Social Media Means Business
Interesting new data about the power of social media to positively effect a brand’s bottom line. I don’t think this is surprising to anyone with a knowledge of this space, but its always good see additional data to support the advocates. Unfortunately this study only documents large organizations and “mavens”, so additional diligence will have to be taken as we analyze the ROI delivered to smaller business.
“One of the major hurdles to increased spending on social media has been lingering skepticism about what kind of payoff companies actually get from conversional marketing. In short, is it worth it? A study released Monday says “yes,” drawing a link between brands’ social media efforts and revenue growth.
The new research from social media platform Wetpaint and digital consulting firm Altimeter Group found that companies with the highest levels of social media activity on average increased revenues by 18% in the last 12 months, while the least active saw sales drop 6% over that period.
Among the top 100 brands reviewed, Starbucks came out on top with a score of 127, followed by Dell (123), eBay (115), Google (105), and Microsoft (103). Companies were scored based on the level of interaction across 10 social media channels including blogs, Facebook, Twitter and wikis.
It was interesting to see the size of teams that some big companies are dedicating to social media with Dell boasting a ”40-person social media team that runs blogs, a video channel and other forums while tracking what people are saying about Dell.”
