Sometime back I had a talk with Anna Farmery, the host of Engaging Brand Podcast about Social Media and the challenges today's brands are facing with its adoption.


1. Which are some of the best examples of social media adoption by brands that come to your mind?


I think it depends on the sector you are in or what you are trying to achieve through social media. You can’t get away from how Dell has turned themselves from a tired brand into one which really gives the sense of listening and being passionate about creating a community.


But I also love the small companies which have embraced social media. It is easier when you have 100,000’s of customers to gain a strong web presence but a small company called Wiggly Wigglers in the UK is a fantastic example of how social media can be used to grow your brand – through Facebook and through podcasting.


2. A CMO of a small network services company believes that his organization should embrace social media because their competitor is doing a bunch of exciting things in the space. Obviously, this isn’t a valid reason for his management to be convinced and he plans to present a thorough case to his stakeholders. What he would like to know his beyond the statistics and quantifiable benefits, how can he convince them about the value part about social media adoption? Is there a brand quotient formula which measures the emotional value of a brand online?


I like to think of return on emotion. Strong brands are emotive so I work with companies on how the online presence evokes positive emotion. This can be done in many ways – click through to sale, positive response, number of comments showing engagement, links etc.


Key is to know what you are using social media mainly for – driving sales directly or creating brand awareness. Never has it been so easy to measure the impact of your work and relatively cheaply. My main message is …start! Have a goal in mind, create a measurement against that goal and then constantly monitor and evolve the approach.

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