So your company has multiple social media sites and a mobile app...but how are they contributing to the bottom line?

Yes, every marketer believes that you need to be well entrenched in social media to be competitive in today's customer-centric business environment.

While most marketers are still unsure what to do with their social media channels and how to measure or monetize them, they are still convinced that they need to be there.  Hmmm...sounds like a similar conundrum that business experienced about 10-12 years ago during the dot com boom.  Everyone had to have a website right?  But how did you measure its success?  A lot of businesses are STILL trying to answer that question.

In any case, I'm a firm believer in social and digital media, though my philosophy on measurement may not be consistent with many.  While the measurement methodology you choose can depend upon how far along your social media constituents are in the customer lifecycle; based on the relative recency of consumer activation through our digital channels, I don't believe that monetization of our social media initiatives is a necessity...yet.  I think the value is in the acquisition and cultivation of advocates for the product or service.  I tend to measure success today based on blog readers and retention, Facebook comments, Twitter retweets, app downloads and usage.  To me, this activity indicates whether my constituents are finding our content useful.  Strong (and positive) activity should result in greater brand loyalty and advocacy.  However, I recognize that even this form of measurement has its limitations.  Remember that most participants are "lurkers".  This means that they read your social media content, but don't actively participate by responding, posting or retweeting.  They simply appreciate the content for what it is.  Their lack of activity doesn't mean they shouldn't have value to your organization.  They may actually be your best customers. 

So what's the answer?  How do you prove that digital media has value to the sales process? 

One method may be the growth of marketing automation services.  Marketing automation can be a great tool for marketers who are struggling to integrate all of their digital media channels in order to ensure message and brand consistency, assess and deliver on customer needs, improve content quality and evolve from reactive to proactive.

According to a recent article by Erich Flynn, CEO of Treehouse Interactive posted on CMO.com, "One of the biggest benefits of using a marketing automation solution is that it has the potential to put sales and marketing teams on the same page. The ability to define what a lead really is and then use your marketing automation system to qualify, nurture and pass along those leads is a basic benefit. In 2010 there will be many integrations between marketing automation and CRM systems that will change how teams work together to close business."

Therefore, integrated marketing automation should enable marketers to better monetize the value of their digital channels because the data available through those channels can have a direct and measurable impact on revenue contribution.

Will marketing automation services be the ultimate solution to the question of social media monetization and customer conversion?  Don't know yet, but its certainly intriguing.