Is Social Media a Water Cooler or Lemonade Stand?
I’ve been kicking around this concept while preparing for an upcoming Social Media presentation. I often hear Social Media described as an “office water cooler” where the free exchange of information benefits all those involved. As a frequent participant I have personally gained from lively exchanges with others and am a big supporter of Social Media outlets. Those whose make their living on the success of Social Media tout its ability, if not necessity, to reach new B2B customers, but does it?
Most businesses would rather have a “lemonade stand” where potential B2B customers can visit, talk AND engage the vendor. Somebody has to pay for the refreshments. What I have not seen discussed much by the Social Media folks is the business case for using these methods. The Return On Marketing Investment (ROMI) seems to default back to the same tired metrics of “112 new twitter followers, 45 whitepaper downloads, etc.” I have yet to see Social Media map to business revenue in a meaningful way.
Social Media seems to be falling into the Branding form of media; something we need but is very hard to measure. Any REAL ROI cases out there that show Social Media as a B2B Lead Generation tool versus being just a “free water cooler” with a stack of twitter followers?
I like the lemonade stand metaphor!
My experience is that consultants/freelancers have success in engaging, and later helping for $$, target folks.
I just hired a real estate salesperson via Facebook.
My web developer gets business by supporting others using the same CMS as he uses.
I may hire an SEO guy based on my blog and Twitter relationship.
These are all the basics of networking, social media just made them much easier to facilitate.
Dave,
I hired a sales guy from Craigslist.
You’re right about consultants/freelancers using the technology as a primary go to source for getting help. The concept works best for business when the folks using Social Media have the ability, and authority, to take action.
Dale
I believe social media will be an importnat tool for businesses to use in their marketing mix and i wouldn;t be surprised if it is used in filling the top of the sales funnel when it comes to b2b lad generation. However, the leads will still need to be nurtured and closed by sales folks.