In the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, and the days following it, the ads that appeared in the game got plenty of online buzz, especially if they had social media tie-ins. But what about Pepsi, which decided to opt out of the game? Will it get better ROI from the Pepsi Refresh Project that than it would have from being on the Super Bowl telecast?

A few results are starting to come in. Clickz tallied up the number of Facebook fans that Super Bowl advertisers had before and after the game. Pepsi’s rival, Coke, which had several spots during the game, added nearly 390,000 fans to its page. Pepsi added about 300,000 fans, but it still trails Coke in total fans. Coke now has nearly 5 million, while Pepsi has around 515,000.

True, fan count isn’t a very good measure of ROI. But with all the money Pepsi reportedly is devoting to digital marketing for the Refresh Project, it had an opportunity to pull closer to Coke in the social-media wars. At least by this measure, Coke still won.

And while Pepsi has gotten plenty of PR in the marketing community for its decision to skip the Super Bowl, Coke’s in-game ads generated awareness among consumers—the people who actually buy its products.

Some think Pepsi made a mistake by not tying the Refresh Project in with a Super Bowl ad. Jeremiah Owyang, a partner in the Altimeter Group, wrote this week in Forbes: “By not having any in-game discussion on the advertisements, [Pepsi] was unable to use the Super Bowl or its advertisements as a catapult to launch the campaign into the social sphere. In fact, after the game, overall mentions of Pepsi and the Pepsi Refresh campaign remained relatively on the same trajectory as before.”

The Refresh Project is expected to last a year, so the good news is that Pepsi has plenty of time beyond the near-term buzz of the Super Bowl to generate ROI. But it will only be successful if it has clear objectives and ties its social media efforts in with its bottom-line results.

As Geoff Ramsey, eMarketer’s CEO, writes in the new Insight Brief “Seven Guidelines for Achieving ROI from Social Media,” “It is impossible for marketers to measure success if they do not know what their objectives are before they start a social media marketing initiative.” To succeed, Geoff asserts, marketers must establish clear marketing goals, organize their measurements into a logical framework and take a long-term approach.

PepsiCo’s Frank Cooper told SmartBrief on Social Media that he’s looking at three key measurements: relationships with consumers, social media activity and sales lift.

“First and foremost we’re focused on relationships. We are building more relationships and we have more points of contact with our consumers. That’s a positive thing. We can measure that. We know how many more people  that we’re contacting. We can also measure the activity within the social-media space. We already see today what’s happening on Twitter. We see what’s happening on Facebook — and the response has been tremendous. And then third, I think ultimately, this whole idea of allowing people to do good through our platform, we believe will actually serve us at the shelf. I believe we will see a sales lift coming from this.”

Whether Pepsi’s Refresh Project is successful or not depends on its ability to follow through and not only measure those things but also apply them to its entire marketing plan.

“Seven Guidelines for Achieving ROI from Social Media” is part of a series of eMarketer Insight Briefs focused on social media marketing. Available exclusively to Total Access subscribers, the seven briefs, along with a PowerPoint slideshow, answer the most common and most pressing questions that businesses have about social media marketing.

Total Access subscribers, log in and view the Insight Briefs now. Learn more about an eMarketer Total Access subscription today.

Sunday’s big game between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts was nearly as splashy in social media as it was on TV.

Marketers that paid millions to advertise during the telecast also put sizeable energy into making sure that their ads had visibility on the social web. Coca-Cola Co. teamed up with Facebook to distribute Coke-themed virtual gifts and preview its Super Bowl spots for its fans. Pepsi notoriously bowed out of advertising during the game in favor of a cause-related digital marketing initiative that included a major presence on Facebook. Other marketers took to Twitter to keep their ads top of mind among consumers.

Even before the game telecast, the online buzz surrounding football star Tim Tebow’s ad for Focus on the Family was strong, according to Nielsen Co. In the two months ending January 31, the ad garnered 33.4% of all Super Bowl ad-related buzz online. Meanwhile, the NFL created a Twitter tag, #SB44, and encouraged fans to use the tag when they discussed the game.

With all the hype, what was the end result? The most-watched television event of all time. CBS estimates that the 2010 Super Bowl drew 106.5 million viewers, beating the famed 1983 “M*A*S*H” series finale, which was watched by about 105.9 million.

There’s no doubt that all the activity surrounding the Super Bowl is a signal that TV is finally getting more social, though we’re certainly not all the way there. While the coming onslaught of Internet-ready televisions will play a role, the entertainment industry has yet to figure out how to logically incorporate social media into the act of watching television. But they will.

The socialization of TV is one of eight trends that I cover in my new eMarketer Insight Brief “The Future of Social Media Marketing.” Some of my other predictions include:

• Advertising will not be the primary revenue driver for social media.
• Status updates will be key.
• Social will make search more personal—and more powerful.
• Social media monitoring will bring true insights.

“The Future of Social Media Marketing” is part of a series of eMarketer Insight Briefs focused on social media marketing. Available exclusively to Total Access subscribers, the seven briefs, along with a PowerPoint slideshow, answer the most common and most pressing questions that businesses have about social media marketing.

Total Access subscribers, log in and view the Insight Briefs now. Learn more about an eMarketer Total Access subscription today.

Coca-Cola’s success in social media isn’t a secret. The company was recently named by Slate’s The Big Money as the brand “making the best use of Facebook,” and their well-publicized Expedition 206 campaign is billed as the company’s largest social media project ever. We’ve conducted several interviews in the past few months with key team members of Coca-Cola about the company’s efforts in community building and social media. Here’s a rundown:

Michael Donnelly, Coca-Cola’s Group Director of Worldwide Interactive Marketing spoke to us about the Expedition 206 project’s search for happiness, how Coke’s marketers have established best practices for social media marketing, and the challenge of ROI. Says Donnelly, in this excerpt published in our Daily Newsletter:

In general, we are very supportive of buying media within those realms. It’s like fishing where the fish are. Social media is where our consumers are at the moment. There’s no better way to amplify your message. If you’re building a major campaign and putting a lot of time and energy into enabling social and interactive aspects, you have to make sure people know about it.

Our strategy is to be everywhere our consumers are, but as a member of the community. That’s not to say that we think there’s anything wrong with big billboards in Times Square or Super Bowl commercials. There’s a time and a place for that. Within the social media marketing realm, our approach is to be a strong member of the community that’s enabling consumers to celebrate manifestations of the brand.

Michael La Kier chatted about how the company ties social media into its My Coke Rewards program and its drive to create emotional loyalty. Here’s a snippet of what he had to say about social media and mobile:

We offered mobile from day one—it is a big component of My Coke Rewards. People drink our brands on the go and don’t want to carry a bottle cap all day long. They can enter a code via mobile phone and SMS texting. Mobile has always been a pretty big part of our program from a participation standpoint and from a mobile messaging and marketing perspective. We also have a desktop widget so people can enter codes directly from their desktop computer.

We have a variety of ways for people to participate in the program—via SMS, the site and the widget. When they become members, we can look at what brands they’re drinking, which packs they’re buying, promotions they’ve participated in and rewards they’ve redeemed. We look at how people want to interact with us, what information do we want to know, how do we provide value and get value. We invite them to take surveys. We have a lot of information about what consumers are doing and their passions so that we can serve up rewards, offers and sweepstakes based on that information.

Carol Kruse, Coke’s Vice President of Global Interactive Marketing, also weighed in about earned media ROI and the evolution of social:

I think before you have ROI you have to really understand how social media is driving your business. If you’re a traditional sales funnel type of company—if you’re selling something online—you could say, “I know how many sales I got out of that social media app.” We are not a funnel company, but we still need to measure the value of what we do. I can’t measure it in actual incremental sales because I’m not selling something online. It’s much safer to say we are focusing on measuring the business value of different types of digital marketing.

In that context, we are asking whether it’s driving brand health or brand love. Is it driving purchase intent? In some cases, like search and online advertising, we have been able to measure ROI driving true incremental volumes and true increases in sales. It’s the same thing from a loyalty and CRM standpoint. We have a lot of online promotions and online loyalty programs like My Coke Rewards, and we’ve certainly measured the amount of true incremental volume those type of programs drive.

Adam Brown, Director, Office of Digital Communications & Social Media at Coke, spoke about the company’s Expedition 206 campaign:

We wanted to bring the idea of happiness to life and have as many people participate as possible. We haven’t done anything like this before, so it’s a new social media experiment. The three people chosen will blog, share photos, videos, interviews, tweets (@x206) and ideas about what makes people happy around the world. They’ll share their experiences. It’s the latest expression of the “Open Happiness” campaign brought to life through the power of social media.

We will be looking at what earned media provides from a ROI standpoint. We want to know what’s working and creating buzz and what’s not. We are using a cloud-based philosophy and we want to leverage all the new communications platforms as they come online. We can really adapt and empower our fans to create compelling content where they see fit.

Each of these interviews is available in their full form to eMarketer Total Access subscribers. Every day they have access to new interviews with digital marketing leaders and trendsetting entrepreneurs. Those full-version interviews are available (to subscribers) here:

• Carol Kruse: Coke Weighs Value of Social Media
• Michael Donnelly: Coke Crafts Social Media Marketing Blueprint
• Michael La Kier: Coke Seeks Brand Love via Online Loyalty
• Adam Brown: Coke Goes on a Happiness Mission

Here’s a quick round-up of interviews and social media case studies eMarketer has conducted recently. Take a peek:

• Building Customer Relationships with Kraft: Kelley Woodland of Kraft North America discusses the company’s CRM initiatives and the ways in which consumers and brand loyalists are influencing everything from product development to meal planning tips.
• My Coke Rewards: Combining Mobile and Social Media to Drive Brand Loyalty: We recently chatted with Michael La Kier of Coca-Cola about how the company ties social media and mobile marketing into its My Coke Rewards program to drive brand loyalty.
• How Facebook Can be a Revenue Source for Retailers: A look into Best Buy’s Twelpforce efforts on Twitter, as well as their innovative virtual storefront on Facebook.
• Showing CPGs How to Socialize: Susan Baba of Proctor & Gamble discusses how social media is a way for Dawn “to have a voice other than ‘Hey, I’m your dish liquid.’”
• The Changing Mobile Social Ad Space: Justin Siegel of MocoSpace talk about how the mobile social networking space has evolved and where MocoSpace differentiates itself from some of its larger competitors.
• The Challenges and Opportunities of Mobile Social Networks: Adam Broitman of Circ.us chats about the what’s to come in the emerging mobile social networking space, and how marketers stand to benefit.
• Finding (Southern) Comfort in Online Marketing: Lena DerOhannessian of Brown-Forman discusses the company’s recent switch to all-online advertising and how they are thinking ‘outside the bottle.’
• Going Social for the Holidays (and the Rest of the Year): Gordon Magee of Drs. Foster & Smith chats about the company’s holiday marketing plans and the need for communicating the company’s value and building customer relationships through social media and community.
• Marketing in a Tough Economy: David Lonczak, the Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of drugstore.com, chatted with us about what — despite the recession — his team does to boost sales, retain customers, prioritize marketing initiatives, and more.
• Helping Wal-Mart Get Interactive: Kenny Tomlin of Rockfish Interactive chats with us about the company’s work with Wal-Mart and the social media forecast.
• Clorox: Rewiring The Brand Experience With Social Media: Mary O’Connell of Clorox talks about the company’s efforts to make digital and social media part of its brands’ success. O’Connell referred to creating a new vision of digital marketing that is “rewiring and re-imagining our entire brand experience. Read on.
• The Customer Relationship Management Opportunity on Facebook: Rahim Fazal, CEO of social media application company Involver, says that businesses should assign more value to consumer interactions in social media, and measure the impact over the long term, not just during a promotion.

The interviews and case studies are available in their full form to eMarketer Total Access subscribers only. Every day they have access to new interviews with digital marketing leaders and trendsetting entrepreneurs.

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We recently chatted with Michael La Kier of Coca-Cola about how the company ties social media and mobile marketing into its My Coke Rewards program to drive brand loyalty. From the interview on eMarketer Total Access:

eMarketer: Does the program enable consumers to enter codes via mobile phone?

Mr. La Kier: We offered mobile from day one—it is a big component of My Coke Rewards. People drink our brands on the go and don’t want to carry a bottle cap all day long. They can enter a code via mobile phone and SMS texting. Mobile has always been a pretty big part of our program from a participation standpoint and from a mobile messaging and marketing perspective. We also have a desktop widget so people can enter codes directly from their desktop computer.

We have a variety of ways for people to participate in the program—via SMS, the site and the widget. When they become members, we can look at what brands they’re drinking, which packs they’re buying, promotions they’ve participated in and rewards they’ve redeemed. We look at how people want to interact with us, what information do we want to know, how do we provide value and get value. We invite them to take surveys. We have a lot of information about what consumers are doing and their passions so that we can serve up rewards, offers and sweepstakes based on that information.

eMarketer: How are you using social media platforms to guide strategy on My Coke Rewards?

Mr. La Kier: About 12 to 18 months ago, we created a private social community. We offer the people in this network first looks at new program features and get feedback in the form of discussion boards, activities and interviews.

From a consumer-facing perspective, a lot of the promotion we do on the site has a social element. For example, this summer for Coke Classic we had a design-a-can promotion. People could submit their design, vote and the finalists received prizes.

eMarketer: How have you deployed social media tools to engage My Coke Rewards members?

Mr. La Kier: We already have a base of 13.5 million members. We wanted to provide something fun and unique to highlight the special moments of summer that people share with Coca-Cola. That’s the reason for the collectible can series—to let people interact and create their own summer moments.

Once you created the cans, you could share the designs on Facebook and elsewhere. We created an integrated online and offline program around sharing special moments with Coke in summer. We used social and viral aspects to broaden the likelihood that people would participate in the program. Social media is just another way for us to get the word out and turn our advocates into brand champions.

The full version of this interview is available here, to eMarketer Total Access subscribers only. Every day they have access to new interviews with digital marketing leaders and trendsetting entrepreneurs. We also recently interviewed Coca-Cola’s Carol Kruse about the company’s use of digital media and marketing and the evolution of social media. Those stories are here:

• Coke Weighs in on Earned Media ROI
• Coca-Cola’s Carol Kruse on the Value of Social Media Marketing