Social Media ROI

Your Customers are Out There - Image by Matthew Field via Flickr

There’s no question that a significant investment in Social Media makes sense for some companies in some industries – and every company whose customers are active online should have an awareness of the space. 

For those considering an investment in social media for their business, the return on investment question can be challenging to address.

Even if the complete ROI calculation is a little undefined, you’ll need some set of metrics and associated goals to structure the conversation. 

Ultimately, what gets measured gets done – and if it’s not measurable in some fashion it  can be difficult to sustain the effort and build support.

This is a short survey of some of the discussions and resources available online.

This Social Media ROI spreadsheet, by a non-profit, takes a very metrics-driven, granular approach.  Even if you disagree with the specifics, it’s a great reminder of the ultimate goal – the value you want to create for your business or company.

http://www.frogloop.com/social-network-calculator

Marketing Profs has links to video interviews with a number of people in the field.  They’re generally pretty promotional, but probably worth looking at.  A more emotional, ‘don’t get left behind’, approach.

http://www.marketingprofs.com/9/social-media-roi-whats-return-on-ignoring-alston.asp

And this survey of senior marketing executives covers a number of interesting insights:

“Social Media is first and foremost about gaining consumer insights.”

http://www.marketingcharts.com/interactive/study-marketing-execs-must-realize-and-learn-to-use-power-of-social-media-3657/tns-cymfony-social-media-potential-usesjpg/

The complete report is here:

http://www.marketingcharts.com/interactive/study-marketing-execs-must-realize-and-learn-to-use-power-of-social-media-3657

A significant investment in Social Media certainly makes sense for some companies in some industries – and every company whose customers are active online should certainly  have an awareness of the space.  The decision as to the right level of investment for your company today should be driven at least in part by a metrics and ROI analysis.