The Numbers Are In
Social marketing is no longer a novelty. It’s a significant part of any retailer’s marketing strategy, and top executives will demand the kind of documented results that they expect from other marketing efforts. One important aspect of social marketing to measure is how well a company does in creating consumer advocates who will share their enthusiasm about a brand with friends across social networks, e-mails and other online channels.
Social referrals can turn into significant revenue because consumers are sharing so much online these days. That includes updates, conversations, recommendations, photos, tweets, posts, shares, or +1s. Consumers share something 4 billion times each day on Facebook, 200 million times on Twitter, and 1 billion times on Google+. Research shows social networks reach 82% of the world’s online population and represent 1.2 billion users worldwide. What’s more, one in five minutes spent online is spent social networking. READ MORE

With more than 1 billion searches a day on Google, it is no wonder marketers spend the majority of their search dollars there. In fact, in 2010, 97 percent of Google’s revenue came from search. Marketers know their consumers are using Google to search and are investing accordingly — however, the rules of the game are changing.

Virality is that state of marketing nirvana where your campaigns are liberated from the earthly confines of your own media spends and marketing efforts, and take on a free-floating life of their own.
Social media and its impact on consumer behavior and marketing is top of mind for every marketer. Brands have made significant investments in building social marketing presences and amassing social followers, but the question remains – what is the real value of these social marketing initiatives? From fans and followers, “likes” and engagements – the metrics used to quantify success have yet to be standardized. As we enter this new phase of social media marketing, the focus has shifted to drive real, measurable results from social marketing investments
Word of Mouth marketing has been around since the town crier stood on the street corner hawking the day’s news. But with the dawn of the internet and social media specifically, the concept has expanded. We’ve gone beyond what one housewife tells another during their weekly bridge game. Now, we have one person broadcasting their opinions to hundreds, even thousands with a single Tweet or Facebook post.
The way people share and consume information online is changing rapidly. This creates both a challenge and an opportunity for marketers as they strive to keep their brands top of mind for consumers. The challenge is that consumers now not only influence brand awareness and perception, but they also affect brand search engine rankings.
