With the past 5 years, I have come to the conclusion that we, Americans, have become skeptics.
  Maybe it's human nature, or maybe it's just circumstantial (recession, politics..
) but I have realized our trust, and faith in everything has diminished.
For me this is especially true when it comes to money...
and time.
I know I am definitely more skeptical about how I spend my money now than I have ever been before.
And I also know I will not invest into something unless I know the return I am getting.
The same goes for time.
I am less reluctant to devote time into something unless I know what the return will be..
or even if I am getting a return.
I recently came acoss an article about Social Return on Marketing Investment, and realized it all comes down to the same problem: Tracking a return investment.
While social media provides many avenues to better market a product or even brand yourself, it's complexities can create quite the headache for companies.
Say for example I create a new makeup company, called Pretty Woman, and publicize it by creating a Facebook account.
I add  "friends" and begin to advertise my company through the use of posts and comments.
Over a few months, my fan base has grown yet I am still not bringing in much revenue.
Where did I go wrong? How is possible to have more fans but not more revenue?  The problem lies in your blueprint.
  Did you target males and females, or only females? Is your targeted audience all makeup users?  Were you even thinking about who you were trying to reach? The key is targeting.
In order to socially influence a field, you must first determine who it is you are trying to reach.
Then next step is how can you reach them? Social influencing is not a number game; It is all about quality over quantity.
And it is this concept that plays a pivotal role in influencing consumer behavior.