VICTORIA RANSOM WILDFIRE INTERACTIVE CALL IT AS YOU SEE IT...
IS ‘MONETISE’ A DIRTY WORD WHEN IT COMES TO
SOCIAL MEDIA?
By Victoria Ransom, CEO, Wildfire Interactive
Social media is exciting for marketers. So exciting, in fact, that in a survey we carried out recently, an overwhelming 97% of marketers said that they believe social media benefits their business. What’s more, 75% actively plan to increase social spend in 2012. Yet when it comes to actually monetising social media, it all gets very quiet indeed.
Whatever way you look at it, social media is here to stay. And, irrespective of industry differences, it is our belief that social marketers and companies typically move through three stages as they mature: growth, engagement and monetisation. Most companies are currently pursuing the second stage of the social funnel: engagement. The one piece of the puzzle getting less attention however is – yes, you’ve guessed it – monetisation.
Monetisation is a goal pursued by the fewest respondents to our survey. Only about half noted that increased sales and partnerships are the biggest benefits of social media. The majority recognise social media only as a means to grow brand awareness and engage with customers. It’s worth noting, however, that the most successful social marketers will spend time pursuing goals in all three areas.
Retailers in particular have been reluctant to embrace social media fully, as demonstrated by the continued absence of high- street businesses across social media channels.While online and technology companies, along with the software,media and entertainment sectors, are four times more focused on enticing users to interact via social channels, retailers remain three times more focused on ‘footfall’ than on selling their wares online.
Large-scale ecommerce ventures have paved the way for traditional brands to make the leap online but most small-to- medium retailers seem stuck on the high street, unwilling, or unable, to future-proof their businesses. While mobile is expected to play an integral role in paving the gap between real-life and social-life interaction, high street businesses will need to act soon to bridge the widening gap between themselves and their tech-savvy, ecommerce-based competitors. B2B companies are reluctant too, and place the least value on a Facebook fan, for example (according to our survey), with only 23% seeing the potential a new fan offers.
We’ve been talking for a long time about the role of social media and fully integrated marketing campaigns for the B2B sector and it looks like there are still businesses that are yet to engage wholly with would-be customers and clients. While B2B channels typically have smaller user-bases, their communities are often highly engaged and represent real opportunities for brands to connect.
The time to engage is now – and monetisation should not be a dirty word.
www.dmarket.co.uk
February 2012 39
CALL IT AS YOU SEE IT...
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