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3. Most Businesses are Scratching Their Heads: In 2012 the Direct Marketing Association reported social media as the number one item where marketing budgets would be allocated, yet over 80% of Chief Market- ing Officers (CMOs) are unprepared to fully integrate social media. vii This exposes where many businesses are at today – on social, yet unsure of what to do there. Simply put, this means more opportunities for businesses willing to forge ahead and establish a social media strategy. There is a myth that social media cannot prove its return on investment (ROI), which is not entirely true. First off, ask the CMO of a company who ran a television ad during the Super Bowl what their ROI was on the millions of dollars they spent on a 30-sec- ond spot. The look on his or her face will serve as a reminder that many of the trusted forms of traditional advertising and marketing don't always deliver much clarity on the associated ROI. To the contrary, all activity in the digital space can be tracked, so impressions, clicks and conversions become available in real time. What cannot be captured is the affinity created between a brand and their customer or user. There are intangibles that impact the bottom line that cannot be tracked and social media factors into these areas be- cause its application and effect has such a wide span. It's go time with social and digital marketing. It's not an emerging media anymore, it's here, it's everywhere, it's now. Given the lack of confidence and strategy that the majority of businesses have shown, this can be your competitive advantage… but you must act now. 4. Social Media Can Be Time Consuming: Truth be told, social media can take up a lot of time. However, there are many viable solutions to the social time challenge. By handling social by committee and staying focused, it's entirely manageable to absorb social into your team's daily workflow. A note of caution on automation: While it may be an attractive concept, using full au- tomation solutions for social media is about as smart and effective as hiring a robot to go out and get you a date. Human beings can easily sniff out automated attempts at relationship building, so it's a mistake going beyond the thought. There are many tools to help people manage, monitor and execute social in a more streamlined manner, but full automation is a mistake. Domino's Pizza's awkward apology to a complimentary Facebook message from a customer that read, "Best Pizza Ever!" offers a singular example of how automation can go awry. viii Domino's was quick to do damage control to the message sent by their customer service bot, but this should serve as a cautionary tale to businesses consid- ering social media automation. 5. Head In The Sand is Not a Viable Business Option: Though it would be convenient, a business cannot just claim ignorance and be ex- cused. The reason that many business executives fear social media is that everyone has a voice… "What if they say something bad?" This is more of a case for using social ProformaSocial.com

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