The Answers Social Media Infographics Provide (And The Questions They Raise)

Social media has obviously revolutionized the way brands connect with consumers. And with the hundreds of thousands of ways that marketers have planted themselves in our digital lives, sometimes it's nice to step back and admire the magnitude of social media marketing.

This infographic on Mashable examines some of the larger examples of effective campaigns based on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and location-based services like Foursquare. There are plenty of numbers on the infographic, but here's a quick sampling:

• 12 million YouTube views for the "Will It Blend?" iPad video over 4 months
• 86.5 million impressions for Coca-Cola's promoted trending topic in June 2010
• 11% consumers say they would buy something offered only to Facebook fans.
• 184,000 people participated in a 3-month Buffalo Wild Wings SCVNGR campaign

Of course, stats like this stir mixed emotions from people like me who work on the marketing/PR side of social media. On one hand, these numbers prove the impact social media marketing can have, as well as the sheer potential that exists online.

However, looking only at social media marketing's biggest successes (or failures for that matter) tend to skew the perception of brands looking to get into social media.

A company who only sees these grandiose examples of pages with thousands of fans or videos may come to expect that incredibly high level of success as normal. And when a campaign falls short of those lofty expectations, they may not see the value in social media even if the campaign was objectively successful.

The problem, however, can be solved by clearly defining the client's expectations before the campaign is agreed to. This should also include discussing the client's idea of success and, if need be, an honest assessment of what the client should expect from their social media efforts.