Bob Bly Direct Response Copywriter Official Banner

Do Social Networks Drive Online Revenues?

November 25th, 2008 by Bob Bly

No, according to an article in DM News (11/24/08, p. 7), which cited a survey in which social networks were the least effective way to educate consumers about online bargains.

From most to least effective online selling tool according to the 1,000 adults surveyed: e-mail marketing (45%), friends forwarding a link (16.5%), onsite messages (16%), banner ads (10%), onsite shopper comments (9%), and — last and least — social networking, a mere 3%.

Hardly supports the assertions of social media gurus and evangelists that web sites and e-mails are irrelevant in today’s market, does it?

Share

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 25th, 2008 at 5:17 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

52 responses about “Do Social Networks Drive Online Revenues?”

  1. Fiona Fell - The Profit Maximsing Web Geek said:

    “The List” holds the power.

    I think these survey results cement in my mind that I should be building and working my list of prospects… and customers, much harder and with more gusto than I am moving into the Social Networking arena.

    The ROI speaks for itself.

    I am off to continue building my list….

    Fiona Fell – The Profit Maximsing Web Geek
    http://www.FionaFell.com.au

  2. Best Virtual Advertising » Blog Archive » Do Social Networks Drive Online Revenues? - bly.com blog - bly.com … said:

    […] unknown wrote an interesting post today onDo Social Networks Drive Online Revenues? – bly.com blog – bly.com …Here’s a quick excerptFrom most to least effective online selling tool according to the 1000 adults surveyed: e-mail marketing (45%), friends forwarding a link (16.5%), onsite messages (16%), banner ads (10%), onsite shopper comments (9%), and — last and … […]

  3. Online Advertising Live » Blog Archive » Do Social Networks Drive Online Revenues? - bly.com blog - bly.com … said:

    […] unknown wrote an interesting post today onDo Social Networks Drive Online Revenues? – bly.com blog – bly.com …Here’s a quick excerptFrom most to least effective online selling tool according to the 1000 adults surveyed: e-mail marketing (45%), friends forwarding a link (16.5%), onsite messages (16%), banner ads (10%), onsite shopper comments (9%), and — last and … […]

  4. Big Marketing For You » Blog Archive » Do Social Networks Drive Online Revenues? - bly.com blog - bly.com … said:

    […] unknown wrote an interesting post today onDo Social Networks Drive Online Revenues? – bly.com blog – bly.com …Here’s a quick excerptFrom most to least effective online selling tool according to the 1000 adults surveyed: e-mail marketing (45%), friends forwarding a link (16.5%), onsite messages (16%), banner ads (10%), onsite shopper comments (9%), and — last and … […]

  5. Dianna Huff said:

    Bob,

    I would never advocate using social networking to drive sales.

    However, companies that ignore social media do so at their peril.

    I ended up NOT buying a stove precisely because of the feedback I read about a particular brand.

    Maybe social media isn’t driving sales but it certainly is INFLUENCING them. DMNews got it all wrong.

  6. Bob Bly said:

    Dianna: If it is an error to ignore social networking, but social media isn’t driving sales, than how can I use it to influence consumers favorably? Any suggestions? Maybe you can write and post an article on that at your blog.

  7. Internet Marketing Archives» Blog Archive » 'Do Social Networks Drive Online Revenues?' by Bob Bly said:

    […] Do Social Networks Drive Online Revenues?… […]

  8. Dianna Huff said:

    Bob, I’ve already written the articles, one of which features you and this blog!

    Here is the article about my stove: http://www.dhcommunications.com/free/mcn051608.htm

    Here is the article about your blog and Harry’s Orchards: http://www.dhcommunications.com/free/mcn110207.htm

    (Did you know your post is now #3 for the search phrase “Harrys Orchards”?)

    Here is my latest blog post about the MotrinMoms meltdown on Twitter: http://marcom-writer-blog.com/?p=290

    And here is one about Rubicon’s latest report on social media: http://marcom-writer-blog.com/?p=287

  9. Bob Bly said:

    DH: This begs the question: of what benefit is it to me that I am #3 for Harry’s Orchard? I can discern no direct gain as a result of this.

  10. Dianna Huff said:

    Bob,

    It is of no benefit to you. But your post can *influence* someone to NOT BUY from Harry’s.

    Thus, it would really behoove Harry’s to monitor what people are saying about them on the Internet and respond to your post that they do NOT offer a guarantee.

    Go visit their Website. They don’t even explain it there, either.

  11. Dennis K said:

    Call me a bit dense but is social networking on the web, the likes of Facebook, Myspace, linkedin etc or is everyone discussing postings on bulletin boards on Yahoo or Google?

    I have never seen reviews of products, stores, people, merchandise on linkedin or Facebook.

    We do a lot of web optimizing, some paid search, and a bit of blogging to hep promote our web based company http://clecontactlenses.com.

    I come here for the great ideas, to get some feedback, as well as to share what information and experience I may have and at some point we will look for professional copyrighting help to help update our site.

  12. Chris Kalian said:

    I guess I’m late to the party. My brother Dennis and I are here to try and learn from the master. We are currently – living this blog post as we try our hand at building http://clecontactlenses.com by getting active on digg, propeller, reddit, twitter as well as other “social networking” sites. Jury is still out as to how effective our time spent has been. What I can say is that we have significantly improved the sites position ranking on alexa in the last few weeks by our teams efforts. Keep the faith !

  13. Rih Bazellle said:

    I too am involved in the project of getting our blog and sites noticed. I’ve spent an enormous amount of time in the past few months on these sites and hope these efforts will pan out.

  14. Kevin DaSilva said:

    I would have to agree with the point about “online Sales”…

    … but I would have to point out that Social Media Marketing presents the easiest and fastest way to rank high in Search Engines which for keywords that would take a very long time for a new site which…

    1. Generates Traffic Like Crazy To Social Page
    2. If Properly Set up With Links Will Drive People Back To Your $$ Site
    3. Builds Your Brand By Showing Your Expertize

    Social Marketing is just a way to “Drive Traffic” back to a site where sales can be generated!

    To me Social Marketing is the Middleman not the actual $$ Maker!

    Maybe I am misunderstanding the point here…

    Either way, Love The Blog and Convo’s being had daily…

    Thanks

  15. Essential Oils said:

    Just like any marketing strategy, you want to have a good “MIX” so that you don’t leave anybody out. I have personally signed up and wrote about my service on 75 different social networks.

    Of course it’s not my ONLY marketing strategy but one that I have seen bring me a ton of business. I recommend using it, not because some “guru” out there told you to but because I have personally seen it work.

  16. Morgan said:

    We’ve tried this tactic and it’s still too early to tell. You can build traffic with this method, but does it translate into sales?

  17. Home Water Purifiers said:

    Morgan, I have seen this work very well if the social network sites you sign up for all have your keywords in them. This way the traffic is targeted.

    Not all social media sites are created equal but there certainly are hundreds of them out there to choose from. Make sure to design your site around your keywords and give good information then join a few groups in that network. This takes some work but if you do what was mentioned above and only do one a week you will see huge results.

  18. Home Water Purifiers said:

    I forgot to mention that you should periodically go back and make minor changes so it doesn’t look like a spam blog or anything. But then again if you give good info, you have nothing to worry about.

  19. Ken Allard said:

    I think that many organizations are missing the real opportunity here. Companies can generate real revenue if they take advantage of their inherent market position. Everyone organization should try to answer these five questions:

    Do you act as a broker of goods or services?
    Do you provide content or advice to a significant percentage of a specific industry or consumer segment?
    Are you facing new competitors who generate revenue by aggregating audience around your content or by providing meta-content?
    Do you have data or knowledge within your organization that is obscure to your clients?
    Do you serve an audience that is highly fragmented?

    If the answer is yes, then they have a real revenue opportunity. I have written a lot more about this in my blog. Check it out. http://edgewatertech.wordpress.com/2009/01/23/generating-revenue-through-social-networks-part-i/

  20. sikis said:

    bit dense but is social networking on the web, the likes of Facebook, Myspace, linkedin etc or is everyone discussing postings on bulletin boards on Yahoo or Google?

    I have never seen reviews of products, stores, people, merchandise on linkedin or face

  21. adult nolveltees said:

    adult nolveltees…

    […]Do Social Networks Drive Online Revenues? – bly.com blog – bly.com direct marketing blog[…]…

  22. samsung 1080p hdtv said:

    I am enjoying your writing style in this article. You’ve made it engaging, unique and totally impressive. You have some great views on this subject. Thank you for sharing this. http://www.samsung1080phdtv.net/

  23. How To Lose Weight said:

    I am just getting started on the Internet. I am retired now. I can see that there is a rich diversity in the blogs I am reading and I am trying to leave some comment whereever I visit. I don’t understand everything that is in all the blogs that I read, but I like your presentation here in this blog. I have started my own blog and website. There was a place to include an email and address, so I have done that. It seems to be customary to include these so I hope that its ok with you. TheVeryBest2You 13 12

  24. Weight Loss said:

    I am taking the Internet seriously now. I am retired and can dive into it. There is quite a rich diversity of information in blogs so I am getting involved and commenting. I don’t understand everything that is in all the blogs that I read, but I like your presentation here in this blog. Well you know I have my own blog and website now. It is fun, to be sure. I have incuded a website and email address. I think it is ok that I incuded them since there seems to be a place to do that. Hope so anyway. TheVeryBest2You 13 9

  25. Accounting Logo Design said:

    One thing I have actually noticed is the fact that there are plenty of misguided beliefs regarding the banking institutions intentions whenever talking about home foreclosure. One fantasy in particular is the bank wishes to have your house. The bank wants your dollars, not the house. They want the amount of money they gave you with interest. Preventing the bank is only going to draw a new foreclosed realization. Thanks for your article.

  26. NYC Instagram Club said:

    The biggest social networking site on the planet just bought the world’s trendiest photo sharing mobile application – Instagram! Buyinstagram-likes.com was started to help our clients gain rapid and massive social recognition in Instagram.

  27. twitter followers said:

    Thanks for sharing your ideas. I might also like to express that video games have been ever evolving. Today’s technology and revolutions have helped create sensible and fun games. These kind of entertainment video games were not as sensible when the real concept was first being tried. Just like other designs of know-how, video games too have had to progress through many years. This is testimony for the fast development of video games.

  28. Scotty Trundy said:

    Offering Different Broadcast Formats. The Panasonic TX-P42U10B also offers different broadcast formats, from 1080, 108I, 720p, 480p and 480I, as well as supports 1080p or HDTV formats. The TV set has a viewing angle of 180 degrees, and it has a native aspect ratio of 16:9, and a wide-screen aspect ratio of 16:9.

  29. make twitter private said:

    You need to have a great amount of enthusiasm and flexibility in order to become a favorite photographer at events.
    The best place to get inexpensive props are rummages and thrift stores.
    A boudoir photography session will result in sensual photographs which will be taken of you in sexy underwear or even nude if you wish, however they are all taken extremely tastefully and so you do not need to worry that your gift for your partner will look tacky.

  30. ??? ?????? said:

    ??????????. ???????????????????????.

  31. Fashion Trends said:

    “Nice sharing, Thanks for sharing this type of posts, I search many time this type of post, are you interest to
    Fashion Trends

  32. Nighty said:

    This is awesome article for social media driven Bussiness

  33. One Dasty said:

    What we do here in our nursery is simple. We breed healthure our nursery comes first in breeding special colored pug puppies and french bulldog puppies here in the state. We also make sure all puppies adopted from us have the below characteristics.
    https://pugslandbreeder.company.com

  34. robert said:

    https://savannahbengal.company.com/

  35. MyLowesLife said:

    Thanks for sharing, I found a lot of interesting information here. A really good post, very thankful and helpful.

  36. Shop ECS said:

    Shop from ECS which is best shoes brand in pakistan. ECS is giving premium quality product which are cost-effective.

  37. Paujin tracking said:

    Thats great information . i want to share this

  38. Neha Kakkar said:

    Jab Haal E Dil Tumse Kehne Ko is sung by Alka Yagnik. Jab Haal E Dil Tumse Kehne Ko song lyrics are written by Surendra Sathi while its music is given by Nadeem and Shravan.

  39. Cedric Jacobs said:

    Thanks for sharing information on this upload. If you are interested in the blogging industry, check out the latest posts on this great site. Click Speed Test challenge. You know the click speed test is so entertaining and addictive. Read the article and have a good reading experience.

  40. Arijit said:

    Kishore Kumar Songs Lyrics – Get lyrics of all latest songs sung, composed or written by Kishore Kumar on LyricsOff.com

  41. Shahtaj said:

    Shahtaj Qaiser is one of the top women clothing brands in Pakistan. Discover your favorite outfit and upgrade your style with this unique and stylish collection. Shop now and stay on-trend with the latest fashion from Pakistan’s most famous designers.

  42. friseur stuhl said:

    A friseurstuhl vintage adds a nostalgic ambiance to the salon. These chairs often have a classic design and can be antique or retro-styled.

  43. valleerealestate said:

    Valleerealestate presents a diverse array of Burnaby Townhouses to cater to your unique preferences and lifestyle. Immerse yourself in the beauty of this dynamic city, known for its green spaces, top-notch amenities, and excellent connectivity.

  44. BabyBoxShop said:

    Discover the perfect baby gift set that combines practicality with style. Our carefully curated sets include a variety of essential items, such as clothing, bibs, blankets, and more. Thoughtfully arranged and beautifully packaged, these gift sets make for a memorable and convenient choice for both the gifter and the new parents.

  45. iHost VPS said:

    iHost VPS presents PS Linux Desktop , a versatile solution for users seeking a Linux-based virtual environment. With our VPS, you can enjoy the flexibility and control that Linux offers, tailored to your specific requirements.

  46. iHost VPS said:

    Experience top-tier hosting services tailored for the American market with iHost VPS. Our American VPS Hosting solutions are strategically located to ensure optimal performance and reliability for users based in the United States. Enjoy lightning-fast load times and seamless operation, backed by our expert support team available 24/7. Trust iHost VPS for hosting that prioritises speed, accessibility, and excellence, specifically designed for an American audience.

  47. BabyBoxShop said:

    Shower gifts are perfect for celebrating baby showers—a joyous occasion filled with excitement and anticipation. Discover thoughtful gifts that convey your best wishes to expecting parents.

  48. BSNS Consulting said:

    Business Consultancy and Services. Our team is committed to enhancing your company’s revenue and efficiency through comprehensive advisory, strategic planning, and process optimization. Whether you need help with market entry strategies or performance improvement, we’ve got you covered with end-to-end solutions.

  49. iHost VPS said:

    Experience feature-rich virtual server hosting without breaking your budget. Our cheap USA VPS hosting plans provide a reliable and high-performance environment for your websites and applications. Benefit from our cutting-edge infrastructure and USA-based data centres to ensure top-notch performance and accessibility for your online projects.

  50. CaVPS Host said:

    With CaVPS Host, gain secure and efficient access to your virtual private server through our Remote Desktop Protocol. Our services are designed to deliver seamless connectivity, allowing you to manage your server resources effortlessly with VPS Remote Desktop Experience top-tier performance and reliability.

  51. We Buy Dead Stocks.. said:

    Turn your Scrap Metal into cash with We Buy Dead Stocks, the largest dead stocks buyer in the UAE. We offer top prices for your surplus materials, promoting sustainability and responsible recycling. Sell your scrap metal today and make the most of your unused resources.

  52. Tiptop-einrichtung said:

    Friseureinrichtung refers to the overall furnishings and equipment within a hair salon. Creating the perfect ambiance in a hair salon is essential for both customers and staff. “Friseureinrichtung,” or hair salon furnishings, encompasses a range of elements that contribute to the overall design and functionality of a salon.

Leave a Reply