Article Directory

From eMarketer: It’s no secret that online marketers care about measurability. Six in 10 respondents to Datran Media’s “4th Annual Marketing & Media Survey” said measuring and understanding their audience was a priority, and more than 87% said accurate online audience measurement was at least somewhat important for driving increased brand awareness, revenues or performance. Bringing hard metrics to the realm of social media remains a challenge, however, with marketers worldwide in disagreement over whether 2010 will be the year they see quantifiable results from their efforts. Just over one-half think they will, but nearly four in 10 are unsure. “For the few marketers who do attempt to apply quantitative measures to their social marketing efforts, the metrics they use are not terribly sophisticated,” noted eMarketer CEO and co-founder Geoff Ramsey in the eMarketer Insight Brief “Seven Guidelines for Achieving Social Media ROI.” “Most marketers today do not invest sufficient time, effort or money on social media measurement.” The leading metrics used to measure social success focus on increased site traffic, which can be an important barometer of consumer interest for a brand but on its own it cannot justify heavier investment in social media. Quantifiable Social Media Results This is why social media is nothing more than just another broadcast channel albeit a new and as yet unmeasured one. If I were in the social media business, I would be doing everything in my power to keep social media from being measured – that’s right keep it from being measured. Why? Because once its performance gets measured particularly against its online competitive advertising alternatives, social media’s value as a whole will plummet – at least to those who had invested money in it.

Excerpt from:
Quantifiable Social Media Results?

I have been thinking about Twitter a lot lately and after a great deal of consideration, I have concluded its just another push (broadcast) channel. Not only is it a push channel, its an uphill model to boot (your work effectively perishes upon production). Yippee! Two of the things I love to do most combined into one 1). push things 2). uphill. That’s the best case scenario and as with all best case scenarios they are few and far between! If you have 10,000 or more listeners and are bolting Twitter onto existing channels to pick up what fell through the cracks otherwise, maybe the Tweeting process could pass a cost benefit analysis. I doubt it does though for 99.99% of Twitter users though. Yeah Tweeting doesn’t cost anything but unless you give your time away for free – Tweeting has costs. Twitter is at best just another albeit new broadcast medium for those who have more than just a handful of followers in their audience. The reality is much further from the truth for the majority of Twitter accounts. I recently read the majority of Twitter accounts have under 100 followers. Thus for the majority of Tweeters, Twitter is a narrowcasting medium if that. Skinny messages broadcast to an even skinnier audience. Most Twitter users would be better off taking their SkinnyCast down to their nearest intersection and shouting it at every car that went by. Only there and then would the majority of Twitter users likely reach a larger more active audience than they are now currently with their Twitter accounts.

Original post:
Twitter: Home Of The SkinnyCast – Just Another Push (Broadcast) Channel