Ryan Ruud

A recent report published by Business Insider noted that in terms of advertising, Twitter beat up on networking behemoth, Facebook. The report outlined that on a revenue per impression basis, Twitter was far out pacing Facebook. The article credited the instream presence of ads on Twitter versus the traditional display ad currently implemented by Facebook. The data seems to be clearly based on a CPC model for billing translated into a RPM (Revenue Per Impression) correlation. Sure, CPC is a primary ad model employed by marketers today but it’s only piece of the online marketing equation.

Performance marketing is definitely a buzzword and a lot of marketers clamor for action oriented ad models lick CPC or CPA but you’d be hard pressed to not find an industry where “awareness” is not still a part of the marketing mix and sales funnel. For that objective, marketers will always seek the cheapest CPM and with online marketing, the demographic targeting coupled with a lower cost is why you see a shift in adspend from traditional tactics to online tactics. That shift means there is still plenty of adspend that less mature networks can capture with a CPM model in early stages.

Ultimately the click through rate doesn’t mean much unless it results in an intended conversion for the marketer who bought the media in the first place. The Twitter data mentioned in the Business Insider report would be interesting to see with a conversion rate on the end of the metric. A network can have more people clicking through, but if they aren’t taking the intended action, the traffic is trash. On the contrary, a low click through rate that was targeted appropriately and has a higher conversion is better, more qualified traffic. Click through rate isn’t enough to base a decision on for the marketer anyway, sure, it’s a starting point, but 30 days later it really matters what conversion numbers look like. 

The real question that less mature  networks or publishers need to answer is what’s the size of their universe? A CPC ad model is effective only when networks have a critical mass of users and traffic on their platform/publisher site to ensure enough click throughs to generate substantial revenue. This is why you often see smaller, niche publishers employing a CPM model because the known variable they can bank on is the size of their user/reader base. As networks mature, adding CPC models to a base offering of CPM is a natural evolution.And at the end of the day, it’s up to the marketer to decide where the value lies.

So the time has come. You or your organization has finally decided to bite the bullet and wade into the world of social media. But where do you even start? Simple answer; define your objective(s). But how do I do that? Let’s start at the beginning.

Social media objectives should align with business objectives. Most of these usually revolve around an element of one or more of the following: awareness, sales or intelligence.

Whether enlisting social media for marketing or public relations (although the line is incredibly blurred, I prefer a hybrid of both called Opportunity Marketing) the nature of social media allows you to tie business objectives to your social media activities so you can make a measurable impact that can be reviewed and impacted in the future.

Establishing Social Media Objectives When Awareness Is A Business Goal

If awareness is key, then your social media objectives revolve around any combination of the following. Share of voice, thought leadership or reach. At the heart of this is content so blogging and an editorial approach is best. Your social media objective is to establish a following at the simplest level. Over time your objectives can be to make the needle move on share of voice, thought leadership and reach. Thought leadership and reach can almost be interchangeable but the metric is somehow tied to seeing 1.) how far your perspective travels and 2.) if people come to you seeking your perspective. This can be in the form of back links or interview requests.

Establishing Social Media Objectives When Sales Are A Business Goal

This one is fairly self-explanatory. If sales are a goal then your social media objective is to create as much potential to generate leads or close sales. This can be as simple as posting coupons on Facebook and tracking redemption in store or as complicated as setting up back end Google analytics that tracks conversions by traffic source.

Establishing Social Media Objectives When Intelligence Is A Business Goal

The beauty of social media is that it allows any business, no matter how big or small, to keep a finger on the pulse of “what’s going on.” That’s a loaded phrase that can mean something as simple as monitoring what’s being said about your brand to identifying potential crisis or industry trends that can impact your bottom-line.

Just Start

The key is to not over-think it. It’s important to think about it, but make a decision and start going. Social media is a fluid, living and dynamic tool in your organizations marketing and communications arsenal intended to adapt to your needs over time. Don’t be slave to any one strategy.