As he began an afternoon panel discussion on social media at Argyle’s CMO Leadership Forum in New York, Doug Weaver, president of digital ad consultancy Upstream Group, asked how many in the audience could offer a clear definition of “social media.” Perhaps it was sluggishness just after the buffet lunch, but out of roughly 150 people in the room, little more than a dozen gave a show of hands. Introducing Tom Arrix, VP, media sales east at Facebook, and Jamie Byrne, head of client solutions and ad programs for YouTube, Weaver observed: “We’ve got our work cut out for us.” Some of the lessons in social media the three touched on included:

-- ROI and social nets: “Return on investment” is probably the wrong thing to be looking for. Instead, the acronym should stand for “return on involvement,” Arrix said. The usual standard of audience “reach” is too limited when it comes to social media and “things like click-through rates don’t cut it. Return on ‘involvement’ looks at what users are saying about your brand. For example, are users taking your message and sharing it with their friends? Every client we do business with, we tell them, ‘You have to divorce yourself from what you’ve done before.’”

-- Clear objectives versus flexibility: YouTube and Facebook have literally “tons” of user data at their disposal. But Byrne complained that too often, clients aren’t certain what they want to do with that information. Weaver suggested that the uncertain marketer try by using the information culled by social net sites to research targeted audiences and approach online communities, at least initially, as you would a focus group. Though he finds social nets to be more reliable: “It could be a bigger win if you go in with an open mind, as opposed to having a hard and fast set of objectives. You get people as they really are, unguarded, as opposed to focus groups catching people on their way to the Popcorn Factory at the mall.”

-- Budgeting for social media: Where should the money come from for social net marketing efforts? From the advertising budget From media buying From the overall marketing budget A portion of the funds earmarked for interactive It doesn’t matter, Byrne and Arrix said. Byrne: “We think the primary budgets are going to come from marketing and ad budgets. The challenge for a CMO is how to use us...” Arrix: “Social media marketing has to be part of the core marketing strategy, but it can come from marketing or media. We’re seeing custom research and holding companies coming to us to partner on studying the data. Usually, every great idea gets funded, so it doesn’t matter which bucket it comes from.”

-- The CMO’s role: Bring all the parts of the marketing mix together, Byrne advised, adding: “Many CMOs toss the social media program to the interactive shop: ‘You guys figure it out.’ Now, a media agency might understand our platform better, but they don’t have the creative execution. Many creatives still think in terms of 30-second spots. It’s up to the CMO to get total coordination from those various areas.”