The social revolution has occurred.  People all over the world have given up their TV sets in favor of the Web and social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.  400 million Facebook users can’t be wrong.  The only question has been, “How will businesses and brands not only react, but take advantage?”  To date, many leading companies have already jumped in with both feet because they believe that this is the wave of the future.  Others have been more reticent, because they can’t take it on faith alone — they need to know.  This ability to leverage the social revolution, drive customer acquisition, and actually know — and show — the ROI has been the elusive grail for marketers.  When will we get there?

It’s Here

This next generation has arrived. Today, I am thrilled and honored to announce that I am joining Crowd Factory as CEO.   I have been blown away by the powerful social marketing platform that is already driving 1 billion social interactions a month for companies like HBO, VEVO, and Nielsen’s Billboard.  But, what is even more exciting are the new, next-generation, applications being built on top of this platform.  These directly address the value that marketers have been seeking for so long.

I Should Know

Having had operating responsibility myself for the better part of 10 years for customer acquisition — whether as GM of a $100M business unit or CMO of a leader in the Social CRM space –  I have a keen appreciation for the pain and needs of the marketer.  Having also spoken at numerous social industry conferences, I have heard the same needs reflected in the voice of other marketers. Just last month, in Brazil, I patiently waited for the translation of an audience question after a keynote.  It came through the headset, “How do I know what the ROI of marketing on Facebook and Twitter actually is for my business?  And, how do I actually integrate it with all of my campaigns?”  I smiled to myself and thought, “Different hemisphere…same questions.”

Tremendous Opportunity

It is questions like those that have me so excited about joining Crowd Factory.  I just flew up to Portland, Oregon today, to start my new position as CEO of Crowd Factory.  I can’t tell you how I excited I was to sit around the conference table with the team and introduce myself (we have a sizable team here and are continuing to build out headquarters in San Francisco).

I’m jumping out of my chair for several reasons:

1.        Social is growing astronomically.   A couple of weeks ago Hitwise reported that Facebook has more traffic than Google.

2.        And businesses know why it is mission critical.  People trust each other.  eMarketer reports that 38% of people trust each other, while they only trust about 3% of marketers.  If a business wants to acquire new customers effectively, it will need to leverage social.

3.        Overall marketing spend is huge — and can be optimized.  Marketers spend over $500 billion a year worldwide.  Google built a multi-billion dollar business redirecting a fraction of that to Search advertising and offering clear tracking and ROI — the same thing will happen for social campaigns.

4.        This team.  I’ve been very impressed with the caliber of folks at Crowd Factory.  Many of you who know me know that I always want to “be the dumb guy in the room” — i.e. surround yourself with great people and good things will happen.  Mission accomplished. I’m humbled and proud to be on this team.

5.        There is lightning in the bottle.  Many of you that know me also know that I can be prone to hyperbole — but, this time I honestly don’t think that is the case.  The applications we are currently testing with customers really do look like the next-generation to me.

Watch this Space

This is the Next Generation — for me professionally, for marketers everywhere, and for the social technology market.  It’s an exciting time for all of us in this great space.  And, I’m excited to have this conversation with you.  Please let me know how you are thinking about the opportunities, challenges, and needs in this rapidly developing industry.  And stay tuned here, as we’ll be sharing lots more exciting news over the coming weeks and months.  You can follow @crowdfactory and me at @sdholakia.  Read the official press release here.

Proud to be on this team!