Research firm Gartner predicts facebook will have over 1 Billion users by 2011.

There are 1.73 Billion internet users in the world today.

The latest Nielsen stats indicate that users spend more time on facebook than Google, Yahoo, Youtube, Bing, Wikipedia and Amazon combined.

These numbers are giving google the jitters. So much so they released their best attempt yet at social media a few weeks ago.

The question is - if people had the opportunity to ask their friends, people they trust and know personally for information and get extremely relevant answers back - why would they use Google, a mechanical, impersonal, algorithm driven search engine?

I recently read an interesting article from Jay Deragon about social media ROI:

”People and businesses don’t like spending time and money without defining the return on their efforts. At the same time people and businesses engage in non-productive activities without even considering an ROI on those activities. So one must ask why do they think social media activities will produce an ROI? The reason is that social media has become in vogue and everyone seems to want to capture value from it rather than with it.”

Community strategist, Connie Benson laid out the following list in her blog entitled 2010 The Year of Social Media ROI:

1. Companies will expect ROI from their Social Media efforts.

Social Media will shift from being experimental to mainstream. Larger organizations can’t justify embracing it without having it meeting their business objectives. It has to increase their bottom line.

2. The Social Media Specialist (Community Manager) position will become mainstream.

Companies are going to quickly find that they need someone to guide their efforts externally and internally. Social efforts should be extended across the board.

3. Cultural shift inside of companies.

This is going to be a challenge for many companies. In order to be successful in connecting with customers, organizations are going to have to have communications channels in place and the openness to utilize the information. Management is going to need to have a level of trust for their employees interacting online and understand that the risk can be mitigated by education & training.

4. Social Media Monitoring will be a necessary component

My colleague, John Tonini, made the prediction earlier this year that the market would shift from brands wondering if they should be monitoring social media to ‘What tool should we be using?’. 2010 will see a huge shift in the adoption rate of social media monitoring.

5. Agencies and companies will hire data analysts

A new position is emerging. My favorite title is Social Media Metrician. Social Media monitoring tools don’t drive themselves. They need more than a human touch. They require people who enjoy digging into the analytics aspect, looking for patterns and trends. Web analytics people will be able to expand on their roles. Brands and agencies are going to need this new specialized position to drive their marketing intelligence. Marshall Sponder lists many predictions in regard to the role of the data analyst in 2010.

6. Integration of platforms and processes will be critical.

I think there are key indicators that social media is working for an organization and certainly things need to be measured regularly. But for those of you who don’t believe in social media ROI, there are a few things to consider. Amber Naslund writes on metrics and social media often. On January 27, 2010, she says the following about practical social media measurement:

"One of the chief things that managers seem to want is the ability to draw lines and connect dots between their social media participation and sales (or other conversion metrics). There are two ways to do that, and one is much more difficult than the other.

Cause and Correlation

First is attribution or direct cause, which would indicate that the social media initative is the sales channel itself. Much like Dell claiming that it has reaped millions in sales via their Twitter channel, here you’re saying that your endeavors in one channel or another are the primary driver for a particular revenue stream. The tricky bit here is that a) there will *always* be external factors that influence sales transactions and b) you have to track and control how you output information in these specific channels in order to accurately attribute the revenue.

The second and more realistic way to track the impact of social media on revenue is by correlation. In other words, you track your sales in aggregate, or perhaps in the more global online environment (inclusive of your website and how leads funnel into your pipeline through the web overall).

Then, you overlay trends in your online activity – say, the establishment of your community or the building of your blog – and look at them alongside your sales activity. If they go up together, you can indicate a positive correlation, or the likelihood that the social media stuff is helping to drive the sales. If social media activity goes up but the sales stay flat or go down, something isn’t working, or the social media bit isn’t effective from a sales standpoint.

Likewise, correlation can also be in *ratios*, so for example, a $50,000 investment in social media (including time, money, or both) correlates with a $25,000 increase in sales over the same time period. Note that this is NOT precise ROI, because you’re talking an investment in a single channel against TOTAL sales. But you can look at the proportion in sales or lead traffic increase over the time period in which you track your social media activities, and extract a relationship between the two."

Where do you stand on this subject? What is your organisation noticing as you participate more and more in the everyday activity of business and personal? Have you noticed the correlation that Amber spoke about? Or have you taken time to consider the up and coming positions and responsibilities that Connie spoke of? What are your thoughts on social media ROI?

We opted for a strategy that came to be known as a Syndicated Network Strategy.

Firstly we identified each of the branded properties they had online, then assigned each of them a role.

Online Store - EXECUTOR - Online retail store. Final selection and purchasing point.

Blog - INFLUENCER - Sets brand trends to consumers. Consumer influencer. Content rich news source.

facebook - DISTRIBUTOR - Live community of brand advocates. Content disrtibution channel with mass reach & exposure.

myspace - ENTERTAINER - Hosts events, competitons. Primarily an entertainment channel.

We then factored these four properties into a sustainable ecosystem.

The primary goals of the ecosystem was to

a) Expose consumers to branded content through social media channels

b) Get consumers to engage with the branded content

c) Position the properties so that when a consumer engages the branded content, a significant flow on or ripple effect occurs through other social channels (network syndication) to generate mass exposure and awareness to previously unconnected consumers.

d) Encourage mass consumer flow between each property by providing consumers with deeplinks to and from each property frequently (network syndication).

Direct traffic drives - facebook feeds a majority of traffic to both the blog and the online store. We do this by pushing linked updates at predetermined times. Consumers click on these links through their facebook feeds and get connected to the blog or the online store. Same applies to the blog itself. Once a user clicks a link within a blog post, they will be connected to the page on the online store where the purchased item is displayed.

Engagement, Content exposure drives (network syndication) - Both the blog and the online store are equiped with facebook connect. When a user buys an item through the online store, they are asked if they would like to share this news with their friends through facebook. Once the user accepts, a linked update will appear on that users profile wall. That linked update will now also appear on most of that users friends newsfeeds, thereby creating organic brand exposure and a linked traffic gateway for hundreds (possibly thousands) of consumers straight back to the online store.

When a user comments on a blog post, they will be prompted to share this information with their friends through facebook as a linked update. Same thing applies here as it does with the online store. A link to the blog post will now appear in that users friends newsfeeds exposing them to the article, their friends comment and a deeplink back to the article itself.

With the proper social connections and content drivers syndicated across the brands online network, traffic and engagement create themselves.

Its about consumers working for the brand, not the brand working for consumers - thats what social media is all about, right?

To tie into my main point, does this qualify as social media strategy that helps faciliate growth and awareness around our clients new online store or are we way off?

According to Adage on Monday they did have a plan. They launched an outreach program featuring U.S. President-Chief Operating Officer Jim Lentz. Mr Lentz was sent into the "Today" show, where he talked to host Matt Lauer about why the company halted sales and production of eight models over an accelerator-pedal-sticking issue. "This will be under control," Mr. Lentz said, at the same time denying that Toyota dragged its feet on the issue.

They extended the outreach program to social-media channels in the form of Mr. Lentz talking about the recall. This was posted to the Facebook page early Monday morning, and hours later, more than 150 "liked" the video and some 70 commented on it -- many of them positively. "Thank you Toyota for stepping up!" said one, and another: "Toyota will pull through this."Thats when Toyota must have gone away and congratulated themselves on a job well done.

That was Monday. Have a look at some of the latest comments I just took off the same facebook fan page at 1.00 EST Wednesday (so no excuses that its too late), and all comments were within the last 10 hours;

Comment from group member - I simply dont understand why you're company couldnt do the right thing earlier and without delay. The fact that it took this long for you to issue a recall is scary to me, after so many complaints of defects. STOP HUMMING ALONG AND START LISTENING TO US, YOUR CUSTOMERS. WITHOUT US, YOU WOULD BE NOTHING.

This comment had been up for 10 hours and had no response

Comment from another group member fan spreading bad articles: This here from the Wall Street Journal. Toyota's gonna get what's coming to them. Check out this article - Toyota's Troubles Deepen.

This comment was exposed to fans remember and no response an two hours later

Another wrote - Well look at this. Toyota being investigated by Japanese athorities. Faulty brake pedals on the Prius?
http://www.cnn.com/2010/BUSINESS/02/02/japan.prius.investigate/index.html?hpt=T2

Most wont bother to read the article, but according to CNN its true. Not addressing it makes the posting above more powerful?

Another wrote: They do not employ anywhere near the Americans factory workers that GM does. Engineers, testers, and other employees count as well. Plus, you have to love how the Japanese were qouted as stating these problems are the fault of the US employees. Thats is how little they think of their "american" people. 14 hours and no response.

On a side note its Interesting to see how many reports were sent via Facebook for iPhone. It seems like 50%+ but thats only in the last hour. Bad news travels very fast and they are comming in thick and heavy.

To be fair, there is a box in the top left that says - If you are looking for the latest information on our recent announcement (not recall) regarding the voluntary safety campaign (not safety concerns), please visit our website. Any updates will also be posted to this location. http://www.toyota.com/recall. Note its called a recall in the url, not an announcement.

That link leads you through to a static page that has static brochure look and signs of with the comment If you have additional questions or concerns that have not been addressed here, please contact the Toyota Customer Experience Center at 1-800-331-4331 . The Toyota Customer Experience Center hours are: Mon.–Fri. 5:00 am-6:00 pm PST, Sat. 7:00 am-4:00 pm PST. In this day and age, where is the human interaction. Where is the speed. to resolve. If you have any further fears why not email us and we will make an effort to sort you out with 24 hours. I am not feeling warm and fussy here people.

Meanwhile over at Twitter. more confused scilience. They don’t even seem to have a twitter feed by the looks of it. The biggest Toyota group has 14,830 and is now talking about other things, their crisis has passed. But they do to be fait still list the recall site. Unfortunately its not clickable, its a static image.
On one of the other big ones, Boston Toyota (opposite), they seem to be putting a very positive spin on it, actually they say in the 4th post down that Peugeot, Honda and Hyundai are having problems also. Has no obvious link however to the recall page. Its a talk about something else and it goes away strategy.

Finally let’s go to the site http://www.toyota.com which is business-as-usual and why not I hear you say. If anyone needs to know about that messy business see on the button bottom left in red named RECALL INFORMATION. Guess where that links through to? Yes the same static dull brocher page, made all the duller as you are coming from some beautiful images of Toyotas on the page.

On search, something they could have done quickly. No campaign bought here anywhere but would like to hear (UK) from US readers if they at least bought the key words ‘Toyota Recall’.

I am being somewhat harsh on Toyota here, but this is a company whose name is synonymous with TQM and flawless execution is a key brand atribute and it should extend to their media strategy. The consequences of a poor crisis management could also severely damage Toyotas reputation as the number one global automotive brand. Its now valued at $31.33 billion (down 8% from 2008) according to Interbrand so its no small change.

Regardless it brings into focus the importance of having a crisis/response plan made. Also the importance of making sure everyone knows the plan, have been trained on the plan and know where the plan details are kept.

Yes you need to have an official press release, or statement from the CEO but remember you are then taking questions. Answer these questions on Twitter and Facebook fast, and not by the intern i may add, but by the senior management, ideally by the head of QA in Toyota's case and the CEO Inaba-san. But you are also talking to real people, sometime rational, sometimes emotional. They are possibly angry people and they have a right to be. According to Newsweek the fault has been linked to 19 deaths. You need to avoid anger spilling over into frenzy and people changing to a virtual mob out of control.

Ideally Toyota should have an early warning system. But some have also said that these problems go back 10 years and this is not the problem. The problem is a company culture that mixes defensiveness towards the outside world with exaggerated deference towards senior management. This makes them badly equipped as a company to identify and then deal with this kind of situation.

There are tools already that allow you to monitor where the negative mentions, comments are coming from. You treat these small pockets early and fast, think of them like small forest fires. There were many possible fires in the above comments. Why exactly is Toyota being investigated by Japanese athorities? Is there another recall coming? Has there been a quote by anyone within Toyota 'that these problems are the fault of the US employees'. Do you Care about 'American people"? Of course they do, but just tell them.

So relax, take a breath. In this case I would advice that a roll in the big guns is necessary. Tell them to start typing and telling their customers they are sorry. Start with the 71K+ on facebook. Tell them to not take attacks personally, dont argue with detractors and calmly state the facts. Be Zen, be honest be transparent and be consistant. The mob smells BS a mile away and reacts unpredictably. Be swift, be kind, be talkative, be human, chat on Twitter, post often on facebook, get blogging and turn a disaster into a mere scrape. Above all don't stick your head in the ground and hope it goes away, or the accelerator may stick and you may find yourself out of control.

We still don't have this anywhere near to being sorted. A recent post by Malkuth Damkar about the way in which Twitter makes celebrities of us all makes the point that people who would otherwise escape notice are often judged and gossiped about on Twitter in a way that's disproportionate; as though by conversing publically, we've abandoned our right to privacy and respect. Not to mention the recent furore concering hapless British Twitterer Paul Chambers who jokingly threatened to blow up an airport ,then found himself jobless and facing criminal charges, which clearly demonstrates how serious the consequences can be.

Media and marketing website Mumbrella recently covered an exchange on Twitter between a journalist and the personal account of someone working in PR, as evidence of a sometimes tricky relationship between the two disciplines. While naturally journalists often choose to ignore context and nuance for the sake of a good headline, this seemed a particularly unfair conflation of public domain and public interest. The journalist has a relatively large public profile and is employed by a media organisation, arguably making her tweets our business; the other person is not - and public or no, her personal Twitter account exists independently of her employer.

It served as an excellent example of this rather messy grey area. I've personally hired people because of their significant digital presence - people who came to my attention because of the way in which they communicated online and their degree of influence. And I've been more than happy for these people to use their talents for the good of the company, for example by sharing content to their personal networks, using data gathered from their accounts etc. By creating a social media usage policy that, reasonably enough, prohibited any mention of confidential or sensitive information, I could, as a boss, be reasonably sure my team were clear about what would be appropriate to share via both the corporate and personal accounts and allowed common sense to guide their behaviour in the grey areas on an ad-hoc basis.

But I think with hindsight I have sometimes got it wrong. On one occasion I effectively muzzled a team member who had a long standing online stoush with another public figure, arguing that as he linked to the company website from his Twitter bio, this feud would reflect poorly on the company. I now think that I should have suggested he remove the link, and made clear he was operating under his own auspices and his views were not shared by his employer. Non-celebrities with large Twitter followings and extensive personal networks have generally developed them through communicating interesting content in an expressive manner, with a distinct voice and point of view.

Crucially, this influence is built up over time, not on the company dime. By allowing employees to use their personal influence to share content, engage communities and achieve corporate objectives while simultaneously restricting the individual's right to express a contentious view or enter into critical discourse, the company is attempting to have its cake and eat it. Not only is this problematic from an ethical standpoint, but it's also ultimately illogical: a toothless tiger can only maintain its edge for so long before the social network begins to sense inauthenticity and drift away. I for one choose not to follow people I feel to be little more than an RSS yes-machine.

Drawing the line is essential. My suggestion - and this is a work in progress, subject to review and evolution - is that professional and personal accounts need to be separate. If you refer to your employer in your bio, your account is going to be inextricably linked to their profile, at least in public perception. So don't risk it. Unless there's a scenario in which your boss will compensate you for allowing the company to bask in your reflected glory - which could mean attributing a dollar value to influence, or specifically stating in your contract that your network is an asset the company will be able to use during the life of your contract with them - then be very wary of using your own account as another channel for sharing corporate content - whether on Twitter, Facebook or anywhere else. A profile that's specifically you @your company might be one way of resolving this, or by using shared corporate accounts.

Because nobody wants to end up like Tennessee Ernie...

You load sixteen tons, and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt. Saint Peter, don't you call me, 'cause I can't go; I owe my soul to the company store...