Jan 25 2013 · 0 comments · Make Me Social, Social Media · 2

See How the Other Half Lives

A recent Adobe Social webinar revealed that less than 50% of companies that are using social track their success, or failure. That’s any success, not just the favorite C-suite question of ‘what’s my ROI?’

The ROI of social is attainable. You can track a multitude of things to generate metrics that add to or directly contribute to a return for social spend. We know that. Marketers (should) know that.

So why isn’t it happening?

1)      Comfort

There’s nothing better than a warm blanket and a fire on a cold, snowy day. And there’s nothing worse than having that blanket pulled away to reveal that you haven’t showered and hadn’t planned to because you certainly aren’t going to leave that comfy spot.

Feb 23 2012 · 0 comments · Community Management, Make Me Social, Mandi Frishman, Social Media · 0

Can You Automate Success? Just Ask Glen.

Is using platforms and plugins to schedule and automate your social media feeds effective? Imagine for a moment that you run a Financial Advisory firm. You hire someone to work for your company. His name is Glen, and you want Glen to generate leads for your business, build relationships, and get people to follow him back to the office for appointments. On Glen’s first day of work, he goes to a busy street corner and places a tape recorder on top of a bench. He then walks into a coffee shop where he can keep an eye on the tape recorder while he reads a book.

People walk down the street, some chatting with friends, some staring down at cell phones, while others rush by silently.  When the clock strikes 9, Glen’s voice suddenly comes out of the tape recorder, “When was the last time you spoke to your Financial Advisor? We’ve got people standing by to talk to you!”

Some of the people walking past pause when they hear the pre-recorded message but none of them stop to look for him.

This is the real life equivalent of setting up an automated social media feed. Scheduled messages come off as impersonal, perhaps even disruptive. They come off as robotic. Technology has yet to take the place of human interaction and nowhere is that more clear than on the Tweet corner (Twitter equivalent of a street corner) with Glen.

Social media is about having conversations and building relationships. It’s about community management and one to one engagement. It’s about having conversations. It’s about getting results and meeting objectives. While companies who promote the technology to automate social media feeds may call it “convenient” or even “a time saver”, what they can’t call it is effective.

And that’s the truth. Just ask Glen.

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When she’s not working as a marketing manager for Make Me Social, Mandi Frishman finds inspiration in old episodes of The Twilight Zone. During her time studying at The University of Florida, Mandi became convinced in the power of learning through play. She has since committed herself to playing (and learning) all day, every day.