Comments on: Social Media Marketing Measurement Done Right

By: Paul M. Banas

Paul M. Banas — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:14:02 +0000

@Tameka
Thanks for visiting. I think your point about jumping in without a strategy or a long term plan is a good one. Like Katie mentions above, treating an online community like a traditional media channel or billboard is counter productive.

As was clear in your article, Carnival’s goal was to facilitate a dialogue, not just to sell something. I think that is why they had the social media success they did.

By: Tameka Kee

Tameka Kee — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:04:49 +0000

Glad you found the article useful, Paul.

I do think lots of companies are jumping on the online community bandwagon without having a clear plan for how to promote and sustain the hub, or even why users should join in the first place.

Carnival’s scrapblog deal made perfect sense — it was almost a no-brainer. When people come back from vacations, they’re often dying to share the pics. So by creating space where they can share those memories with others who’ve had the same experience (not to mention entice non-cruisers to think about a Carnival Fun Ship) Carnival has launched a win-win.

By: Paul M. Banas

Paul M. Banas — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:56:27 +0000

@Katie
Thanks for your thoughts. I think everyone is still in learning mode when it comes to Social Media Marketing, since as you point out, it takes a very different mindset to achieve success than what most traditional marketers are used to having.

Would like to hear more about your best practices with MADD or ASPCA, if you’d like to share. Thanks again.

By: Katie Paine

Katie Paine — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:06:13 +0000

The problem is that the big consumer CMOs and Advertisers don’t think in terms of real tangible results, they’re still asking for Ad Value or eyeballs or some such nonsense. In the mean time, folks like SeaWorld, and our clients MADD and ASPCA are tying their efforts to web memberships and on-line donations. The difference is that the consumer package goods companies are still working in a command and control world where they think they can simply order up a million community members the same way they used to order up a million eyeballs. What they don’t realize is that most of those eyeballs they were ordering up never bought the product anyway. But the 100 or so community members will buy and recommend and promote your brand.