Social media, as part of an overall marketing strategy, is only now being taken seriously as a viable marketing opportunity. As with so many recent internet innovations, businesses have lagged behind the curve as social networks have exploded onto the scene. Most businesses have been slow to integrate social media marketing into their overall business strategy. Although companies sense the power of the new medium, they are struggling to find the best way to harness it.
According to recently published data, the social media revolution isn’t coming, it’s here. The Pew Research Center reports that 60% of Americans use some form of social media. With the advent of the smartphone, this new communications device combines social media usage with a new paradigm in how people interact, conduct business transactions and vastly simplify their lives. Yet Thought Leaders are having difficulty in deciphering the actual benefits of social media in terms of return on investment. Rob Ployhart, Professor of USC’s Darla Moore School of Business, believes that one person sharing information on social media is more potent than 50 individuals sharing information in more traditional ways.
Polyhart is convinced that ROI can be determined but requires a radically new approach as to how the new medium is analyzed and mined for valuable data. It contains a wealth of nuggets on issues such as what is hot, and what no longer is? Who are people listening to and what are they saying? The complexity of information can be used in ways that was unimaginable only a few years ago. Polyhart observed that in today’s world, we are all interconnected. The trick is to leverage that interconnectivity in a fashion that offers a significant edge over the competition.
