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| Courtesy of: http://www.saleoid.com |
In your
previous or current experience, were you or anyone at your employer responsible
for tracking Social Media ROI? If so, how was this process conducted? If not,
how was the success of your social media platforms measured?
Here is an infographic on how to measure Social Media ROI: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/81768549462452591/.
Because I work in the pharmaceutical industry, we do not tend to use social
media as much for our campaigns, as I work mostly with healthcare
professionals. I have colleagues that work with the patient campaigns and they
are much more involved in social media tactics and tracking. However, we
typically track the website analytics for the sites that we create. Within the
last year, we have hired an analytics specialist, who helps us better manually monitor
our sites, typically using Google analytics. We usually meet with him at the
beginning of a project, so that tags can be set up and the report schedule can
be determined.
It can certainly be confusing to use Google analytics at
first. The definitions can be hard to differentiate. I have had clients who ask
us to collect the data for them, but then they have no idea what we are telling
them or how to respond appropriately. This video gives a basic
overview of some of the terms used by Google analytics.
It is interesting because I work for a larger ad agency in
one of their specialty branches. I did not believe we had a strong social media
presence, but our parent company does have a Twitter account and Facebook page,
which I just discovered and will now follow. As Turner states, “the best way to
determine how many customers you’re gaining through social media is to look at
the website analytics” (2013, para 31). I am wondering if this social media
presence has led to new business leads or new employees.
Have you
ever had any experience with automated lead systems for your social media? If
so, do you believe they were conducive to your way of business? If not, what
current lead system is in place? Do you believe these systems would be
beneficial for your place of business?
Digital marketing automation is defined as “software that
allows you to automate repetitive tasks, reduce human error, manage complexity
and measure and optimize your efforts” (Bullas, n.d., para 24).
I do not have any experience with automated lead systems.
Instead, we still tend to get new business the old-fashioned way—submitting RFPs
and going to pitches, as well as organically growing business with existing
customers. Our new business team does a lot of the lead generation and once
they have an opportunity, we may get involved to develop the presentation
because we have the experience in executing the programs. Once we land a new
client, it is our job to build relationships and hopefully continue to get
additional business with this particular client, as well as her colleagues.
I am not sure if an automated lead system would be
beneficial for where I work to gain new business. At the same time, some of
these systems could be helpful in getting our recruitment numbers up for
different programs that we run for our clients. We have an operations team that
is constantly making cold calls, sending emails and faxes, and mailing
hard-copy invites. In addition, our consumer team does CRM management for many
of our clients.
Here is an article that I pinned in our group board on
Pinterest: http://www.razorsocial.com/social-media-management-software/.
As
marketing automation tools can improve Customer Lifetime Value, what other ways
do you believe we can improve the quality of our customers’ experiences through
social media? Do you feel your company’s website alone is enough to allow them
to have a great experience? Or are there other areas that need to be improved?
If you were in charge of improving your employers’ practices to not only retain
current customers, but also gain new ones, what would your strategy be?
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) is defined as “the amount of revenue
a typical customer will generate for a company during the customer’s engagement
with your brand” (Turner, 2013, para 11). Here is a video that explains
this concept in further detail. I would be curious to know what our typical CLV
is where I work. When I started working at my current company, I had a client
that had a drug that was first to market in its class. As a result, the
pharmaceutical company had a lot of money to spend on promoting the drug.
However, as the years went on, competitors entered the market and the drug did
not do as well as it had previously. Our business opportunity dwindled as our
clients’ budgets decreased year after year. We no longer work with them, but it
has more to do with the life cycle of the drug, rather than our performance
with them.
It takes more than a company website to retain and gain
customers in today’s world. According to Kerpen, “it’s essential therefore that
the website is as integrated with social media as possible” (2011, p. 170). While
this might be true, it also depends on the industry that you are in, as certain
ones may not rely as heavily on social media as others. I do not believe my
company uses our website and social media accounts to retain or gain current
customers. Our website is relatively basic and gives an overview of our company
and what we do. If we were to focus more on our social media and Web strategies,
we could see what new leads could be generated.
References
Bullas, J. (n.d.). 10 top digital marketing automation tools
that could transform your business. Jeffbullas.com.
Retrieved from http://www.jeffbullas.com/2015/06/19/10-top-digital-marketing-automation-tools/.
Kerpen, D. (2011). Likeable social media: How to delight your customers, create an irresistible brand, and be generally amazing on Facebook (& other social networks). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Turner, J. (2013). An in-depth guide on how to calculate the ROI of a social media campaign. Our blog. Retrieved from: http://60secondmarketer.com/blog/2013/11/17/in-depth-guide-calculating-social-media-roi/.
