Software company Vitrue announced recently that a 1 million-strong Facebook fanbase for an organization’s page translates into at least $3.6 million in equivalent media over a year, based on impressions generated in the site’s news feed.
In other words, marketers can expect to pay $3.60 for one set of eyes on the foremost social network. Reports U.K.-based Marketing Magazine:
Criticism of the announcement was widespread and immediate, noting that impressions give no account of engagement. Vitrue chief executive Reggie Bradford countered that he was coming to that, and “shares”, “comments” and “likes” would feature in a subsequent study.
While it is sometimes difficult to measure ROI in social media, pointing to “Like” as an indicator of success is seen as a problem by many, including Feedback’s own Dean Browell, who was interviewed for the article. A “Like” may simply be someone entering a competition or seeing something intriguing on a company’s Facebook page – but it doesn’t necessarily mean that a person is instantly wedded to a brand.
The article continues:
The truly curious thing, according to Dean Browell, executive vice-president of US social media strategist Feedback, is that so many brands seem happy to unquestioningly reach for the large numbers – and the less nuanced, the better.
“There’s an unusual shift happening now,” says Browell. “At first, marketers were clamouring for very specific data they could hang their hat on as a reason to go into social. Now, you have brands doing social and being OK with not measuring it.
“They are in love with the ‘like’ and, unfortunately, many of them aren’t asking who these people are who ‘like’ them, and what is the quality of the ‘likes’ they are getting.”
While many top brands view an individual Like on Facebook as a huge value, a good social media and digital practice comes down to more than just numbers. With careful methodologies in place, a great deal of meaningful data should emerge from a brand’s presence online and its fanbase, giving a company insightful feedback on its customers and stakeholders. This is data that impacts marketing departments, sure, but also gives key information to sales teams and C-suites.
For more, check out the article, Social Media: The value of a Like here.
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Anna’s Social Media Picks of the Year – 2011
by FeedbackIt’s been quite a landmark year for connectivity, social media and technology. Here are my recommendations for the best of “the best of’s” for 2011:
Twitter Topics:
Numerous current events were discussed on Twitter this year, some of which even broke on there first (such as the Osama bin Laden announcement). Here are the news items that topped the Twitter trending list:
See Twitter’s year in review here.
IPO Mania:
This was the year of IPO buzz. Social media companies that went public in 2011:
Speculations circulate that the IPO trend will continue in 2012 with the likes of Facebook and Twitter.
Top Tech Stories:
CNN selected their top picks for tech stories in 2011. Here are their 10:
Click here to read the full article.
The 2011 Social Media Timeline:
Social Media Today put together a timeline that makes it easy to recap social media accomplishments throughout the year:
What’s next?
Tech Guru’s share their opinions on what they think the online future holds:
Next year – from CNN:
In 5 years – from IBM (Covered by techworldnews):
2011 has been an innovative year and 2012 looks as if it won’t disappoint. Happy New Year!
-Anna (@alucas9)