Keyword ‘ROI’

Marketing

When marketing (and Santa) isn’t enough

December 21st, 2010 by Andrew Swenson
Andrew and Santa

yes, I'm really sitting on his lap. yes, it was a little awkward.

While I was traveling home last weekend from Dallas, a few artificially bubbly college kids in festive hats asked if I wanted to take a survey. In exchange for my trouble, I’d get my photo taken with Santa and $20 off my next flight.

You know how that ended.

I quickly found out that Southwest Airlines and Microsoft had teamed up to offer “Holiday Photos on the Fly,” a promotion mainly for Windows 7. The sales pitch came in when I watched one of Santa’s elves take my photo “to the Cloud” for editing with Windows Live.

Marketing

What Is A Facebook Impression Worth?

December 2nd, 2010 by Andrew Swenson

Consider this from Nes Desmond recently posted on Business Insider:

What is the value of a Facebook impression? Consider pricing today for products like e-mail and online advertising. […]

We think the Facebook impressions and interactions are worth more than e-mail cpms and less than clicks in a sponsored link. That’s a big spread, and there is plenty of room to build a great business there.

The article itself attempts to determine the value of sponsored Facebook posts on a Facebook fan page like GoFishn, certainly valuable if you’re selling ads on your Facebook wall, but a venture that’s completely worthless for the rest of us.

Marketing

Considering Your Competition’s Use of Social Media

November 12th, 2009 by Andrew Swenson
Photo Credit: Griszka Niewiadomski

Photo Credit: Griszka Niewiadomski

For detracting from the intelligence of social business as we know it, I advocate flogging the next person you hear say, “we’re really pleased that we have 100 more Facebook fans than our top competitor” (unless he or she is your boss, in which case a more diplomatic approach may be warranted).

Beyond the Surface Level

With as much good advice there is out there about social media ROI, it’s appalling to me that many companies still use fluffy anecdotal evidence to support how they stack up against their competition in the social sphere.

Marketing

Measuring Social Media ROI

July 21st, 2009 by Andrew Swenson

A few days ago I officially made my ebook debut—a sound byte Twitter tip in a book sponsored by Best Buy and HP (download it here):

Twitter is about connecting with real humans. People before profits. Relationships before ROI.

My point was not that profits or ROI are unimportant, but that Twitter (and social media in general) is a place where you must place primary focus on your customers or prospective students…who happen to be real humans.