients/customers/users help improve your brand by giving you information. That used to be test-markets, focus groups, usability studies, and that doesn’t even get into the difficulty of finding, screening and collating the people to get that information. Doesn’t have to be like that anymore. People willingly give the information companies seek if you only know how to ask.

3. Immediate Messaging/Immediate feedback: Say What?
It no longer takes months and months to roll out a new campaign, to promote a new message. It no longer takes massive print-runs, storage facilities, handlers and exorbitant shipping costs to reach hundreds of thousands of people. The savings alone is beyond substantial. Combine that with real-time understanding of the marketplace by getting feedback from the people you are going after? Again, it seems like a no-brainer. I have heard the voiced concern of what if people complain or that people can post damning reviews. Yes. Yes they can--but that’s a good thing. Mistakes happen. Missteps. Remember zoobas? I’m still trying to block that one out. People will rag on you about it. Great. Then answer, respond, doing something. People love to know they’ve been heard. Complaints about people gouging their own eyes out after seeing a pair of zoobas? Issue a post about a product that's been developed to wear over the eyes (called sohn-gle-asses) to reduce glare from the offending anti-fashion item. Let them know you’ve heard them.

4. Viral Marketing Savings: Of Myths and Monsters
I don’t care who tells you what, but you can’t make viral. It either happens or it don’t. Either people will pick up the ball and run with it or they will kick it into the sewer. That is, unless you’ve created some good will, some credibility (see No. 1, Credibility). Blogging about how wonderful you are and how Beyonce should have won an award won’t get you picked up and pushed out to the general masses, but give out some info on something that would be helpful to a consumer/client/customer/user (such as the percentage of monkeys that like climbing into suitcases) and that has a better chance of being shared with other people. If it’s of real interest people will shout about it because they want to make it look like they know what they’re talking about (again, see 1. Credibility). People love to pick up the ball and run with it (see 6. Advocates)

5. Customer Service: Holla!
Northwest Airlines has a special place in my heart: they wrecked my luggage (only the second time I’d used my bag) and then told me I’d have to call their complaint line, because I couldn’t file a grievance at the terminal. Of course the phone number I was given never once picked up, never once allowed me to talk to anyone or leave a message. So, you know what? I’ve never flown with them again, and now I’m sharing this completely unique and once-in-a-lifetime occurrence with you. This is an example of how bad customer service can hurt a company. And this was before SMAIM. Now I would tell everybody. I would post on anti-airline blogs. I would create images containing potentially inappropriate gestures that would then be let loose in the web-o-sphere (oh, it's a real thing). All because they didn’t want to listen. Silly. No, not every problem is going to be fixed, but the point is that they now can’t be ignored. There are too many ways for those problems to be voiced and collected and promoted and then you have backlash (see Spin-doctors, the band).

6. Advocates: They tell two friends…and so on…and so on
Fan-bases, user groups, communities, recommendations—people who want to sing your praises, that do the work for you. How can this not be at the forefront of any company’s mind when it comes to SMAIM? People pay for t-shirts with a band or logo on it that someone else created. They are paying to promote for you. Same with SMAIM: Build trust with them, share with them and they will promote for you. Repost your Tweet, your blog, your Facebook announcement. New eNewsletter with something cool? They’ll distribute it in various forms to people they know. And then hopefully those people will think it’s pertinent and share with other.

No, you can’t put a dollar amount on any of these things. You will not get X in return for doing Y. You will not guarantee Q to the power of W in sales because you have a set number of Twitter followers. You will not be buying islands in the Bahamas because you set up a Facebook account. Doesn’t work like that. Especially if you only do part of it. People can smell out someone trying to use the system. If you don’t come across as genuine, it doesn’t matter the dollars you put into something. Might as well just give it to me (this is totally ethical as it would be considered a gift and not any form of bribe).

So, no. You can’t quantify SMAIM. But there's so much you can get out of it.