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From Radian6 - Real calculations and measurements to calculate social media ROI - The ability to distinguish your brand as a pro in social media ROI - Real social media success stories and the ROI of each one - Social media metrics for different professionals - PR, Customer Service, Marketers and more Guide saved in Trendspotting-Industry Trends-Social-Guides/

The over-saturation of advertising, and an ever-increasing distrust of ads has led to a decline in the effectiveness of paid media. Conversely, earned media is gaining ground. Check out this whitepaper from Zuberance, previously offered last month, to see why earned media is so powerful and to learn how you can put it to use for your brand. In this report, you will learn: 1. Earned media is the most trusted and credible form on content for a brand 2. Social media has amplified the sheer quantity and reach of earned media 3. Conversion rates are higher and ROI is larger 4. Earned media lasts 5. Earned media is measurable

Hybris North America President Steven Kramer said: While social media channels can be valuable awareness-generating vehicles for retailers, they are not currently preferred options for consumers when it comes to purchasing, with consumers visiting retailers' social media sites to gather information that they will then oftentimes use to complete a purchase via another channel. Consumers continue to want information when they want it, where they want it, and how they want it, but when it comes to actually making a purchase, social media is not a preferred or trusted choice. This demonstrates the importance of retailers having a cohesive, cross-channel marketing and commerce strategy, with social media just a piece of the overall multichannel puzzle.

Almost 60 percent of people worldwide say they expect brands to respond to social media comments regarding service at least most of the time. Nearly 60 percent of people globally have posted either a positive or negative social media comment about a brand regarding a service experience, said Arnold. Nearly three quarters (74 percent) of the respondents from China stated that they have posted comments regarding a service experience with a brand. Brazilian respondents were just behind China with 68 percent. U.S. and U.K. respondents both fell in with less than half saying they posted comments to social media platforms at 48 percent and 45 percent respectively.

Only 1 in 3 shoppers visit brand websites nowadays, compared to 3 in 4 visiting retailer websites.*63% of shoppers visit a retailer's or brand's website to make a purchase compared with just 6% through social media.*The main reason for shoppers wanting to reach out to and connect with a company through social media is to find out something new (32%). They were equally as likely to want brand/retailers to connect with them (23%) as they were to want brand/retailers to sell to them (24%). Interestingly 12% also wanted the brands/retailers to help them have more fun.*Just over a third (38%) of 16-24 year olds admitted to already following brands/retailers on social media. This figure reduces as the age groups climb in number to: 29% of 25-34 year olds, 18% of 35-44 year olds, 8% of 45-54 year olds and respondents aged 55+ years said they weren't following any. 56% of the 55+ age group added that they just didn't see the point in doing it.

"According to the recent BIA/Kelsey forecast, U.S. social media ad revenues will reach $9.2 billion in 2016, up from $4.6 billion in 2012, representing a compound annual growth rate of 19.2 percent. According to the U.S. Local Media Forecast, the local segment of U.S. social media advertising revenues will grow from $1.1 billion in 2012 to $3 billion in 2016 (CAGR: 28 percent)."

"Not surprisingly, social media are a major force behind the trend, as advertisers seek creative ways to engage with consumers  and harness the energy surrounding major televised events, like this year's Olympics.  The real-time ads arrive at a time when social media are playing a newly prominent role in the Games. In 2008, Twitter was still in its infancy; now virtually every high-profile American athlete has an active account on the microblogging site, and by the time they're over, the Games of the XXX Olympiad are expected to have become the most tweeted-about event in history. In order for advertisers to stay timely and relevant, "our content needs to move at the speed of social media," says Kevin Burke, head of global consumer marketing at Visa."

Interacting with social media while watching TV drives a 9% increase in program engagement. Viewers accessed social media an average four times during a half-hour program, for a cumulative 26% boost in program engagement.

The Complete Social Media Sizing Cheat Sheet [INFOGRAPHIC]

Bad social media campaigns

Nice stats on social influence on purchase decisions

Social media monitoring firm Meltwater is circulating an infographic on who will win the key categories in Sunday night's Grammy Awards based on what's being said around the social media water cooler.

"How can brands do a better job of fostering these relationships so that they're at the forefront of consumer's minds? 1. Develop a great product. Not to resuscitate the Mac vs. PC argument, but there's a reason many people aren't hesitant to recommend their MacBook or iPhone to a friend. 2. Facilitate social sharing. Brands need to be engaged with consumers via social media, and brands need product sites and marketing programs that facilitate seamless social sharing. 3. Create sampling programs to reach digital consumers. Many influential digital consumers are eager to discuss their love of specific products and brands. Marketers need to reach and engage them in innovative ways, such as via sampling programs, contests, coupons. 4. Get game. Brand can introduce game element through badges, achievements, and prizes to turn their consumers to brand ambassadors and engage them in a fun way."

"A new report confirms the significant and growing influence of the Internet and social media in the shopping decisions of U.S. moms. In preparing to go shopping, mothers are 43% more likely to go online to gather coupons and 38% more likely to look at store Web sites than food shoppers as a whole, according to Packaged Facts' "Moms as Food Shoppers: Grocery Store and Supercenter Patterns and Trends" report.  Further, moms are nearly twice as likely as food shoppers overall to have used social media to plan their most recent grocery shopping trip (20% versus 11%). And in addition to consulting blogs prior to shopping, they are increasingly using mobile apps to ensure that they're getting the best deals while shopping. "

"The brand identified company-created and fan-created accounts. The results of that first audit: 232 Facebook pages, along with roughly 100 YouTube channels and 30 Twitter accounts. A case was made for why individual markets would gain fans and views if they eliminated local accounts in favor of global Reebok accounts. Some markets were hesitant. To get them onboard, Mr. Bahl allowed test posts on the global Facebook page and illustrated how related-video recommendations can juice views on YouTube. Markets such as Hong Kong quickly realized their customers were already gravitating toward global accounts. Some local accounts, like India's Facebook page, with nearly 1.8 million fans, remain in place. Reebok whittled its overall social presence by roughly half in that first audit as it rolled up the majority of company-created accounts to focus on three Facebook pages, two Twitter accounts and one YouTube channel. It left fan-created content untouched. The brand also established a broader communications strategy, defining who could use trademarks to create accounts and for what purpose. A second audit is now taking place, with the goal of further streamlining Reebok's social-media presence by the end of the year -- just in time for 2013 product launches."

The survey found that social media "disproportionately impacts the viewing behaviors of younger consumers" - nearly one-quarter (24%) of 18-34 year old viewers and 30% of 15-17 year olds have started watching a show on TV "because of something they saw online or through social media," compared to 16% of all adults surveyed. Another 19% of the 18-34 year olds say social media helps remind them to tune into a TV show. That number jumps to 28% for 15-17 year olds.

This is crazy, they've turned their social media presence into a place for sponsors to advertise?

1. THE POWER OF METAPHORS. 2. GOOGLE+ IS A PURPOSE-BUILT ANNEX, NOT NEW CONSTRUCTION. 3. GOOGLE+ IS A CHANCE FOR A SOCIAL-MEDIA DO-OVER. 4. FACEBOOK RAGE. 5. THE SOCIAL-MEDIA PORTABILITY PROBLEM IS OVERBLOWN.