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ByTimBradshawPublished:March30201119:48|Lastupdated:March30201119:48

Missioncontrol:PepsiCosglass-walledoffice,wherestaffmonitorsocialmediaactivityonGatorade,itssportsdrink

Inaglassboxinthemiddleofa marketingdepartment,fivepeoplearestaringatahugebankofscreensshowingaconstantlyupdatedriveroftweets,likes,praiseanddamnationfromconsumersofGatorade,thecompanyssportsdrink.

Doingitinaglassroommeanseverysinglepersoninthemarketing organisationisseeingtheinsightsbroughttolifeinrealtime.Itremindsthemhowimportantitistoknowtheheartbeatoftheconsumer,saysBoninBough,globaldirectorofdigitalandsocialmediaatPepsiCo.Ireallyfeellikeitisthefutureof marketing.

Asimilarscenarioisplayingoutinmarketingdepartmentsaroundtheworld.AsurveyofmembersoftheWorldFederationofAdvertisers,agroupingofmultinationalbrands,byMillwardBrownfoundthat96percentwerespendingmoreoftheirbudgetsmanagingFacebookpages,Twitteraccountsandothersocialmedia,racingtoaccruefans,retweetsandthatelusivebutubiquitousquality:engagement.

However,theresearchalsofoundthatfewknewwhytheyweredoingit halfwereunsureofthereturnstheyweregettingfromtheirefforts,whilemorethanaquarterfoundthepaybackwasjustaverageorpoor.

Itisonlyoneindicationthatadvertise rsattitudestowardssocialmediamightbeshifting.BrandsarestillflockingtoFacebookanditsshareofdisplayadvertisingspendingisrisingfastbutfinancedirectorsarequestioningthevalueofaccruingthousandsoffansandfollowers.Unlikesearch-engineadvertising,wherecalculatingthenetgainorlossfromeachclickisrelativelystraightforward,demonstratingthereturnoninvestmentofmanysocialmediacampaignsisprovingachallenge.

Thehypevesselisatfullthrottle,andlargelywithoutarudder,saysMichaelMaoz,ananalystatGartner,theresearchcompany.Socialmediaislikethesurgeonsscalpel avaluabletoolintherighthandsbutpotentiallydangerous.

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SocialmediagainedgroundrapidlyinthepastfewyearsdueinparttotheshiftinconsumerbehavioursocialnetworkingisnowthemostpopularonlineactivityintheUK,aheadofsearchorentertainment,whileFacebookovertook tobethemostpopularsiteintheUSlastyear.

Ithasalsocapturedtheimaginationofmarketersbecauseithasbeenseenascheap.NowthatmarketingbudgetsarerisingagainadvertisingspendingintheUK,forexample,rose6.9percentin2010,accordingtotheAdvertisingAssociationmoremoneyisbeingpouredin.

Itisnothardtofindexamplesofsocialmediahavingapositiveimpactonabrand. ,thecoffeechain,saysitboostedUKsalesofChristmasdrinksby15percentlastyearbyinvitingitsFacebookfanstochooseseasonalflavours.

ButtheStarbucksexamplealsorevealsthatitisnothavinglotsofFacebookfriendsthatcountsitiswhatcompaniesdowiththemandhowtheyengagethemthatcantranslateintoincreasedsales.

Tobecompletelyupfrontaboutit:thereisnoROIforanysocialmediaprogramme,saysJamesWhatley,marketingdirectorat1000heads,thesocialmediaagency.However,there isdefinitelyprovableROIforsocialmedia

programmesthataresetuptodosomething.Itsallaboutsettingaclearobjective.

ManybrandsareshiftingtheironlinepresencetoFacebookfanpages,inspiteoflingeringuncertaintyaroundhowbesttomakemoneyfromthemandtheconsequentdeclineintraffictotheirowncorporatewebsites.AstudybyWebtrends,anonlineanalyticscompany,foundthat68oftheFortune100companiessawayear-on-yeardropinNovember2010.Onaverage,thecompaniessawa23percentdropintraffic,withthosethatdidnotofferonlinepurchasingortransactionsseeingthebiggestdrop.

Forsome,thedropwasextreme:59percentforGeneralMotors,57percentforJohnson&Johnson,33percentforGeneralElectricand28percentforProcter&Gamble,accordingtoCompete.com,whichtracksonlinetraffic.

Forsome,theslackismorethanmadeupforbyFacebook:Coca-Colarecordsatleast10timesasmuchtraffictoitsFacebookpagecomparedwithitsownwebsite.

Thisshiftislikelytobebeneficialforthelikesofabeveragegroup,inthatitisbetterabletoremindfansoftheirfavouritedrinkthroughasocialnetworkthanthroughsearchengines.

Butforonlineretailers,travelcompaniesandothertransactionalsites,searchremainsmoreeffectivethansocialnetworks.

FiguresfromExperianHitwiseintheUKshowthatsocialnetworkssentonly16percentoftheirtraffictosuchsites,whilesearchenginessent33percentoftheiruserstoonlineshops.

AttemptstopinadollarvalueonaFacebookfanhavelargelybeenabandonedbecauseitvariesdependingonwhetherthebrandspageistryingtosellcoffee,carsorsimplycreateacommunitytomonitorforcomplaintsan dfeedback.Estimatessuggest10-15percentofFacebookpostsareseenbytheirintendedrecipientsandclick-throughratesarelittlebetterthanfortraditionalbanneradvertisements fractionsofapercentagepoint.

MrBoughtalksaboutsocialmediabeingusefulfordrivingexperiencesforconsumers,suchasgettingfansof

MountainDew,thesoftdrink,tosuggestnewflavoursandpackagingdesign.Itsabouttheexperienceyouarecreatingthatreachesthepassionofyourconsumers,hesays.Digitalistodayslanguage.Nowmorethanever,thisprovidestheopportunitytocreatedeeperrelationshipswithconsumersthanwewereeverabletobefore...Itsnotexperimentationforexperimentationsakeordigitalfordigitalssake.

HepointstotheGatoradeMissionControlroom.Eachofitsfiveoperativesrepresentsadifferentpartofthecompany,suchasbranding,PRandcustomerservice,whichmeansrelevantcommentsarefedbacktotherightpartofthecompany.Thisisthelargestunaidedfocusgroupyoucouldeveraskfor,hesays.

Othercompanies,meanwhile,areyieldingresultswithlesseffort.ArecentrankingofsocialbrandsbyYomego,asocialmediaagency,putApplewhichmakesnoefforttomaintainapresenceonFacebookorTwitter insecondplace,findingithadthehighestsatisfactionscoreonthelist.

http://markets.ft.com/tearsheets/performance.asp?s=us:GOOGhttp://markets.ft.com/tearsheets/performance.asp?s=us:GOOGhttp://markets.ft.com/tearsheets/performance.asp?s=us:SBUXhttp://markets.ft.com/tearsheets/performance.asp?s=us:SBUXhttp://markets.ft.com/tearsheets/performance.asp?s=us:SBUXhttp://markets.ft.com/tearsheets/performance.asp?s=us:GOOG

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Therealvalueofsocialmediacomesnotwhenitisruninisolationbyacrackteamofsupergeeksbutwhenitformspartofalargerstrategy,withbroadergoalsthanjustfansandconsumerengagement.

AccordingtoAnkurShah,co-founderofTechlightenment,asocialmediaagencyandtechnologyprovider,companiesthatrunsearchengineadvertisinginparallelwithsocialmediacampaignsaremorecost-effectivethansocialmediaonitsown.HiscompanyisdevelopingatooltotrackhowanewsfeeditempropagatesthroughFacebookbytellinganadvertiserwhenafriendofafriendbuyssomethingbasedonitsadvertising.

MrShahadmitsitisstillearlydaysforsuchtechnology. Atthemoment,puttingthatfigurewhatexactlyisthevalue

ofa[Facebook]fanistricky,itsvagueanditsfluffy,hesays.Ifabrandtriestorationaliseit,theywillgetintroublebecausethoseattributionmodelsarenotdevelopedyet.

BrendanTansey,UKchiefexecutiveofWunderman,adirectmarketingagency,believesthewiderangeofusesforsocialmediaexemptsitfromtheusualonlinemeasuresofmarketingsuccess.TraditionalonlineROIhasalwaysbeenfocusedontheclicktoconversionasthisiswhatonlineadvertisingand[payperclick]canachieve,hesays.However,socialmediaofferamuchbroadermixofonlineconsumerinteraction.SocialmediaROI,specificallythereturn,shouldthereforenotbefocusedontheconversi onalone.

Otheradvertisingexpertsarenotsurethatisenough.Youarelookingforthebigeword engagementandwhatthatdoes,butalsopurchasingorsigninguptobepartofaloyaltyschemeorwhateverithappenstobe,saysDavidKershaw,chiefexecutiveofM&CSaatchi,theadvertisingagency.Onewantsabitofmarriageratherthanjust

engagement.

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