Yesterday was the day-long OMMA Social event in San Francisco, a nice way to kick off 2009. Overall, the mood I sensed was one of cautious optimism — marketers (primarily agencies) packed in tight to hear more than a dozen panels and keynotes addressing everything from the ideal business model for Twitter, to the notion of assigning consumer pages CPMs based on influence.
For all of the new questions the event bubbled to the surface, many of the old ones – what is the ROI of a social marketing effort? How do I measure it? – continue to be left unanswered. But maybe that’s OK. As industry blogger and 360i exec David Berkowitz noted to me in a later conversation, perhaps the industry is rethinking how it characterizes the value placed on social engagement online — and we just might be getting comfortable with not having all the answers. Naturally, we need to continue to strive to prove and measure program value, but is the answer to borrow wholly from our traditional advertising/marketing counterparts in how we define and measure the success of a corporate blog or Twitter presence? If the answer is no, then let’s figure out the right answer – and accept that this is an iterative process.
Some other consistent themes I observed during the event:
-When it comes to a direct engagement strategy, thinking in campaign terms is the wrong approach. The act of fostering a community doesn’t have an on/off switch – it’s an ongoing commitment.
-Traditional advertising shouldn’t exist separately from its social marketing counterparts. Media buyers too need access to social media insights and data to make ads more effective, both from a targeting and creative standpoint. All media is becoming social – advertising operations and processes need to reflect this.
-Instead of “social media” think in terms of the “social web.” In some cases, like blogs, users explicitly create content in a socially-connected way. But are consumers on Facebook creating “social media” – or are they simply connecting and sharing?
-The social web is the great equalizer. Small businesses and unknowns take heed: the accessibility and affordability of social tools and platforms mean you can easily leapfrog the slower-moving behemoths in your space to capture consumer attention.
-Only 15% of the world’s top brands are active on the social web. There’s still a ton of opportunity out there for marketers and technology providers, and there’s never been a better time for brands to jump in and cost-effectively take advantage.