While there are hundreds of ways to calculate the ROI of social media, the general consensus is that Twitter and Facebook are worthwhile tools that can add a lot of value to your marketing campaign. Of course, the value of social media depends on how well you execute it.
Fortunately, a few big brands have already blazed trails in the digital marketing world. We spoke to social media and marketing experts at MTV, American Express, Xbox, NBA and AT&T to get the scoop on how they learned to hit the mark.
Have some other lessons that helped you achieve digital marketing success? Let us know in the comments.
1. Be Human
"Nailing a tone that resonates with your audience is of paramount importance," says Tom Fishman, manager of social media and community at MTV. The goal at MTV, he says, is "to sound human and conversational and not be the voice of some corporate overlord." To that end, tweets are often written in the first person ("we" and "I") to convey that there are “hearts and faces” behind the screen. Resonating with a particular audience is especially important because MTV has 70 Facebook Pages, covering everything from Daria to Jersey Shore — MTV’s social media crew has to speak in a way that feels comfortable with each audience.
At Xbox, there are 15 people on the Xbox Tweet Fleet, all of whom tweet with their own personalities and "create a collective voice" by being passionate. Each tweeter signs off with his initials so the consumer knows who tweeted at them (American Express also does this). Adds Jerry Ka nsky, manager of the Tweet Fleet, "We are the...
