What Exactly is Social Influence Worth?

Michael Garrity — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:30:00 GMT

Companies around the globe are throwing their marketing weight behind social media, but how do they know it’s really worth the effort?

One of the biggest issues for many brands today is trying to find a way to tie their sales data to their social media programs to justify the time and resources spent on running a social media campaign. Essentially, they’re trying to ensure that social media marketing offers a worthwhile return on investment (ROI).

Good news for some, as Social Media Link (the company responsible for the Smiley360.com social influencer platform) is partnering with Web-based retail promotion company Incentive Targeting. The deal will help Social Media Link integrate sales data research and analytics into its brand advocacy programs.

This pairing will be able to help brands uncover the exact dollar impact of its influencers who test and review their products, and those who are influenced by reading said reviews. They can do this because they will be given access to anonymous retail sales insights from participating retailers (those involved in the Incentive Targeting national retail network).

Ultimately, the goal here is to use this information to drive in-store actions and purchases.

The partnership will utilize Social Media Link’s Single-Click Sharing Technology tools, used by Smiley360.com consumers to publish product recommendations to their social networks. Incentive Targeting will be able to track brand and category usage before, during and after a Smiley360 influencer program by anonymously linking the social behavior of its users and their followers to in-store purchase data.

'Net Features : sales data

What Exactly is Social Influence Worth?