As I sift through volumes of recent data and insight regarding social media (SM) and ROI, I am transported back in time. Long before Twitter and other SM platforms existed, we in the experiential marketing space faced the same brand team doubts and ROI questions:

• “How in the world can this expense be justified?”
• “How do we know if we got our money’s worth?”
• “Can you compare it to TV? We understand TV!”

A decade later, experiential marketing is an accepted entity while the “new kid on the block,” social media, is taking the brunt of industry skepticism. We experiential marketers must push for (and facilitate) the understanding of ROI in social media because we are inextricably linked by our disciplines’ abilities to significantly affect consumer mindset and – subsequently – consumer behavior. Our best practices bring out the best ROI in each other.

Experiential marketing is the epicenter, the nexus, the place where groupthink – or whatever you want to name it – happens. It’s where shared experience drives the sharing of the experience. It’s where the brand connects with the consumer, and the consumer becomes the conduit to their social network.

Because of social media, the energy of the brand experience is more easily broadcast to like-minded consumers. Engaged consumers at an event like Bacardi B-LIVE will share the experience with simpaticos in person and via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, etc. The digital ripple that emanates from the event is mighty, and it is measurable.

One tangible outcome of a powerful engagement such as B-LIVE is enhanced search engine optimization (SEO). A brand can climb the list in organic search by virtue of consumers blogging and driving traffic through comments on Twitter, Facebook, etc.. Give consumers a rich, sustained experiential and social media campaign experience to talk about, and they will do so. The more they mention the brand, the better the search results ultimately become.

It’s a finely knit garment, this blend of experiential marketing, social media, and SEO…but it’s real, it’s tangible, and it can be measured. It creates profound brand affinity and likelihood-to-purchase shifts in the consumer mindset.

For additional information about the ROI of social media, you may find the articles below helpful:

• HOW TO: Measure Social Media ROI
• 8 Predictions for SEO in 2010
• The Only Social Media Metric that Matters

We attended Lolla last week to see some music and catch a quality contact buzz – mission accomplished. We also attended as students of the industry, eager to observe what brands brands were doing to activate their sponsorships. Typically, there were the brands that are aware that Lolla is a young, hip music focused event and then there are the brands that come off like mom chaperoning at a high school dance.

The Good – Adidas
Adidas had a couple of really engaging experiences. Concertgoers were invited to design a pair of shoes on a custom Mac for  Lolla performers: Kings of Leon, A-Trak or Kid Cudi. The artists chose the winners and both the designer and artist were given a pair of the custom shoes. How cool.

Lollapalooza - Custom Adidas

There was also a VW van set up to showcase shoes. You could check out all the classic sneakers, get product info and also get you photo taken next to the VW. A Photo Card was given out which directed to a URL where you could upload your photo after submitting some info – can you say data capture.

Lollapalooza - Adidas VW

Finally, Adidas had a marker board filled with classic sneaker illustrations. Consumers were invited to color in the illustration and ultimately create a piece of community created artwork  – can you find the oh-so-clever obscenities.

Lollapalooza - Adidas Marker Board

The Bad – Energizer
Energizer put a couple of frightened girls in oversized, pink, Hanes Beefy Ts out in front of the main entrance. They handed out free battery powered phone chargers – how useful. The girls had no battery-powered chargers for the #1 selling phone on the planet earth – how sad.

Lollapalooza - Energizer

I crack up every time I see a slightly inebriated sign waver in a soiled gorilla suit, frantically waving an offer for “$5 Pizza,” “Taxes Done Now” or “Buy a Lazy-Boy, Get a Free Plasma TV.

I created a not-so-scientific competition between a sign waver for a local pizza shop and a Google Ad Word campaign for Javelin. The competition was full-on for a nail-biting 24 hours. Results?

IMPRESSIONS
Sign Waver – 22 (cars that drove by)
Google – 75,000

HOURS WORKED
Sign Waver – 2.4 (he was supposed to work 6 but ended up passing out)
Google – 24

ACTIVATION
Sign Waver – ? (I spoke with the pizza manager and he said, “it’s probably a waste but I pay him cash.”)
Google – 32 clicks

COST
Sign Waver – $20
Google – $10

So who wins?  Extrapolated over one month, Javelin’s Google Ad generates 1,000,000+ impressions and hundreds of unique visitors to the website while Pizza Shop’s frantic sign waver generates 3,750 impressions.  While Javelin is a casual office, showing up drunk in a gorilla suit is always frowned upon.  We’ll let you decide who the real winner is, Pizza Shop or Javelin…