Do Social Networks Drive Online Revenues?
November 25th, 2008 by Bob Bly
No, according to an article in DM News (11/24/08, p. 7), which cited a survey in which social networks were the least effective way to educate consumers about online bargains.
From most to least effective online selling tool according to the 1,000 adults surveyed: e-mail marketing (45%), friends forwarding a link (16.5%), onsite messages (16%), banner ads (10%), onsite shopper comments (9%), and — last and least — social networking, a mere 3%.
Hardly supports the assertions of social media gurus and evangelists that web sites and e-mails are irrelevant in today’s market, does it?
This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 25th, 2008 at 5:17 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
November 25th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
“The List” holds the power.
I think these survey results cement in my mind that I should be building and working my list of prospects… and customers, much harder and with more gusto than I am moving into the Social Networking arena.
The ROI speaks for itself.
I am off to continue building my list….
Fiona Fell - The Profit Maximsing Web Geek
http://www.FionaFell.com.au
November 25th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
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November 25th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
[…] unknown wrote an interesting post today onDo Social Networks Drive Online Revenues? - bly.com blog - bly.com …Here’s a quick excerptFrom most to least effective online selling tool according to the 1000 adults surveyed: e-mail marketing (45%), friends forwarding a link (16.5%), onsite messages (16%), banner ads (10%), onsite shopper comments (9%), and — last and … […]
November 25th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
[…] unknown wrote an interesting post today onDo Social Networks Drive Online Revenues? - bly.com blog - bly.com …Here’s a quick excerptFrom most to least effective online selling tool according to the 1000 adults surveyed: e-mail marketing (45%), friends forwarding a link (16.5%), onsite messages (16%), banner ads (10%), onsite shopper comments (9%), and — last and … […]
November 26th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Bob,
I would never advocate using social networking to drive sales.
However, companies that ignore social media do so at their peril.
I ended up NOT buying a stove precisely because of the feedback I read about a particular brand.
Maybe social media isn’t driving sales but it certainly is INFLUENCING them. DMNews got it all wrong.
November 26th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Dianna: If it is an error to ignore social networking, but social media isn’t driving sales, than how can I use it to influence consumers favorably? Any suggestions? Maybe you can write and post an article on that at your blog.
November 26th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
[…] Do Social Networks Drive Online Revenues?… […]
November 26th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Bob, I’ve already written the articles, one of which features you and this blog!
Here is the article about my stove: http://www.dhcommunications.com/free/mcn051608.htm
Here is the article about your blog and Harry’s Orchards: http://www.dhcommunications.com/free/mcn110207.htm
(Did you know your post is now #3 for the search phrase “Harrys Orchards”?)
Here is my latest blog post about the MotrinMoms meltdown on Twitter: http://marcom-writer-blog.com/?p=290
And here is one about Rubicon’s latest report on social media: http://marcom-writer-blog.com/?p=287
December 1st, 2008 at 8:28 am
DH: This begs the question: of what benefit is it to me that I am #3 for Harry’s Orchard? I can discern no direct gain as a result of this.
December 1st, 2008 at 10:30 am
Bob,
It is of no benefit to you. But your post can *influence* someone to NOT BUY from Harry’s.
Thus, it would really behoove Harry’s to monitor what people are saying about them on the Internet and respond to your post that they do NOT offer a guarantee.
Go visit their Website. They don’t even explain it there, either.
December 2nd, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Call me a bit dense but is social networking on the web, the likes of Facebook, Myspace, linkedin etc or is everyone discussing postings on bulletin boards on Yahoo or Google?
I have never seen reviews of products, stores, people, merchandise on linkedin or Facebook.
We do a lot of web optimizing, some paid search, and a bit of blogging to hep promote our web based company http://clecontactlenses.com.
I come here for the great ideas, to get some feedback, as well as to share what information and experience I may have and at some point we will look for professional copyrighting help to help update our site.
December 4th, 2008 at 2:30 am
I guess I’m late to the party. My brother Dennis and I are here to try and learn from the master. We are currently - living this blog post as we try our hand at building http://clecontactlenses.com by getting active on digg, propeller, reddit, twitter as well as other “social networking” sites. Jury is still out as to how effective our time spent has been. What I can say is that we have significantly improved the sites position ranking on alexa in the last few weeks by our teams efforts. Keep the faith !
December 5th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
I too am involved in the project of getting our blog and sites noticed. I’ve spent an enormous amount of time in the past few months on these sites and hope these efforts will pan out.
December 10th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
I would have to agree with the point about “online Sales”…
… but I would have to point out that Social Media Marketing presents the easiest and fastest way to rank high in Search Engines which for keywords that would take a very long time for a new site which…
1. Generates Traffic Like Crazy To Social Page
2. If Properly Set up With Links Will Drive People Back To Your $$ Site
3. Builds Your Brand By Showing Your Expertize
Social Marketing is just a way to “Drive Traffic” back to a site where sales can be generated!
To me Social Marketing is the Middleman not the actual $$ Maker!
Maybe I am misunderstanding the point here…
Either way, Love The Blog and Convo’s being had daily…
Thanks
December 14th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Just like any marketing strategy, you want to have a good “MIX” so that you don’t leave anybody out. I have personally signed up and wrote about my service on 75 different social networks.
Of course it’s not my ONLY marketing strategy but one that I have seen bring me a ton of business. I recommend using it, not because some “guru” out there told you to but because I have personally seen it work.
December 22nd, 2008 at 5:44 pm
We’ve tried this tactic and it’s still too early to tell. You can build traffic with this method, but does it translate into sales?
January 2nd, 2009 at 9:28 pm
Morgan, I have seen this work very well if the social network sites you sign up for all have your keywords in them. This way the traffic is targeted.
Not all social media sites are created equal but there certainly are hundreds of them out there to choose from. Make sure to design your site around your keywords and give good information then join a few groups in that network. This takes some work but if you do what was mentioned above and only do one a week you will see huge results.
January 2nd, 2009 at 9:31 pm
I forgot to mention that you should periodically go back and make minor changes so it doesn’t look like a spam blog or anything. But then again if you give good info, you have nothing to worry about.
January 29th, 2009 at 11:33 am
I think that many organizations are missing the real opportunity here. Companies can generate real revenue if they take advantage of their inherent market position. Everyone organization should try to answer these five questions:
Do you act as a broker of goods or services?
Do you provide content or advice to a significant percentage of a specific industry or consumer segment?
Are you facing new competitors who generate revenue by aggregating audience around your content or by providing meta-content?
Do you have data or knowledge within your organization that is obscure to your clients?
Do you serve an audience that is highly fragmented?
If the answer is yes, then they have a real revenue opportunity. I have written a lot more about this in my blog. Check it out. http://edgewatertech.wordpress.com/2009/01/23/generating-revenue-through-social-networks-part-i/
June 19th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
bit dense but is social networking on the web, the likes of Facebook, Myspace, linkedin etc or is everyone discussing postings on bulletin boards on Yahoo or Google?
I have never seen reviews of products, stores, people, merchandise on linkedin or face