Social Networks Part 4: Quantitative ROI

October 6, 2008 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Leave a Comment 

RedShift Social Media-Network Model for Business

RedShift Social Media-Network Model for Business

Businesses across all industries are paying more attention to social networks which are predicted to explode worldwide. Although clearly there’s tremendous opportunity and potential it can be overwhelming to grasp the rapid disruption happening and the voluminous information getting pushed out.

Decision makers need help discerning what’s valuable from what’s hype and in taking a direction that makes sense for them. My goal is to help them do that with a unique 4-stage map that is more strategy than tactics and more visual than wordy.

My posts on stages 1-3 are:

The purpose integral to my model is that businesses of all size increase their natural natural influence by using social networks to expand their social capital, brand awareness and sense response skills and abilities.

The quantifiable return in my model is the sum of actionable metrics that follow the qualitative experiential learning of the earlier phase. Its nearly impossible to assign a dollar figure to every social media action. Its more reasonable to present ROI as a story of the benefits of your social media initiative. What’s most important in the very organic world of social networks, is patiently directing the movement, or progression from one stage to the next and not losing commitment to authentic community relationship-building in the quest for ROI.

I developed this model to support a practical approach to social media with recommendations including:

  • Determine if and how social networks can help you grow your business and/or improve profitability.

  • Accept the disruption resulting from a shift from seller to buyer power.

  • Involve people in the decision making process who will challenge assumptions and habitual responses to change and disruption.

  • Understand that it will take two years to measure returns on integrating social networks, whether external, internal (behind the firewall), or both.

  • Model natural and authentic communications both offline and online and give incentives for participation.

  • Don’t wait, over-plan, over-control, micro-manage or over-analyze. Adopt a test and learn approach to social networks.

  • Be open-minded and creative about results and metrics you choose to track, knowing that you could get an unexpected equivalent result, or something even better.

  • If the above don’t convince you, consider the cost to your business of doing nothing.

Filed under: authenticity, culture, direction, disruption, emergence, enterprise initiatives, expansion, global microbrand, integral, micro-business, networks, personal brand, relationship, social capital, social media, social networks, tribal wisdom
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Social Networks Part 3: Qualitative ROI

October 2, 2008 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Leave a Comment 

Return on Natural Influence - RO(n)L

Return on Natural Influence - RO(n)L

In previous posts I’ve talked about Social Networks: The Pre-requisites, a model for Social Network Community Segmentation, and also Integrating Social Media and Networks (using RedShift as a case study).

Clients, of course, want to understand the ROI, in quantitative metrics, of their investment in social media and networks. That’s understandably important to them.

But its helpful to first understand ROI from a qualitative perspective to ensure that there’s a success path that makes sense and that can be simply and effectively communicated to gain support and participation. If you can’t do that, you could go the wrong way and reach a dead end when you try to quantify the return on your social network investments.

Its important to understand that the link between your investment and the quantifiable return is “indirect”. You need a map to get from one to another.

Three major roads on the RO(n)I map are:

  • Social Capital: shared information, support and strengthened ties that facilitate business actions and inter-actions.
  • Brand Awareness: the cumulative trust-building effect of proving the brand promise, demonstrating the brand message and building the personal/business reputation.
  • Sense Response: unique individual and collective skills and abilities that result from practicing a new way of listening and interacting so that you respond to change before it happens and unmet needs before they’re expressed.

The map may have different signs and paths, depending on your specific business and industry. But having one is critical to avoid getting lost in a failed social network initiative.

Filed under: Natural influence, emergence, global microbrand, personal brand, qualitative research, social capital, social media, social networks, tribal wisdom
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Social Networks Part 2: Integration

October 1, 2008 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Leave a Comment 

Social media integration for solo professionals

Social media integration for solo professionals

I don’t believe in over planning an entre’ into social media and networks. In fact I encourage clients to jump right in and experiment. But even with an experiential approach, I recommend integrating social media and networks by focusing on the value your business provides.

For example, I offer a menu of consulting, coaching and creative programs from which clients can choose. Yet each program is designed and developed to deliver the benefit of natural influence which can show up in many positive ways.

So as I merged social media and networks into the RedShift business and marketing models, I honored my Web 2.0 holon strategy, which means that my unique core value and message stayed central to my relationship and community building social network investment. Even when I’m micro-blogging about a topic that’s seemingly trivial or personal or light-hearted, I’m authentically coming from “that place” and as “that person”.

Integral means: what’s good for my clients is also good for me. After several months of social media experimentation, three specific benefits emerged:

  • Social Capital
  • Brand Awareness
  • Sense Response

I’ll go more deeply into these benefits in my next post: Social media and networks: RO(n)I – Return on Natural Influence

Filed under: Natural influence, disruption, social capital, social media, social networks, tribal wisdom
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Social Networks Part 1: Community Segmentation

September 19, 2008 by Mary Wynne-Wynter · Leave a Comment 

I developed a knowledge zone framework for providing qualitative research products to high growth technology and media companies. It was a valuable approach because it helped clients identify change before it happened. The content they got helped them respond to sudden shifts and threats as well as to imagine future scenarios.

RedShift: Social Network Community Segmentation

RedShift: Social Network Community Segmentation

I’m building upon that framework to help businesses interested in how they’ll integrate social networks into their existing business and marketing strategies and initiatives. These firms are also trying to understand exactly how they will create natural influence with their social network communities through conversation, dialog and collaboration.

In the past it was clear-cut:

  • Get an offer in front of buyers who know what they want and who are ready to buy.
  • Push special offers to buyers who are unsure.
  • Push ads on everyone else, measure response rates, refine.

The temptation of course is to carry over some form of that old approach to social networking. But that will not only fail, it will alienate the community, which can include internal customers (employees) as well as channel partners. As markets move to absolute buyer power, sellers must be attuned to what underlies “latent” need or desire and find ways to communicate and “meet” these different community segments where they are.

Natural influence isn’t selling or advertising. Its exchanging yourself (the seller) with community members at different stages of knowledge, need and desire. Its subtle, indirect and 100% honest and authentic. Since it requires a shift in mindset, an online communication learning curve, and possibly new business models and back-end systems, many will find the change too daunting. If that’s the case, think about the opportunity cost of doing nothing and experiment on a small scale. But do so with commitment and immediacy.

Filed under: authenticity, communcation, expansion, intention, social capital, social networks
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