Social Media Experts Admit No Proven Social Media Strategy Currently Exists
According to social media experts, who discussed the subject at last week's nma Live on social media strategy, brands have yet to prove a definitive social media strategy that is directly connected to sales.
O2's Head of Social Media, Alex Pearmain, commented: "Whatever people tell you, there is no definitive case study for social media. We couldn't tell you how every Like or comment increases sales or helps to up sell a customer to buy broadband. We don't have that model yet and no one does."
Chris Buckley, Director of Lawton Communications which owns social branding agency Headstream, acknowledged that brands are still having issues with social media because few brands are naturally suited to the medium in terms of being social and conversational.
Facebook's Head of Business Solutions in the UK, David Parfect, further explained that a key issue is for brands to look beyond simplistic measures such as number of Likes when assessing success.
He said: "One of the key aspects of our [Facebook's] culture is to find out how to work against real work problems. That's not knowing you've hit 1m fans but delivering real tangible results for businesses."
To this end, Facebook is looking to develop their research team to help brands build meaningful measurement models.
Meanwhile, BBC's Head of Digital Engagement, Sophie Brendel, said the starting point for companies to grow a successful social media strategy to be listen closely to online conversations and having a proactive approach to reputation management.