Software Hamilton

It’s a fabulous Friday once again, and there have been some real “timely” infographics that have recently sprung up and I thought that I’d bring some of same up to our readers.

First, the word metronome - it’s a word that means a device that produces regular, metrical ticks and in this case…what I mean by same, is that when it comes to social media, that time is important to try to understand just how “quick” the social media world is growing.

First up today, is a great all-encompassing infographic done by the folks over at jess3.com, via their blog and this one is a look at the overall whole annual growth…and it’s a bit daunting too. It’s the big influx of mobile apps to the social world, via apps that exist for Facebook’s Poke or SnapChat that is a real eye opener for me as I had no idea that this area was so quickly becoming a major segment. The infographic goes on to show all the major players and some real new ones too that can give you a true sense of the real rising stars like Pinterest and Google+. This surely needs to be clicked, eh….so that you can ramp up your knowledge on same! Kudos to the Jess3 folks then!

Next up today, is a real look at just what happens in a minute…a 60 second look at social media…tick tock tick tock…and this one comes from socialjumpstart.com via Infographr…and it’s a great look at those 60 seconds, eh!

One thing that I found odd, was that LinkedIn has only 120 new members every 60 seconds….or 2 per second. Surely that can’t be correct, I thought….as they have surpassed even my own expectations on growth…but maybe I’m incorrect here…what do you think on this…is it your opinion too? But in any event again Kudos to the socialjumpstart folks for this one!

Lastly today is the great infographic I found over at intersectionconsulting.com and it’s located here. This is also an interesting infographic, in that what this one does is to try to estimate the time we all spend on social media.

Here’s how they put the premise behind it -

“The general consensus is that companies need to dedicate resources to social media (in the form of time and labor) in order to be successful. I would agree with this statement. But the question is, how much time exactly? Here is where things can get a little sketchy. For many organizations, social media hasn’t become part of the operation yet. As a result, a lot of work is still being done off the corner of people’s desk…or by interns.

This infographic is my take on the time investment required to develop an effective social media workflow. Major caveat – of course, every organization is different and any workflow that is designed and implemented needs to work towards the achievement of business goals. That being said, I feel the time scope represented here is far more realistic than the notion that organizations can get value from the social channel by investing “15 minutes a day”…”

As you can see, there is a note that we should remember that as a firm, we’re all different…but the time scope shown is pretty interesting and yes Kudos to the intersectionconsulting folks for this great one too!

Which brings us to the question…what do you think? How does time play a function within your own firm when it comes to social media….

Okay, the headline to this blog post is meant to set you online retailers back on your heels, as I’m sure it did – and yes there is recent survey statistics that show that Social Media triggers are less than 1% when it comes to online shopping.

Huh?

Okay, let me explain and show you the backstory on this Forrester Report entitled “The Purchase Path of Online Buyers” and what that study entailed. Forrester is a large multinational firm that is in the business of selling proprietary research, consumer and business data, custom consulting, events and online communities, and peer-to-peer executive programs. They serve clients all over the globe and are one of – if not the – most respected business research firms around.

What that means is that for those of us who either are online retailers or have clients in that space, the research that Forrester does on the upcoming Q4 Christmas buying season is a big deal – big enough that it needed to be shared, IMHO…and hence this post.

First the numbers that are shown in the Report, come from GSI Commerce who colloborated with Forrester to produce this report based on their top 15 online commerce clients who represented over $1 Billion dollars in sales in 2010. In other words a vetted and big sample…and it’s important to remember that as this is a big big sample, that extrapolating from same is a valid method to use to look at your own online commerce business.

Here’s Forrester’s Executive Summary for this report -

“Successfully reaching online shoppers during the critical holiday season is crucial to the Q4 success of eCommerce businesses. Forrester collaborated with the eCommerce service provider GSI Commerce to understand how retailers in fact did connect with online buyers. Actual retailer clickstream analysis from 15 online retailers who are GSI Commerce’s clients showed that traditional forms of web marketing (e.g., search, marketing) continue to drive online sales while experimental tactics like social continue to be just that, peripheral tactics that have generated buzz but are rarely associated with revenue. This retailer data also showed that some tactics like display advertising may be underrepresented as they are earlier in the purchase funnel. While this data highlights findings from the holiday season of 2010, it is a useful illustration of how retail eBusiness executives can accommodate those findings in their customer acquisition and retention programs throughout the year…”

As you can see the line “while experimental tactics like social continue to be just that” means yes, the numbers reported in the $1 Billion market channel that this report was based on is surprising.

Read the complete report and then think on this for a moment…or two. More than half of all online purchases were following multiple exposures to web marketing efforts and search and email continue to be the most effective tactics in driving sales.

You got that right? Organic search backed up with SEO campaigns was still the #1 method to drive online sales….followed closely by eMail marketing.

And social media? Less than 1% of all online sales were a result of a social media campaign using for instance, Twitter or LinkedIn or Facebook. Less than 1%….and all that “hoopla” on social media….hmmm….something to think on, right?

And yes, if you know online marketing though, you’ll quickly respond with a knowledgeable nod…those of us here in the online marketing trenches have learned that social media does in fact NOT drive sales.

Instead it’s the trigger for online reputation and social authority success that while not sales oriented, instead drives a buyer to learn more about a brand…and to see the consumer feedback on dealing with a firm or company and it’s products. That’s’ the real value in social….

Right off the top of my head today, I am thinking about the four steps that anyone or any company must think about BEFORE attempting a Social Media campaign.

Four steps.

Four important steps to ponder on before you invest the time and effort into any marketing campaign using social media. And the “why” am I doing this is because I was just interviewed by a freelancer on this topic and yup, it got me thinking on same, eh!

Drill Down for an Audience:
Yes, that’s right…our first step is finding out who you want to talk to when it comes to all of the various social media venues out there. If your customers hang out on YouTube – then so should you. Or if they congregate in a LinkedIN group then that’s where you should be. Disregard totally the list of the “top ten” social media channels….you should care less. What you need to do is to find where you should be working….not where everyone else is.

Develop a Profile:
This one is again, pretty easy….you need to decide whom will be the “voice” of the firm to speak to those prospective customers. Mary over in Accounting is most likely NOT the best candidate….i.e. this is a task that you do NOT want to just add to someone ad hoc; you need to think about whom can and will speak for the firm and in the best of all possible lights. Not an add-on task to someone who is less passionate about the firm than you are – or the boss is either. Create that Profile using the best possible contributor in the company or hire it out….but do remember that you need to always present the best of your firm to the social media world…and that takes passion!

Build Your Reputation:
Time to go to work and by that I mean do NOT sell anything. Never. Ever. Instead learn to be the LinkedIN group person whom others can ask for counsel or the YouTube Channel subsciber that can offer up help via your growing Authority & Trust as you just tell what you know with NO sales pitch. Ever. Do NOT become that “easy-to-suss” out salesguy in the plaid suit that pushes/prods every single comment or post with a BUY HERE type of slant and signature. Instead, just offer up help and slowly (yes it takes time) build that online reputation of simply being knowledgeable about your industry. Listen to this again. Build your onine reputation NOT your online pushy sales pitch. People can tell….and that means they’ll add your name to their own “bozoFilter” and that’s not a good thing, ever!

Engage your Audience:
Last of my four steps is to engage. See someone that needs help or a second opinion? Then offer it. See someone who needs an URL to a piece you read just yesterday about the issue that they face? Then offer it. Read about a slant on biz that you know about too? Then say so….again as it step 3, remember to NOT sell squat….just offer up your own counsel.

And these four work. It’s that simple really….