Nowadays, buzz around brands on the news, blogs, tweets and other social media that spreads through product launches, PR campaigns, earnings reports are as valuable as traditional ad campaigns. But buzz and social dialogue on the web is tough to quantify. General Sentiment has released a report that calculates the dollar value of the buzz, content, and conversation taking place online.

via The Value Of Online Buzz For The Top 20 Brands

My guess is that measuring social media marketing performance will become more sophisticated over 2010 as companies make significant investment in this channel.  Either in-house or through 3rd party tools, measurement systems will evolve so that tracking ROI will become more streamlined.

The bottom line is if you’re not leading the discussion in your industry online, then someone else is, so take this opportunity while the iron is hot to get involved in creating your own buzz.  This doesn’t need to be an elaborate or expensive endeavor.

For starters, I suggest you use your industry knowledge and passion for your market to create new and compelling content.  This could be a series of videos, an ebook, or a new podcast that engages your audience.  Put yourself in your customers shoes – what message or communication would excite them and create a little buzz?

This is the approach I’ve taken with my latest video tutorial series on How to Podcast from your Mac.  The response has been terrific and my videos have been picked up by a few influential leaders in the podcasting market.  I’m getting new traffic to my blog, comments on Twitter and Facebook, and requests for help.  It’s a simple, yet highly effective method of getting your company’s face out there and generating interest.

What do you think?  How is your company building online buzz and what’s working well?  Are you measuring ROI vs. traditional ad campaigns?

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2. Finding your Rhythm for Blogging, Social Media and Engaging Customers Online
3. Monetize your blog by creating and selling a digital product online
4. Repurposing existing content for an additional boost to your online marketing and communications strategy
5. Blogs are perhaps the most powerful online marketing tool available

Twitter and Facebook can help grow your business online. These are the two most popular social media marketing networks and if use appropriately you can effectively find and engage customers in conversation.

Maybe you want to provide customer support or communicate new offers in a timely basis. The key is these platforms offer a place to listen to your market and engage in dialogue to better understand the needs of your new and existing customers.

In this video I highlight the key considerations such as:

• Find prospects in your niche market
• Connect with existing customers
• Bring personality to your business
• Share time-sensitive news & offers
• Drive traffic back to your website
• Deliver responsive customer service
• Monitor competitive activity

Related posts:

1. Why Would I Want a Facebook Page for my Business?
2. Facebook Via – Twitter Retweet Meets Facebook Allowing Friends to Easily Share Content
3. Corporate Facebook Pages Proliferate and Attract Loyal Customer Base
4. Tracking Customer Conversations Across the Web
5. Twitter Search RSS Feeds to Find Customers and Blog Content (Video)