Bozell is committed to tracking the latest trends in social media. We attend webinars and conferences to keep on the bleeding edge of social media. It is our goal to be ahead of the curve with the benefits and liabilities of social media. I was able to participate in a webinar called “What is Working Now: Making Profits in Social Media.” There were two insights that I received in this presentation.

We all struggle with the measurement of success or return on investment (ROI) in social media. Most executives want to know how many conversations do you need to be a part of before you make a sale? We all intuitively know that that is difficult to measure. I would challenge the same executives to quantify the relationship and goodwill developed over a round of golf with partners, prospects, influencers and customers. You are building important relationships and participating in dialogue as you walk along a beautiful green, empathizing with that terrible shot and rejoicing that Tiger Woods moment. In social media, you are doing the same as a golf game, developing dialogue, experiencing events and building relationships but in the online world.

The second gem was the classification of audiences in social media. It puts into perspective the different social media audiences:

• Spectators – Read, watch and listen to conversations in the online world.
• Creators – Participate in the conversation by writing articles and blogs. Create content in videos, podcasts and blogs. They publish lists and directories of relevant products, services and companies.
• Critics – Provide comments, rate content and provide reviews.
• Collectors – Tag information, subscribe to feeds and vote on their favorite articles, videos, podcasts and photos.
• Joiners – Participate in social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn. They participate in demographic and interest specific social networking sites.

Effective social media campaigns can target one or more of the social media audiences. It is knowing how and when to communicate best with your target audience.