Where Making Money and Social Media Meet

Sep 03, 12 | 12:05 am

By Julie Rains

Can social media deliver ROI? Businesses that specialize in social campaigns and marketing agencies that orchestrate campaigns as a complement to branding, Website design and related services say, “Yes!”

Global brands and small businesses alike can derive measurable benefits from promotions, coupons, sweepstakes and giveaways. But when you're considering a provider, look closely at the case studies to learn how ROI is defined. In the social media realm, return on investment can reference:

• Growth in audience members, such as Facebook fans and Twitter followers
• Higher engagement of fan base with your digital presence, indicated by comments, retweets, shares and other interactions
• The generation of sales leads, often defined as e-mail subscribers who have created a profile and allow relevant, permission-based communications
• An increase in traffic
• Sales through coupon redemption at traditional stores and links to e-commerce sites

According to a team member of Wildfire Interactive, a software-as-a-service company with a social-marketing platform, businesses get results in three steps: By growing their fan base, engaging fans with their brand, and finally monetizing on their fan relationships.

When choosing to create and manage a social-media marketing campaign, there are several options to consider. Here are five.

Wildfire Interactive. Wildfire Interactive offers online tools (as well as social media strategists for subscription-based clients) that enable businesses to design, deliver and manage campaigns. Capabilities include analytics that allow you to assess campaign performance, evaluate social behavior of fans and gather market intelligence. As a result, you can tweak campaigns in progress to get better results and create more relevant messages.

Acquired by Google in August 2012, Wildfire boasts that it serves 30 of the top 50 global brands, including Facebook. However, its promotional services are affordable for small and medium-sized businesses. Prices start at $5 (flat fee for each promotion) plus a per-day charge of 99 cents.

Constant Contact. Constant Contact is known for its e-mail marketing platform but also offers a social-media component among its services. The company provides capabilities to small-business owners that enable them to manage a database of customer e-mail addresses; create and distribute permission-based e-mail newsletters; send targeted messaging to customer segments; and track results.

Its social media product allows small businesses to run campaigns that attract fans and followers. Crossover tools equip you to promote Facebook pages to e-mail subscribers and facilitate customer sharing of e-mails through social media.

A social marketing campaign is free for first-timers and those with fewer than 100 fans. When (and if) the fan base grows, tiered pricing starts at $29.95 monthly.

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