More marketers will measure success with conversions than by tallying fans and followers, positive buzz and a variety of other “soft” metrics. Revenues will see a similar surge in interest.

Asked about social media activities with the highest ROI based on older metrics with less of a focus on the bottom line, CMOs were most likely to say they did not know the return from any channel other than their company’s online community. Even Facebook and ratings and reviews, the two top venues with “significant ROI,” failed to win over more than about 15% of respondents.

Amplify’d from www.emarketer.com

eMarketer estimates four out of five US businesses with at least 100 employees will be marketing on social media this year, and US ad spending on social networks is expected to reach over $3 billion. And according to research from Bazaarvoice and The CMO Club, marketers are planning to change the way they measure the effectiveness of those dollars.

See more at www.emarketer.com

Well worth watching, updated stats and insights into the world of doing business.
This hits the nail on the head: "The ROI of social media is that your business will still exist in 5 years" Be relevant, be social!

Amplify’d from socialnomics.net

34% of bloggers post opinions about products & brands

Do you like what they are saying about your brand? You better.

People care more about how their social graph ranks products and services  than how Google ranks them

78% of consumers trust peer recommendations

Only 14% trust advertisements

Only 18% of traditional TV campaigns generate a positive ROI Read more at socialnomics.net

How Social Media will reshape businesses through the power of customers. We might finally be there, that customer service and leadership become personal and individual. Ted Coine is a great writer, too. Look at the start of his blog post... tension building and attention grabbing.

Amplify’d from savvycapitalist.blogspot.com

Sudden change is called an extinction event. Think of the dinosaurs. 65 million years ago, they were everywhere, these lumbering beasts that ruled the land, the sea, and even the air. 64,199,000 years ago (give or take), all we had left were some lizards, some little birds, and a few gators, their cousins. There was nothing gradual or gentle about the end of the dinosaurs at all. They were here, and then an asteroid* smacked into the earth, and then they were gone. Just like that. Extinction events aren't that common, but when they occur, they're scary and exciting, all at once. They're unrelenting. And nothing is the same after the event. Nothing. Social Media is an asteroid. It has struck the earth. 20th-Century businesses... those are the dinosaurs of our time. And their time has come. Read more at savvycapitalist.blogspot.com

A very telling picture how conversation on the Internet on various plattforms change who brands and companies handle the engagement.
Read Brian Solis: "From Community Management to Command Centers"

Amplify’d from www.briansolis.com

See more at www.briansolis.com

Amplify’d from www.briansolis.com

An effective social media plan must address business dynamics and it takes much more than a Facebook and Twitter presence. To keep things simple, social media are transformative…but essentially they’re channels, services, and networks used for intelligence, communication, and visibility.  If we introduced email to the organization today, would it focus solely on marketing or customer service? Of course not. Email is not owned by any one department. It extends the reach, voice, and capabilities of every person from the inside out and the outside in. Read more at www.briansolis.com