BizSugar.com › Online Marketing › Social Media Marketing: Hype or the Real Deal?

I'm split on the subject of social media marketing effectiveness... I do understand how when properly handled social media efforts increase engagement with brands (personal or corporate) and facilitate loyalty growing "fans"; but I, personally, do not know of one marketer who could confidently compare the sales effect of social media efforts to, say, search engine-based paid search, SEO, or affiliate programs. But then again: shouldn't we distinguish between the types of social media efforts? Blogging isn’t the same as microblogging (aka "tweeting"), and even within Facebook -- a PPC campaign is very different from interaction with consumers via a "fan" page.

What do you think?