Happy 3rd Birthday #SMChat!
This weekend, April 22nd to be exact, marks the THIRD anniversary of #SMChat! Can you believe it? Yippee, we’re three! I followed and participated in the chat for about a year and then Chris Jones convinced me to try moderating the Marketing topics once a month. I’m honored to be a part of the #SMChat community and happy to wish #SMChat a happy 3rd birthday! Let’s celebrate by revisiting the very first #SMChat topic from 2009 – Q1 APR-22 “SM Value Proposition” with Chris Jones, aka @sourcepov.
Q1) So what is the value proposition of Social Media today?
Q2) Has Social Media’s value proposition changed from 3 years ago, and if so, how?
Q3) Part of a value proposition is the customer’s belief that they’ll get value-how do you convince them?
Daniel Burstein wrote about using social media to discover why customers buy from you by doing 3 things (notice a 3 theme here?): Listening, Engaging and Responding. That hasn’t changed since the dawn of social media, but…
Q4) Do you think companies are doing more Social Media testing and analysis now?
Paul Cheney listed Social Media as one of 3 profitable traffic sources most marketers are ignoring (yep, another 3…I couldn’t resist). The other two traffic sources that often aren’t being optimized are Referring Sites and Organic Search. Let’s end the chat with some actionable ideas on optimizing traffic.
Q5) How are you tracking and optimizing your social media traffic?
Please leave your comments below wishing #SMChat a happy birthday and letting us know what you would like to see in the years to come!
robzaleski1
April 16, 2012
First of all, happy 3rd! With today’s flash in the pan social blogging, that is a feat to be recognized! One value proposition that I find so many still ignore is the relationship building aspect. Yes, you can’t necessarily quantify that with dollars and cents, but it is so crucial to building a customer base and developing long lasting loyalties. So many businesses (especially those who don’t have the actual time to sink into social) neglect the worth of building that trust though social media, which, in this economy is slightly understandable. But long term, it will pay off.
I also think that over the last three years social has become indispensable, yet overwhelming. For anyone just trying to get into the game now, there are so many dashboards, sites, apps, and newly coined terms that one hardly knows where to begin.
I’ll have a blog post coming up soon about the importance of handling online reviews, a sort of offshoot of social that can’t be neglected either.
Once again, happy 3rd. I’ll have to check some of your previous posts, as I just came across this one!
sharonmostyn
April 17, 2012
Thanks for the birthday wishes, Rob! I completely agree that the relationship building is an often overlooked aspect of social media today and I love your comment that social has become indispensable yet overwhelming. Please let us know when you write your post on the importance of online reviews and we would love to have you join us Wednesday at 1P ET on #SMChat.
robzaleski1
April 17, 2012
Sounds good. I will try to chime in if I can. Noon can be a pretty busy time around here, trying to finish things up before lunch. I’ll watch the hashtag though!
sharonmostyn
April 17, 2012
Thanks to @GeorgeKonetes for sharing the Infographic – Social Media Users 2009 v 2012 http://t.co/RWn5OyiH
It really shows the growth of social media in just 3 short years!
josephruizjr
April 17, 2012
Great topic Sharon and nice set-up with the questions. I think most businesses still fail to realize that most power of social media requires a different mind-set within an organization all too often it’s still primarily a tactic. The chat should generate some interesting conversation.
sharonmostyn
April 17, 2012
I’m looking forward to your insights on how to change that outdated mindset, Joe! Perhaps we should modify Q3 to say part of both a company’s and a consumer’s belief is that they’ll get value – we could discuss the value of developing a strategy that will make both sides happy,
Alasdair Munn (@ajmunn)
April 17, 2012
It has been a great 3 years. Nice framing and great idea to revisit the very first #SMChat topic. It is still so relevant. Joe above is right when he refers to the ‘tactic’ vs. strategic bias that keeps many organizations from realizing a return from their efforts. There is certainly a place for tactics, but when they become the focus, vs. an element of the delivery, the strategic vision, or objectives can take a back seat.
Interestingly I have been revisiting some of my blog posts from 3 years ago as part of an exercise in mapping the progress made between conversations then and conversations now. Some of the landscapes have changed a little, but in reality, much of what was said then, still needs to be said today. The difference is many more people are now willing to listen, or are moving towards the right mindset where they choose to listen.
Looking forward to the chat tomorrow
sharonmostyn
April 17, 2012
It has been a great 3 years Alasdair, and I’m looking forward to many more, especially now that people are starting to listen…and respond/engage accordingly.
sourcepov
April 18, 2012
Wow, so great to see this thread.
Well, of course, there’s always #smchat :)
Thanks again guys for everything you do .. I’ll bring the virtual cake Sharon, if you’ve got the virtual ice cream !? See you tomorrow .. !! errr, today, 1pEDT ..
Chris
sharonmostyn
April 18, 2012
Here is today’s recap (and my first attempt at using Storify):
http://storify.com/sharonmostyn/smchat-s-3rd-birthday-revisiting-social-media-val