In this completely connected, totally viral, absolutely transparent, geo-targeted, digital world we live and work in… you have to be social. But how do you justify the time and expense it takes to maintain that presence?

Now that social media has passed the point of “why do I need it” to “what do I do with it” the quest to determine the ROI of social media has become more complex.

Since you are asking people to put numeric quantities around human interactions and conversations, which are difficult to quantify, trying to determine the exact return on your investment is not easy and in the long run, may not a good idea. To really understand the impact of social media and social technology on an event, promotion, brand awareness or even product sales, people need to measure the “ROE” … return on engagement.

At Medial Needle, we have been finding valuable “returns” manifesting themselves in ways not always anticipated at the onset as a result of our marketing efforts. More and more, we’ve come to see these unexpected fruits and proverbial rewards only appear because social media was strategically integrated into a marketing agenda.

For example, Media Needle recently executed a food campaign outreach program. While servicing a very small, archaic and insular cooking listserv, we uncovered a hive of influential webmasters; each with robust email lists and social media profiles. So what at first appeared initially to be a seemingly insignificant target community mushroomed into one of the campaigns top case studies. Clearly social media bears the markings of what we once more readily called “viral marketing”. Another campaign had us establish a quality dialog with a key target community. Despite a lull in activity on the client’s end, we maintained the relationship. Six months later, the two partnered successfully for a robust promotion. Anticipating these in conventional ROI terms, especially at the onset of the campaigns would have been impossible.

Thinking about social media in terms of a simple bottom line number puts the whole thing on an old school path of problems and risks, missing great opportunities. Essentially, you have to stop relying solely on the numbers. With social media the trick is to focus on what your numbers end up leading to.  ROI is an effect of quality ROE.

If your goal is to participate in the conversation, to enhance your relationship with your audience and become a trusted member of the community that surrounds your brand; then your ROE has been set into motion. Once you’ve paved this foundation, the more conventional ROI models of sales, registrations, new followers and fans etc. will begin to kick-in, proving the benefits of a well-engaged social media agenda versus a dry and uninspired one.

Finally, ROE like everything else social media related, has a variety of definitions.  Here are two good ones:  We wish to cite Jason Falls’ here http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/2008/10/28/what-is-the-roi-for-social-media/

Sarah Evans’ different but complimentary tome here: http://prsarahevans.com/2009/05/15-ways-to-measure-return-on-engagement-roe-of-social-media/ as a valuable point of reference.

Every seven seconds someone in America turns 50

77 million people were born between 1946 and 1964. By 2015, the AARP predicts that       people aged 50 and older will represent 45% of the U.S. population.

These consumers matter and advertisers should pay attention.

The largest age group in the United States

According to the U.S. Census, in 2010, 49 will be the single largest age group in the United States. In 2010, adults 45 and older are predicted to out-spend younger adults by $1 trillion.

Where do casinos, health-care organizations and political campaigns — examples of advertisers whose models depend a lot on the 55-plus demographic — advertise if most broadcast outlets are programming toward younger demographics?

The answer is social networks

Internet monitoring site comScore, estimates 16.5 million adults age 55 and older currently engage in social networking.

Baby boomers, are finding social networking sites appealing for the same reasons younger people do – to stay connected. Of course the older you are, the more likely you are to be interested in reconnecting with long lost friends and classmates you haven’t talked to in more than 30 years.

Boomers like to Blog

Most people believe that all of the blogging, Twittering and Facebooking is being done by twenty and thirty-somethings.  However the facts tell a different story.

The fastest growing users of social networking sites

According to a Consumer Electronics Usage Survey from Accenture, Baby Boomers (those born 1946-1964) are the fastest growing users of social networking sites and are increasingly reading blogs.  Meanwhile Gen Y interest in these services has started to plateau.

Baby boomers are social

• Increased reading blogs and listening to podcasts by 67 percent year over year; nearly 80 times faster than Gen Y (1 percent)
• Posted a 59 percent increase in using social networking sites—more than 30 times faster than Gen Y (2 percent)
• Increased watching/posting videos on the Internet by 35 percent—while Gen Y usage decreased slightly (-2 percent)
• Accelerated playing video games on the go via mobile devices by 52 percent— 20 times faster than Gen Y (2 percent)
• Increased listening to music on an iPod or other portable music player by 49 percent—more than four times faster than Gen Y (12 percent)

Gen Y is falling behind

• Participation slipped in virtual worlds from 23 percent to 19 percent
• Consumed no more video online than they did last year
• Blogged and contributed to wikis less ( down from 35 to 33 percent)

Grandma loves Facebook

According to Facebook, their fastest growing demographic is those 35 years old and older. According to iStrategyLabs, Facebook has a user base of 18.1 million users, and the number of users age 55 and over has grown from a negligible 950,000 to 5.9 million in a mere six months, which equates to a 513.7% increase.

Look who’s on MySpace

Even MySpace, with 130 million users, is enjoying a surge among the 55-plus set, who total 6.9 million users and spend an average 204 minutes a month on the site.

The AARP gets social

In just one year, over 350,000 users created 1,700 groups celebrating everything from gardening to social activism on the AARP.org social networking platform. This 55-plus online Community encourages users to meet new adult friends and socialize with one another by sharing photos and videos, playing online games, asking advice, writing in a journal, and chatting with their connections. As social networking evolves, older consumers are becoming more and more involved with social networking sites. According to a study conducted by the AARP, 58% of members over 50 access their online community several times a day.

Boomers like to share

These sites are where Boomers share their opinions, and brands are starting to realize social networking is a great way to connect with this increasingly large group and wealthy group of consumers. In a world where few people live close to family or old friends, social media sites are making it easier for everyone to reconnect.

Everybody’s doing it

Whether it’s congressmen Twittering during presidential speeches, parents connecting with high school flames on Facebook or empty-nesters planning group outings on grown-up sites such as Eons.com, Baby Boomers are a growing part of social media’s evolution, becoming more connected and more engaged than ever before.

Everyone is Sharing Location Based Information

This year, Twitter, Foursquare, Loopt,  Gowalla, Google and Facebook will all make it easier for people to share real-time, location based information and post location-aware updates.

This past December, on Christmas day Facebook was the most trafficked web site in the United States. Now it wants all of it’s users to become more open. Altering the default settings on millions of people’s status updates, in the hopes of making more Facebook updates public and searchable.

Get Ready for Location-Aware Status Updates

Sometime later this year Facebook will start to implement opt-in location-aware status updates. Knowing where your Facebook friends are having lunch or going for a run is a just as important, if not more so, than knowing that they’re doing it. So in much the same way that Foursquare shows you check-ins from friends and people checked in at events, Facebook will provide context around status updates in the wild, but on a much broader scale.

The social element of this voluntary disclosure allows marketers to tap into an engaged network of users and offer special promotions based on reported location. We expect FourSquare and other apps with a hybrid location/social-networking component to grow significantly in 2010.

Geo-Targeted Marketing

As the number of GPS-enabled devices continues to rise, expect to see a variety of innovative marketing solutions created to facilitate geo-targeting (i.e. in-aisle, in-store or in-proximity) and automated direct-marketing campaigns that are pushed to consumers with GPS-enabled mobile devices.

Business Will Capitalize on Location-Based Services

With the growth of location-based services and mobile apps, business now has the chance to minutely target consumers.

Of course this explosion of location based information will no doubt lead to main stream media stories of location-sharing gone wrong and will be used as cautionary tales for those who live their lives too openly. But once people begin to understand the value of connecting through location, more and more local business will capitalize on location-based services on social networks and mobile devices.

Fake user accounts can be created and added to fan pages. Message boards and blogs can be populated with phony praise for a brand from “product plants” masquerading as real enthusiasts. It’s easy to see why lying can be so tempting, with its minimal effort and immediate results.

To keep from going astray, marketers should adopt a code of conduct that governs their online interactions. Luckily, the industry leader on all things word-of-mouth marketing, WOMMA, has created such a code. From WOMMA’s website:

It’s all about the Honesty ROI. Ethical word of mouth marketers always strive for transparency and honesty in all communications with consumers, with advocates, and with those people who advocates speak to on behalf of a product.

* Honesty of Relationship – you say who you’re speaking for
* Honesty of Opinion – you say what you truly believe; you never shill
* Honesty of Identity – you say who you are; you never falsify your identity

Media Needle knows there are no shortcuts to building brand loyalty and awareness. We follow our own strict code of conduct that closely mirrors WOMMA’s, which means our brand ambassadors never lie about who they are or whom they are representing. We simply care too much about our clients to allow that to happen. And, as fellow consumers, we wouldn’t want to be lied to either.

Plus, the consequences are too great. Not only does lying ensure bad karma that can follow you into future lifetimes, once a consumer/fan discovers the dishonesty — which is inevitable — the breakdown of trust between the consumer/fan and client will reverberate well into this lifetime as people let their friends and family know, which means negative word-of-mouth that results in diminished trust of your brand. That’s the exact opposite of what needs to happen when promoting a product, service or event.

There’s also the pesky fact that dishonest marketing simply doesn’t work. A million fake user accounts will never translate into increased traffic, sales or referrals, because buzz in a vacuum can never be a substitute for genuine consumer/fan engagement. Granted, this engagement is hard work — it’s time-consuming and costly. It requires dedication and patience, and actually listening to both the client and the consumer/fan.

But it’s the only road to results.

1.Business Becomes Social

With widespread adoption of social media for marketing, advertising and customer engagement, 2010 will be “the year social media goes corporate.” This means all types of agencies (advertising, digital and PR) will continue to look for ways to help clients participate in social media. But the real trend is the increasing number of Small Business owners who are using social media to attract and retain customers.

2.More Places To Share Video

Video is exploding across all communication platforms and will continue to play an important role in social media. As more and more blogs include links to video content and as mobile devices expand the use of video, we will see even more video content in all aspects of digital, mobile and social media.

3.Mobile Becomes The Viewing Choice For Social Media.

With approximately 70 percent of organizations banning social networks and, sales of smartphones on the rise, more and more people are turning to their mobile phone to connect with social media. As a result, we will see more mobile versions of social media sites.

4.Smartphones Make Websites Smarter

With more consumers using smartphones, websites will start to recognize when a user is viewing content on a phone and be able to deliver more specific, personalized, local content to mobile users.

5.Status Updates Fill Jobs

In 2010 more and more jobs will be posted through social networks. With the increased use of social networks, companies are realizing that announcing a job on an employee’s social networking site is easier and more cost effective than paying $400 for a 30 day job posting and getting 95% bad candidates or paying a recruiter 30-35%.

6.News Feeds Influence Investors

An increasing number of retail and institutional investors are using financial blogs and social networks to communicate and drive investment ideas. Although companies have been slow to adopt, 2010 will be the year that companies understand the opportunity and importance of embracing these channels and engaging with their investors and stakeholders.

7. Customers Speak Up On Fan Pages

Social media is being used to improve customer service. In 2010 more companies will start leveraging social media platforms to gauge the

customer mood, gain insights about specific groups, test products and improve customer relationships. Sites like Facebook will be used to run tailored marketing campaigns to change consumers attitudes, address problems and give customers a chance to share true feeling on a fan page.

8. Social Networks Spend More Time On The Phone

Mobile social networks and communities continue to grow at a staggering rate. Social networking and consumer generated media are no longer limited to a wired computer. Separate reports from M:Metrics and ABI Research show a surge of social media activity via mobile handsets.  According to mobile research firm M:Metrics, mobile social networking is projected to grow to over 800 million users worldwide by 2012.

9. Everyone plays Together

More and more platforms are becoming complimentary of each other (ie. Twitter open API model) increasing integration of social media platforms.

As more companies adopt some type of integration with major social platforms, niche social platforms will need to work on mobile, Facebook and Twitter to gain major traction. In particular, the market is just begging for an app where a user can manage all social platforms in one place, for both aggregating and disseminating content.

10. Social Networks Work For The Government

Many government agencies are already using Twitter and Facebook for crisis communications. However more and more federal, state and local government agencies will start using to social media. G-Commerce will evolve. New applications will be developed to directly deliver services and benefits to citizens via smartphones.

While not digital, these assets grab attention

One of the most interesting things we see happen time and time again – most recently with a film promotion – is the lack of basic digital assets. What are these? We’re talking a logo, a few banners, images, video, widgets, editorial content and whatever else you can provide your team and the public-at-large with to make their engagement with your brand or project more visually stimulating and relevant.

The more you have, the more they get used…and shared…and re-used on other sites whereby expanding your reach and awareness well beyond the narrow focus of your website and/or social media profiles. By the way, bloggers love to have assets to punctuate their posts. Most of the time, these items are quick and easy to develop. They can be created on an ongoing basis as other items are being prepared such as offline marketing materials, packaging or other online media. One quick side note while we are talking about creating – when you start designing, think about your social media profiles which, let’s face it, are de rigueur. Start building and skinning your Facebook or Twitter profiles while building everything else.

Oh and finally, if you want people to run with your brand (and remember, this is what happens with all successful brands anyway) you might as well make these assets easy to share. We love how Groupon kills two birds with one stone via their “e-schwag” widget-meets-banner.