Comments on: Avoid Misunderstandings: Corporations & Social Media http://hightalk.net/2009/06/29/avoid-misunderstandings-corporations-social-media/ Conversations with George F. Snell III on Media, PR & the Social Web Thu, 17 May 2012 16:15:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: gfsnell3 http://hightalk.net/2009/06/29/avoid-misunderstandings-corporations-social-media/#comment-447 Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:15:36 +0000 http://hightalk.net/?p=990#comment-447 Thanks Joe:
I haven’t observed many companies having the desire to replace marketing and communications with an exclusive social media approach. I’m in agreement with Weber Shandwick’s inline approach of integrating social media into existing programs and campaigns (which is one of the reasons why I joined the team here). And that’s the approach I advise clients.

Measuring social media through an exclusive “ROI” approach also remains murky. While you can definitely measure web hits, downloads, views, mentions, etc., I don’t think that tells the full story of social media’s potential impact.

For example, how does a retailer measure the effect of a polite and knowledgeable sales staff? How much do those attributes add to the bottom line? And to contrary how does a rude and uninterested sales staff negatively effect sales? We all know those things matter – but how much? And how do you measure it?

Social media has some of those same intangibles. When you engage on a more personal level – good things tend to happen. But those good things can be difficult to measure.

]]> By: Joe Lima http://hightalk.net/2009/06/29/avoid-misunderstandings-corporations-social-media/#comment-444 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:14:35 +0000 http://hightalk.net/?p=990#comment-444 Hi George,
First of all, congrats on your new position. Have you been finding from your conversations that companies are trying to replace established marketing tactics and metrics (# of prospects, lead conversion, # of PR mentions, etc) with a social media approach (keeping the metrics the same) as a way to save money? What advice have you been giving them? I have my theories and I would like to hear your experience.

Have a great holiday!

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