I’ve written quite a bit about conversion rates on this blog, but the fact is that most people that visit an e-commerce web site have no intention of buying.  They are window shopping.  Optimizing your web site to increase your conversion rate is very important, but you can’t forget about optimizing for the 70-80% of people or more that are “window shoppers.”

The mistake that a lot of online retailers make is to not engage the vast majority of their visitors — the ones that don’t intend to buy.

Yes, you can entice a small percentage of these window shoppers to buy with offers like “buy one, get one,” coupons and free shipping, but what about the remaining lot?

The answer is engagement.  If you can engage window shoppers, you can get them to continually interact with your company, and when they are ready to buy, your site will be top-of mind.

So how to you engage window shoppers?  Here’s how.

Make your e-mail newsletter signup more visible

If you don’t have an e-mail newsletter, you really need to start one.  Next, make sure your e-mail signup form is visible.

Many web sites have e-mail signup forms at the bottom of their sites.  While that’s an acceptable place for the form, why not duplicate the form and place it higher up on the page where people can see it right away?  By making the form more visible and writing a good call to action (like “Get sales and exclusive tips by signing up for our e-newsletter”), you’ll increase your subscriber rate.

This probably goes without saying, but you need to publish your e-mail newsletter regularly and pack it full of good content.  Remember, it’s about keeping prospective customers engaged.

Write a blog (regularly)

No matter what you’re selling, you should publish a blog with RSS feed.  Other than product inventory and pricing, the typical e-commerce site is rather static.  By adding a blog, you’ll freshen the site by regularly adding content that complements the products you’re selling.

The goal in blogging is twofold.  First, you want to generate some credibility for your company (see the next section on social media for some promotional tips).  Second, you’re giving prospective customers some good information and keeping your company top-of-mind.  Also, good search engine optimization is often a by-product of a well-written blog.

Engage in social media

Admittedly, social media isn’t for everyone.  But if you, your marketing manager or other staff in your company are already using Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, etc., then you need to get them involved.

I won’t go into all of the options that social media offers (I may go into that in a future post), but for starters, you can create a discussion group on a Facebook Fan page.  You can tweet latest blog posts, new products and sales on Twitter.  You can make how-to videos for a You Tube channel and embed them in your blog.  There are many more opportunities, so be creative.

In conclusion

Here are some questions for consideration within your company:

• How can my company test positioning of newsletter signup forms?
• Can I offer people in my company the opportunity to write blog posts to distribute the workload?
• Who in my organization can I tap to help brainstorm customer engagement ideas? (Don’t be afraid to ask entry-level employees for their advice!)
• How could I make a blog more visible?
• How can my company use social media in ways my competitors are not?

Lately, I’ve been thinking and reading a lot about marketing lead generation. For many companies, the economy has really caused slumping sales.  Some are responding by stepping up their sales efforts, and the most intelligent companies are improving their web sites to generate more leads.

There’s one simple yet often overlooked step your company can take to generate more leads from your web site: include a contact form on key pages. On our site, key pages are the pages that talk about the web consulting services we offer and, not surprisingly, the contact page.

Companies typically have a single contact link or button at the top or bottom of their web sites.  But why make your readers hunt for a place to contact you? By putting a short, simple lead generation form beside or at the bottom of your web pages, you’re giving people an easy way to make contact.

Many web designers will argue that you don’t need the form — that it “junks” up a design.  If that’s the case, ask them to create a second version of a key web page (perhaps a whitepaper download, a sales page, a product page, etc.) with a form included and use a testing tool like Google’s Website Optimizer to test the page with the form against the page without.  This head-to-head comparison will reveal which is more effective.

In nearly every case I’ve seen, the page with a form will generate more leads than a page without a form.  There are exceptions, such as requiring that someone fill out a form before downloading, viewing or listening to content.

By placing lead generation forms on key pages of your company web site, you might just be able to thrive during this recession.

A while back, I stopped promoting my personal Facebook page. I did this because I received friend requests from random people I “knew” from Twitter or networking, but weren’t actually friends of mine.

What’s worse is that I kept getting cause and fan requests for things I’d never heard of.

One challenge of social media participation is that it blurs the line between business and personal activity.  I now expect that using social media sites like Facebook opens me up to friend requests and fan requests from people I don’t know or for businesses/causes I’m not familiar with.

As we all become immersed in the social web, where social proof (number of Facebook friends, number of fans on your Facebook Fan Page, Twitter followers, etc.) is seemingly important, we need to proceed with caution because being too pushy is likely to impact people’s perception of our companies or causes.

If you’re too persistent, here’s what people may be thinking:

“If I’ve never heard of your company, your band, your clothing line, your cause, so I’m unlikely to become a fan. Don’t even ask.”

“You might think I like your business because I know you, but that’s a dangerous assumption to make.”

“Just because we grew up together doesn’t mean that I’ll support your cause, especially if I’ve never heard of it.”

On the other hand, you still want Facebook fans.  What can you do?

Rather than sending out a mass message to all Facebook friends asking people to become a fan of your business or cause, send invitations to people that have enough experience with your business or cause to evaluate whether they’d like to be a fan.

If you support a cause that your friends may be unfamiliar with, send them a message telling them that you support the cause and ask them to learn more if they are interested.  Be sure to place a “Become a Fan” link on your “About your company” or “About your organization” page on your web site, so that when people do seek information, they have a logical next step.

Some questions to ask within your organization

• How can you generate buzz and interest to grow your Facebook fan base organically?
• How can you integrate Facebook efforts with other marketing channels?

Lots of businesses are using social media these days to promote their products and services. From Facebook to Twitter and more, businesses are embracing social media. Many small, local businesses are starting to understand the impact social media can have on their bottom lines, yet many others are skeptical.

I recently interviewed Monica Horsley, owner of By Invitation Only, a local business here in the Richmond area. I discovered Monica and her business on Twitter, and like many small business owners that rely on attracting local foot traffic into her retail location, she is using social media to her advantage.

Monica Horsley

Owner,
By Invitation Only

4017 Lauderdale Drive
Richmond, VA 23233
Web site
Twitter
Facebook

Number of employees: 5
Year established: purchased in 2003

Q: What social media channels are you currently using and what are your goals for having a presence on each?

We’re on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and we have a blog.

On Facebook, we keep customers aware of new products, sales, and special events. We also highlight gift and paper ideas and suggestions.

Our goals with Twitter are similar to Facebook but also to engage in a dialogue with current customers, potential customers and others in my industry. In addition, Twitter is a great tool for keeping up with new products and trends in the gift and stationery industry and I can get key information about upcoming trade shows and events.

I have a LinkedIn account but do not use this to its fullest potential, but my goal is to be more active in the new year.

We use a blog for several different reasons. First, we let customers know of new products. We also provide etiquette advice, talk about current trends and give people a reason to want to come into our store and shop.

Q: What are your expectations from spending time using social media to promote your business?

At first I just did it because other people in my industry did it and I was curious as to what this “Twitter Thing” was that everyone was talking about. But very quickly I found it interesting. At first I used it more for personal use and to gain info about the community and as I learned more about it I started using it to promote by business. My hope is that when people need my services they will think of By Invitation Only.

Someone once told me, “When I saw you on Twitter I thought why would anyone need to shop at a store like that,” but when he realized he needed to send out holiday cards for his business he knew exactly where to go!

Q: How does your involvement in social media help you differentiate your business from other local companies that might sell the same types of products?

Well that’s one reason I dove into it so quickly. I wanted to be the first in town to figure it out and use it to get my name out there. Now there are a few others here and there but I think I am different because I engage in dialogue with local Richmonders. I don’t just tell them why our store is the best, I give the reasons to trust us and to know that I really do care about my customers and the service I provide. It is not all about self promotion, it is really about creating dialogue and relationships that transcend outside of social media and I think I show enough of my personality so people feel they know a little about me.

Q: What impact does social media have on your business as compared to membership in a Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, BNI group or other networking?

Rotary is my passion but I am involved in Rotary because of my desire to help the local and international communities. I have been very lucky and have been trusted by many local Rotarians to use me for their paper needs.

Honestly I have gotten more customers from Rotary and social media and I truly believe it is because of the relationships that are made.

I don’t participate in BNI because of the time commitment and when I have visited I just haven’t felt it is the right fit for me.

I think being a member of the Chamber, RMA and other organizations are important to help gain info that will help my business but I haven’t found them to necessarily bring me customers.

Q: How many meaningful connections would you say you made via social media in 2009?

There are so many it is getting hard to track. I hired someone to do my graphics and printing that I met on Twitter. I found a new tech guy that bailed me out of a computer crisis on Twitter. I have engaged in great dialogue with local media that has resulted in relationships that have and will continue to get me press.

I lost count of the new customers I have gotten from Twitter in the past 4 months. I would say that we got over 75 new personal and corporate customers during the holiday season.

I have also made contacts with people who write local blogs that now have put an ad for my store on their blog. I have gotten involved with a Food Drive and a Coat Drive with DowntownShortPump.com that has allowed me to support the community as well as get my name out there.

Q: I noticed on Twitter that invited a local writing club to meet at your retail location. Are there any other ways that you’ve used Twitter to engage the local community?

I did invite Write Club to meet at my location. It introduced 20 people to my store that have never been here before and I learned more about what they do.

I tweet for Innsbrook Rotary (I am their President) to let the community know about all the great things Rotary does.

Local author Kate Hall of Richmondmom.com and I used Twitter to promote her book signing at my store.

I also plan to look for other service opportunities on Twitter and Facebook like the Coat Drive and Food Drive, and I will continue to keep a close eye on all local feeds to see how else I can engage with others in the community.

Q: Have you run any promotions exclusively on social media channels?  If so, what have the results been?

We have done a “mention Twitter or Facebook to receive a discount (i.e. 10% off).” I don’t narrow this to just 1 day because you usually need a reason to shop at my store or need my products. I have found just limiting it to one day does not result in high numbers of users but we have been really successful in getting people to say “I follow you on Twitter.”

During the holidays I extended our Early Bird Specials an extra week for Faceboook Fans and Twitter Followers and this resulted in several people taking advantage of these savings.

Q: Do you have a budget for social media campaigns (i.e. monthly spend on a Facebook ad, etc.)?

Currently I do not spend money on social media, except to attend SMCRVA (Social Media Club of Richmond). I am not opposed to doing this, but I haven’t up to this point.

Q: For contrast, do you advertise in traditional media channels like radio, TV or newspapers?

I do a lot of print advertisement in many local newspapers and magazines, including Premier Bride, The Wedding Guide, Richmond Magazine, R Bride, Style Weekly, Belle, Richmond Times-Dispatch, West End’s Best, Richmond Family Magazine and Richmond Grid. I also advertise with the web sites www.downtownshortpump.com and www.richmondmom.com.

Q: How much time do you spend on social media activities daily?

It varies but I would say approximately an hour a day (my husband would say hours). I use my blackberry for Twitter probably 75% of the time so it is just here and there throughout the day as opposed to an hour straight. When I write a blog or in depth things on Facebook I obviously spend a little more time. But I have found to be successful in social media you have to be constant and engaging and they requires a little time each day.

Q: What advice would you give to other local retail business owners to help get them started with social media?

I have actually been asked to speak to local businesses about social media and at first I thought, me? I don’t know what I am doing. I don’t know the “technical stuff” but I know how to relate to customers. So that is what I share with other business owners. I tell them the key is to be consistent and show your personality (just not too much personal stuff). There is a difference between personality and personal info. Also I give them little tips like following people back (especially if they are in your industry or local) also I tell them to use Twitter at different times of the day, not always in the morning or night; this will help capture different audiences.

Q: In 2010, do you see yourself participating more in social media, less or the same amount and why?  Is there something you plan to try that you didn’t do in 2009?

I do plan to continue. My goals are to blog on a more consistent basis and to keep my Facebook Fan page updated with new and pertinent information. Overall my goal is to work on integrating all social networks to maximize the results.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share?

I think the main thing is to say that I truly love social media and not just for business gain but for personal reasons. I love to hear what is going on in the city, where the best new restaurants are, where everyone is going Saturday night, etc. I have gained some relationships that I will have forever and that is what life is all about!

When we were approached by Virginia Urology, their web site had a dated, brochure-like look.

Their ultimate goal was to improve the website by giving it an updated look, making it more interactive and user friendly.  This goal is critical to their business as more patients are searching the web for health care resources.  The web site also needed to be a tool for their physicians to use with their patients.

Additionally, Virginia Urology needed to be able to manage the content in-house, including adding videos, news items and more.

Virginia Urology

Penny Durrett, Director of Community Education at Virginia Urology said, “We interviewed several companies and we selected Rick Whittington Consulting because we liked Rick’s business manner. Rick listened to what our needs were and offered suggestions that would help us achieve our goals. We know that as a client, we change frequently change our minds and have to have someone who is very flexible and accommodating.  Rick was able to deliver a thorough proposal that met all of our needs within our budget.”

“Rick has been a pleasure to work with. He has been an incredible resource for us in this process.  He is always upbeat and eager to make things work,” added Durrett.

“Our physicians have been impressed with the new look of our site. They are also appreciative of the effort that went into achieving an interactive site for patients to use.  Staff members have found the site to be a great customer service resource. Features such as location maps and directions are helpful, and so is being able to easily find the ‘appointment request’ feature.”

Virginia Urology for Women

We were also commissioned to design and launch a sister web site for female urological issues called Virginia Urology for Women.  This site specializes in information and physicians/staff that treat women’s urological issues.  We built this site so that both the Virginia Urology web site and the Virginia Urology for Women web site could be managed via a single web login.  The sites can share information so that it doesn’t have to be entered twice, saving Virginia Urology time.

Many companies are focused on growing their e-mail list, and rightfully so.  But if you could improve the return on investment of your e-mail marketing program by pruning your list, would you?

First, I’d like to clarify that I’m not referring to “cleansing” bounces or unsubscribes from your list.  Your e-mail vendor/software should do that for you.  I’m saying that a large percentage of subscribers in your list don’t open or click any of your e-mail campaigns.  So is it worth keeping them in your list?

Many companies don’t effectively track statistics of their e-mail lists, so you may be surprised to find out how few members of your e-mail list actually take action on messages you send to them.  According to MailChimp, e-mail open rates average at about 25%.  But that data is only based on a single campaign.  How do you know what percent of your list takes action over time?

I’ve been a MailChimp customer now for a number of months and am increasingly impressed with the analytical information they provide on e-mail lists and campaigns.

MailChimp uses “Member Ratings” to rate each subscriber in your mailing list. The 5-star rating system uses a rating for “member” (subscriber) activity and is a quick visual measure of how engaged your subscribers are.

• 1 Star- negative rating, this person has unsubscribe and re-subscribed, or soft bounced in the past
• 2 Star- no activity, never opened or clicked, most likely a new member
• 3 Star- this recipient has started opening or clicking your campaigns, limited activity
• 4 Star- this recipient has started opening or clicking your campaigns, a little more activity
• 5 Star- this recipient has started opening or clicking your campaigns, lots of activity

Why would you want to remove subscribers from your list?

If you’re working with a vendor to send email, you must limit abuse complaints to an extremely low number.  A client of mine was sending e-mail to a list they had been building since the late ’90s, and when we brought the campaigns to MailChimp there were a relatively high number of spam abuse complaints when we sent the mailings.  We needed to reduce the abuse complaints or risk MailChimp pulling the plug on our e-mail program.

Pruning also lowers the cost of mailing.  If you aren’t sending to those that don’t open or click, your list size is smaller and you pay for a smaller subscription plan (or a per e-mail fee, whichever plan you have).  In turn, you’ll generate a better return on your investment.

The pruning process

Here’s how we went about pruning our list, how we completely eliminated abuse complaints and improved the performance of our client’s e-mail campaigns.

Create a “best customer” segment
Because your marketing department might be uneasy (to say the least) about deleting names from your list, start by creating an audience segment in MailChimp.  When you’re ready to send your next campaign, add all subscribers with a 3-star and above rating to a new audience segment.  By doing this, you’ll be sending the campaign to only customers that have opened or clicked prior campaigns.

You’ll be amazed — and perhaps alarmed — that you’ll reduce your list size dramatically by doing this.  In some cases, your new audience segment might be 20-40% the size of your complete list.  Send a few campaigns to this audience segment and measure the results.  For comparison purposes, you may also want to create an audience segment of only 2-star subscribers so you can compare results.

Caveat: The 2-star subscriber
The 2-star subscriber must be treated with care.  While some subscribers with a 2-star rating might have never opened an e-mail from you in years, there also may be 2-star subscribers in your list that are brand new subscribers who have only received one or two mailings.

To solve this issue, create a new list and route all new subscribers to that list.  Alternatively, MailChimp will also let you create an audience segment of 2-star subscribers that have recently joined your list.

Prune the list with confidence

Download a backup copy of your complete list, then delete all subscribers with 1-star and 2-star ratings.  Note that if you don’t have a seperate list set up for new subscribers, be careful to only delete subscribers that have a long history of not opening your e-mails.  This will reduce your list size dramatically and ultimately decrease the cost of sending campaigns.

Prune periodically
Note that you’ll need to repeat this process of segmentation and pruning periodically since some subscribers may naturally become disinterested or fall out of the purchase cycle for your product or service.  I always recommend downloading a backup copy so you never actually delete subscribers that you prune from the list — rather, they are stored in your list backup file.

Real-world results

Our client, mentioned above, has been sending out e-mail marketing campaigns since 1998 and has been slowly building the list over time.  We decided to prune their list using the above technique and saw the following results.

• Their initial list size was cut by 69%, saving them $75 per month in fees.
• Open rate was well over twice the industry average and their list average.
• Click rate is 45% higher than the industry average and their list average.
• Bounces are almost non-existent.
• There have been no abuse complaints.
• There have been only a handful of unsubscribes, and only one 4-star or 5-star subscriber has unsubscribed.

Our next step is to segment the most recent 2-star subscribers and send them a special discount to encourage them to visit our client’s site and purchase.

Having worked on a content-rich sites my entire career, including managing design for an over 750,000-page behemoth early in my career, I’ve learned a lot about how to approach planning large web sites.

Here are some tips that we’ve included in our “Analysis” phase of projects to make planning a big site go smoothly.

Leave enough time in your schedule for a thorough analysis

When redesigning or designing a new site, it’s all too common that a designer opens Photoshop first.  I tell clients that for the first few weeks of a project, I don’t open Photoshop or any other design tool.  That’s because I want to know about the goals and audience of the new site first.  I also want to analyze the current site and make recommendations for new content and functionality.

Take inventory of all existing site content

While there are some tools available to map out a site, I find there’s no substitute for clicking through a site manually, making a sitemap in Excel, and taking note of a site’s interaction points.  Our site maps contain the page name, the URL, and any other notes that I want to make about a page.  Typically, these notes contain things I want to fix, ideas for re-organization, or reminder notes.  The entire spreadsheet is arranged hierarchically so I know how “deep” the site is and where content is currently organized.

Conduct a competitive analysis

Find companies or organizations that are similar to yours and make note of how they organize content, what functions they have on their web site, any interesting user experience cues, etc.

I typically include a tab on my content inventory spreadsheet for “ideas” that I get while doing competitive research and audience research.

Spend time understanding the audiences and/or conduct usability testing

We often spend a great deal of time with our clients understanding their core audiences, then conduct research online about these audiences so we know what messages resonate with them, what features they expect, and their general web browsing patterns and habits.

Usability testing can inform our analysis process as well.  Watching real customers use your web site will point out much more than trouble spots with your web site.  Usability testing can also reveal user patterns, such as how long they look for information, how they read the screen, scrolling patterns and much, much more.

Get approval on new content and functions

Organize your ideas into a presentation and show your boss, quickly highlighting the trouble spots on the old site, your new ideas, and how they will improve the bottom line.  When pitching your ideas, you need to think like a CEO – are they likely to impact sales or generate leads, or is the content/function just a “bell and whistle” that will take up too much development time and generate no return on the investment?

Make a new site map

You’re now familiar with the existing content and the new content and functionality you’ll add, so diagram a new site map.  We do this with good ‘ol pen and paper.  I start with some temporary “level 1” items — the items that will appear in the navigation.  I then put content into these buckets, often many levels deep.

After a significant amount of examination to make sure the navigation makes sense, I decide on things like dropdown navigation, search, and many other nuances of organizing the site.  All these are communicated to the designer during the design phase.

# # #

I usually go a step farther, diagramming related content so as we design and build the site, we can avoid dead-ends and make sure the web site visitor stays engaged.

Hopefully sharing these tips will make your web site planning process smoother.  In my experience with client work, following these steps help ensure that your design and development efforts will be well-informed and focused on hitting goals.  After all, that’s the real reason to re-design.

I’m always looking for ways to make clients’ promotions and own our work stand out amidst the clutter. This means thinking differently than most other marketers out there.

I think back to e-mail marketing’s adolescence when we figured out that creative, subject lines and the send time could be tested. Marketers are starting to do the same with social media.  In fact, I’ve been testing Twitter message structure, subject and send time for four months now using a URL shortening service that measures clicks.  Indeed, I’ve found some patterns.

Then I read a blog post on Search Engine Land called “Timing is Crucial to Maximize Exposure with Social Media.”  While the post centers around the search engine optimization benefits of posting on social bookmarking sites Digg and Reddit, I’ve found that the patterns are similar on Twitter.

This excerpt from the article sums it up:

“If you want to share a great piece of information or resource over Twitter or Facebook updates consider what time of day you submit it. Weigh out noise vs. lower activity to make the best decision on when to shout your message.”

Something to consider, I’d say. If you’re using social media to promote your business, consider when you post messages.  When is your intended audience online? Do you want more exposure or more interaction?

With all the talk about “social” this-and-that, you’re probably wondering if I made up the term “social proof.”  While I can’t claim to have coined the phrase, I can tell you that using social proof in your business can dramatically increase your sales.

So what exactly is social proof?

In a nutshell, social proof is our tendency as humans to follow the crowd. We tend to rely on other people to guide our actions. Some examples of social proof include:

• Testimonials from real customers for your product or service
• Comments on blog posts
• Recommendations from well-known experts or celebrity endorsements (the “Oprah effect”)
• Customer ratings and reviews on ecommerce sites
• Customers participating in your business’ brand experience on Facebook Fan Pages
• #followfriday recommendations on Twitter (for you non-Twitterbugs, that’s when someone recommends that you follow someone else on Twitter)
• The number of Twitter followers, LinkedIn connections, RSS subscribers, blog readers, e-mail subscribers that you have
• Awards you’ve been nominated for or won
• Mentions on other web sites/social bookmarking sites
• Professional certifications or affiliations
• The granddaddy of them all — the referral

How do you get social proof?

Unlike a top 5 spot on Google Adwords, you can’t buy social proof — it must be built over time. The most clever way to build social proof is to invite your customers to interact with your business in new and interesting ways.

Threadless encourages their customers to design t-shirts that the company produces and sells. When the shirts sell, they give some of the money back to the designer. They allow customers to vote on the designs that they like the best, so the customer is ultimately making the decision about what the company sells.

Naturally, designers are more willing to promote Threadless if their shirt design has been produced and sold on the site. You know — the “My tee design was just picked up by Threadless” Facebook status or the “Vote for my newest t-shirt design at Threadless” tweet — help the company go viral. The customers do the marketing for them.  Brilliant, right?

In recent talks to job seekers, I’ve been telling them to use whatever means they are comfortable with to build some credibility and notoriety.  The unemployed project manager could write an e-book and supporting blog about what project management methodology works best in different company cultures and send links to hiring managers and other collegues. They might use the blog and other social media to promote the e-book, and as more people read and share the book, then job offers will find them.

Do this successfully and you’ve achieved marketing nirvana — people seeking out your business’ product or service. Make your product or service the best they’ve experienced and they’ll tell others, effectively marketing it for you!

Making the most of social proof

• Define and know your audience and what’s important to them.
• Work to be the best at what you do or offer the best product.
• Be passionate about your product or service. Clients and customers get a good feeling when they do business with upbeat people.
• Find ways to get feedback from your customers.
• Find ways to publicize client successes or ways customers are using the products you sell.
• Create a community for clients or customers to interact with each other, and participate in it.

Finally, forget return on investment (ROI).  As MarketingFactor.com so correctly states it, “The goal of social marketing is not to generate sales directly from Squidoo, Facebook or YouTube; the goal is to generate something far more valuable for your business: social proof.”

Build social proof and sales will naturally follow.

eMarketer today published a piece called “Social Network Marketing Expands Sphere” with some encouraging business news about social networks.

While businesses are still discovering ways to achieve marketing goals with social networks, it’s evident that social networks are versatile marketing tools. eMarketer senior analyst Debra Aho Williamson noted that “The beauty of social networks is that they are a place where nearly any marketing goal can be achieved, with nearly any marketing tactic.”

A May 2009 study disputes conventional wisdom that social networking is only person-to-person. 52% of people follow or have become a fan of a company on social networks, and 46% have said something positive about companies on social networks.

Social networks haven’t shown much promise (yet) in generating direct sales. 46% of social media marketing professionals say that social networks are not effective at increasing online sales.  Still, increased direct sales from social networks may eventually occur, especially considering Facebook’s upcoming virtual currency and 1-800-FLOWERS’ commerce integration with Facebook.

My guess is that many of these social media marketing professionals may be overlooking the indirect effects of brand-building.  Several studies cite that “the stronger a brand’s social media presence, the better the brand performed—whether measured in conversations or in financial performance.”