The Debate is Over: In Retail, Social Media Generates Sales

A recent Huffington Post article declared that even asking whether social media marketing creates ROI "shows a complete lack of understanding of the communication revolution which we are experiencing." The real issue at hand today is measuring the social conversation occurring to be able to accurately decide which ones are working best for your brand. Gaining a large online following is one issue, but seeing a return of investment (or 'return of sharing') is another matter, and much harder to measure. Google Analytics offers statistics regarding page views and bounce rate, but it fails to measure influences, organic sharing, and which products that do best on which social media site. One of our startups, WhichSocial, has been designed to solve this exact problem. The software is currently being used by a large internet fashion group who have been witnessing a very positive result. Recently they posted an item on their Facebook page (which has over 70,000 likes) and sales were generated immediately.

Clearly, the campaign was highly successful  but in order to learn why and just how successful it was, the brand needed to use WhichSocial. It  was able to accurately pinpoint what made this post such a success, whether the customers were new or loyal followers, and if those who shared the post influenced others into purchasing. All this information is displayed in a visual format which is easy to read and quick to digest so that decisions can be made.

For more information, simply go to their site.

The Facebook image is simply an illustration of the post, and all items can be found here.

A Summly Sell

In the last twenty-four hours the tech world has been aflutter with the news that Summly was sold to Yahoo! for the princely sum of $30 million (with 90% of that being in cash). Not too shabby for 17 year old creator Nick D'Aloisio, who said  that process has given him "an appetite for starting companies".

Skeptics may say that $30 million is an extraordinarily large sum for an app which is only just about to reach one million downloads since it's launch in December 2011. Clearly there is a lot more going on here than just a startup acquisition; Yahoo! have been buying a range of small mobile startups ever since CEO Marissa Mayer joined nine months ago.

Are Yahoo! staking a claim that the future will be mobile-only, instead of being mobile-first?

Importantly, this move by Yahoo! indicates a bright future for startups. It proves that large brands are willing to invest time and money into new industries and the brains behind them. Also, it shows what a difference having the right mentoring can make, as Summly was backed by a range of ventures and well-known names in tech as well as media.

New Language for New Startups

"Words, words, words" spoke Hamlet, and even over 400 years later, he's still got a good point. To state the obvious, words are pretty important. Of course I would say this, given that it's my job to write, but words are also crucial for startup businesses too, for which language can be a barrier or a booster. In order to get beyond the bedroom and into the boardroom, you need to have your idea clearly defined to accurately communicate it to friends, mentors, and brands. But with new technologies, how do you describe your ideas with words which are outdated, irrelevant, or confused?

One answer is to simply create new words which adequately describe your product and message. We have seen it happen almost inadvertently as internet giants secure themselves as a firm fixture in our daily lives. We tell each other to 'Google something', are encouraged to 'like' a page, or read a news report about trolls (please, do not feed them).

Of course, creating new words can be a tricky business. Sure, Shakespeare made it look easy by inventing over 1,700, but there are a few things to be clear on, so check out our tips below.

  1. Experiment

It is a developing process to define your word or words, so don't be afraid to test them out to see what sticks. Share your thoughts with friends, at networking events, and on social media channels to see what generates the best response. You'll soon realise which terms flow and which don't quite make the cut.

2. Embrace the challenge

There's no denying that it is tricky and may feel like a never-ending struggle. But the hard work could make you a wordsmith pioneer of the social internet age, so always have the challenge at the back of your mind while you're eating lunch or commuting.

3. Don't push it

The internet is a fickle place where memes can be created in hours, forgotten in a day, and ridiculed in a week. Terms cannot be forced onto the general public, but rest assured that if it resonates with them it will stick.

4. Protection

Once you're sure that your invented word is uniquely perfect, look into to patenting it for protection from envious others.

For more top tips and discussion, you can follow me at @ColliderMindy or @Collider12.