April's Social Media Breakfast

"Social Media ROI: Necessary...But Not Evil"

The ROI discussion is common place nowadays in Social Media. It often conjures a heated debate.

Depending on whom you talk to and what’s important to your strategy and goals, there are various ways to measure the “return” on all the time you and your company spend engaging with prospects and customers. Personally, I’ve heard various “experts” site focus on impact, impressions, followers, engagement, phone traffic, walk-in traffic…and about a dozen other metrics they’ve deemed worthy.

As a business owner, half the battle after getting a Social Media skeleton up and running seems to be how to engage with the audience. The other half is what tools to use to be more efficient.

As a marketer, aside from finding the right audience, measurement is everything. Measurement of audience, time, results…it determines how we charge, how we get paid and whether or not we get to stay employed. Traditional media measurement doesn’t apply, but there are methods to the madness.

We’re happy to have Eric Boggs and Adam Covati from Argyle Social in Durham, NC as guest presenters on this challenging topic. Please join me and the rest of Charlotte’s "Social Media explorers" on April 22nd at Mez in the EpiCentre for another informative and in-depth Social Media Breakfast.

I look forward to seeing you,

Nathan Richie, Chairman
Social Media Breakfast/Charlotte
#SMBclt

Argyle Social is a software-as-a-service platform that helps marketers link their social media efforts to business outcomes. The platform provides marketers the tools they need to quantify the impact of their social media marketing efforts: cross-channel reporting, campaign/data aggregation, conversion tracking, boss-friendly dashboards, and much more.

Eric Boggs - Founder & CEO
http://twitter.com/ericboggs

Under Eric's leadership, Argyle Social has quickly gained traction in the emerging social media marketing software space. Less than six months after launch, Argyle has received a grant from NC IDEA, assembled a top-tier team, and built an impressive list of alpha users.

Prior to launching Argyle, Eric was employee #3 - and the first full-time hire - at Bronto Software. He joined the company in April 2003 and helped grow annualized revenue by 10X during a 2-year stint as the company's sole sales resource. Eric subsequently held management and product roles before he left the company in 2007 to attend graduate school. In 2009, Inc. Magazine ranked Bronto #1096 out of the 5000 fastest growing private companies in America.

Eric received a BSBA from UNC Chapel Hill in 2002 and an MBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School in 2009, where he was a Dean's Fellow.

Adam Covati - Founder & CTO
http://twitter.com/covati

Adam has deep experience in both the product and technical side of software-as-a-service, particularly in the online marketing sector. He is a recognized online marketing expert and frequently speaks at email marketing, social media, and web analytics events. Adam is a member of the Email Experience Council and a lead organizer for several Triangle-based professional organizations.

Adam received a BS in Computer Science from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

**Argyle Social is working on a social media measurement survey and would LOVE to get input from YOU prior to our March 16th breakfast meet up. Depending on the number of responses, they may be able to bring some additional insight from the survey.

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY

Who Should Attend? Anyone with intermediate to advanced understanding of Social Media, web2.0, SEO, marketing and media. This event hopes to promote a higher level discussion and is NOT AN ENTRY LEVEL DISCUSSION.

Date: Thursday, April 22nd
Time: 7:30 am to 9:00 am
Location: Mez at the EpiCentre in Uptown Charlotte
Cost: $15 per person including a continental breakfast buffet, coffee/water, tax and gratuity. (parking is validated)

National History:
The Social Media Breakfast was founded by Bryan Person in August 2007 as an event where social media experts and newbies alike come together to eat, meet, share, and learn. Marketers, PR pros, entrepreneurs, bloggers, podcasters, new-media fanatics, and online social networkers are all welcome to attend. The breakfast series began in Boston and has now spread to more than a dozen cities throughout the United States and around the world.