This morning, our account executive Anna shared with us a piece she read from Advertising Age. The piece, entitled “Why Metrics are Killing Creativity,” really hit home to those of us in the ad world.

Don’t get us wrong; metrics definitely have a place of importance in the ad world. We are realistic, we know our clients have to measure success somehow, to see a return on their investment. But it becomes tough when we’re ONLY thinking about numbers. When metrics inhibit taking risks or executing strategic creative because we’re not considering anything but how many impressions, leads, clicks, conversions, etc. we’re going to get, we’ve become sorely misguided.

While numbers can’t be everything, neither can creativity: don’t do it for the sake of doing it. This is where strategy comes in. Having a cool ad is one thing. Having a fresh, big, new campaign that is targeted at your audience and will resonate with them on an emotional level is another. The latter, if done with strategic purpose, can (and will) deliver the numbers and metrics that we rely on. But to get there you have to put the metrics aside and step outside of the numbers box.

And as much as metrics has become the norm for measuring success, we cannot and must not deny the emotional aspect of branding. Emotional connections are what cause people to identify with brands. Its the break from the norm, the challenge of convention, that stays with consumers. Not the numbers.

In a year full of not-so-spectacular economic news, a new study about social media gives hope to brands who may be struggling due to the recession. The study, conducted by WetPaint and the Altimeter Group, revealed that companies that were active social media users were experiencing more financial success than companies that were not.

The study focused on 100 brands from the BusinessWeek/Interbrand Best Global Brand Report from 2008. When the social media efforts of the brands were examined,  each brand was assigned a number ranging from 1 to 127. Brands that were very active in social media saw a revenue increase of 18 %, while the least engaged saw a decrease of 6 %.

So, no David Letterman. Twitter is not a waste of time!

Among the top companies that the report mentions include Starbucks, Dell (whom we’ve given accolades to before), SAP and Thompson Reuters. The report to refers to those companies (and others) as “mavens,” meaning they are heavily engaged in seven or more social media channels.

As you may notice, these social media “mavens” don’t come from one industry. It doesn’t matter whether you’re selling lattes or business software, social media works!

But it’s not a matter of diving in immediately and setting up accounts on every social media site imaginable. By examining the report’s social media mavens, it’s clear that their success comes from strategic execution of their social media campaigns.  Some things that will put companies in a position for social media success, and therefore financial success, include:

• Picking channels appropriately
• Knowing where your audience is
• Being conversational
• Encouraging conversation and feedback
• Focusing on quality not quantity

There’s a lot of opportunity in social media. The key is to do what’s appropriate for your company and brand. A major killer is doing nothing at all. Becoming a social media maven may be kind of overwhelming. Don’t worry, though. We’re here to help.

The Web provides users with the ability to research brands, companies and people. Social media enables users to interact with these brands, companies and people. For companies, it makes sense to use social media, because it’s an easy way to observe and interact with your audience. It’s effective too. Many companies have discovered the value of social media, and there are plenty of success stories out there.

For companies, the real “win” here is that social media is a relatively inexpensive way to make this connection with an audience. I won’t be the first to remind you about the state of the economy in 2009. To stay afloat in these tough economic times, many companies cut back their advertising budgets, keeping them out of traditional mainstream media. And compared to traditional media, the price of social media is really attractive.

Now, more than ever is the time to get started on social media. Not just because the competition is doing it, but because it is an effective and economical marketing tool.