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Chapter 8 Social Media Information Systems
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However, clicks aren’t the final story either. Because ads take up so much more space on
mobile devices than they do on PCs, many of the mobile clicks could have been accidental.
Conversion rate measures the frequency that someone who clicks on an ad makes a purchase,
“likes” a site, or takes some other action desired by the advertiser. According to Monetate, conver-
sion rates for PCs (3.41 percent) are higher than those for tablets (2.86 percent) or smartphones
(0.92 percent). So, on average, PC ad clicks are more effective than mobile clicks. 29
Clickstream data is easy to gather, and as we have seen, analyses of it are widespread. It’s pos-
sible, for example, to measure click and conversion rates by type of mobile device. According to
Moovweb, iOS users have higher conversion rates than Android users, 1.18 percent versus 1.04
30
percent. But why? Is it the device? Is it the way the ads are integrated into the user experience?
Is it the user? Are iOS users more curious than Android users? Or do they have more spendable
income? We do not know for sure.
What we can conclude from this morass of confusing data, however, is that mobile devices
are most unlikely to spell the death of the Web/social media revenue model. The users are there,
the interest is there, and what remains is a design problem: how best to configure the mobile
experience to obtain legitimate clicks and conversions. The computer industry is superb at solv-
ing design problems; given the current dynamic evolution of mobile interfaces and USX, active,
interesting, and compelling ways of presenting ads in iOS/Android/Windows 10 environments
are just around the corner.

Q8-5 How Do Organizations Develop an Effective SMIS?

Users forget that digital content on At this point in your reading, you know what SMIS are, why they are important, and how they
social media can last forever. Read generate revenue. Now you need to know how to develop an effective SMIS that is strategically
more about this in the Security aligned with your organization’s goals. In Q8-2, you saw that SM can be used to benefit an organi-
Guide on pages 358–359.
zation, but how do you get to that point? We’re not talking about a recipe for turning your organi-
zation into the next Facebook. Rather, the steps shown in Figure 8-9 walk you through the process
of developing a practical plan to effectively use existing social media platforms.
Many companies are still unsure how to use SM. They want to use it, but they’re
unsure how to facilitate their existing competitive strategy. Think back to Porter’s model for

1. Define Your Goals

2. Identify Success Metrics

3. Identify Target Audience

4. Define Your Value

5. Make Personal Connections

Figure 8-9 6. Gather and Analyze Data
Social Media Plan Development