One of the major hurdles to investing in social media has been lingering skepticism about what kind of payoff companies actually get from conversational marketing. A study released Monday says the return on investment is worth it, drawing a link between a brand’s social media efforts and revenue growth. In fact, the new research from social media platform Wetpaint and digital consulting firm Altimeter Group found that companies with the highest levels of social media activity on average increased revenues by 18% in the last 12 months, while the least active saw sales drop 6% over that period. Among the top 100 brands reviewed, Starbucks came out on top, followed by Dell, eBay, Google and Microsoft. Companies were scored based on the level of interaction across 10 social media channels including blogs, Facebook, Twitter and wikis. Among Starbucks’ most prominent social media efforts was last year's launch of MyStarbucksidea.com, a community site that allows users to submit, comment on and vote on their favourite ideas for improving the company.
Source: OnlineMediaDaily