To set the scene, the marketing team is settling down in a conference room for pizzas, waiting for a webinar on social media.
"Won't work for us in our business," I say while reaching for a slice, "but I can tell you where it would be perfect." Okay, the co-workers say, where would that be? "Harley-Davidson," I replied. "Just made for social media."
Few minutes later, the webinar begins, and on the third slide -- the third slide! -- the presenter says "Now let's look at our first case study, Harley-Davidson." The entire team looks my way. I just grin.
When it comes to the entire social media craze, I've been around long enough to see a lot of Web fads come and go, and while it's wrong to call this a complete fad, it's prudent to note the hype.
Social media is an excellent tool if there's a community around the brand, and Twitter is of high value to celebrities or other persons of interest. But the jury is still out when it comes to converting social connections into commerce, and the data is unclear on how much SEO help you can get via social links. The big question, thanks to the time-intensive aspects of social media, is if there's a positive ROI in it. For most companies, that answer is no. If there's a community around your brand, then the answer might be yes.