There's no time for fluffy social media
We can't afford to be fluffy around social media. According to this article, 73% of CEOs say they don't believe marketers drive revenue. 
If this data is anything to go by, we have a serious problem on our hands. Essentially, what this means is that marketing is too often perceived as the "fluffy" stuff.
As marketers, we have a responsibility to change this perception.
We do this by showing how our marketing efforts drive results. And this includes, now more than ever, our social media efforts.
How do we show results from social media ?
If we continue to report back to CEOs in terms of the amount of facebook fans or twitter followers our marketing budget generated, marketing will continue to be seen as a non-contributor.
Similarly, reporting around 'brand awareness' is a further reason why CEOs have little choice but to be unimpressed with social media efforts.
The solution - Report to CEOs in metrics they care about - leads
Leads mean money.
Leads are also a brilliant indicator to tell whether or not a marketing campaign is working - which helps marketers be more agile in making decisions - which also contributes to the results CEOs are looking for.
Social media measurment
If you can't show results from your social media campaign, you're not going to get the support, let alone the budget you need to need to implement it successfully.
You need to be be able to show how your social media activity is generating revenue.
If you can't measure it, you shouldn't be doing it.
Parting Question - how are you measuring results in social media?
