Social Media ROI
Some Thoughts on Social Media and Social Media ROI
Lately I’ve been immersed in discussions about Social Media and figured it’s a good time to share my perspective. From a marketing perspective, the ultimate goal of Social Media, is to have a positive effect on business. Surprising as it is, this is sometimes debated. Some will argue that it’s all about the consumer and not about the corporation. Some will say that Social Media ROI cannot be measured.
I argue, that by approaching social media with the proper attitude – first it’s customer centric and about the corporation second, we can overcome consumer skepticism and be accepted into the community. This can provide the opportunity to connect to consumers on deep levels that other marketing channels have not been able to provide. The result: creation of brand advocates leading to a positive effect on the bottom line.
I look at Social Media as falling into 3 primary categories:
Participate in the existing conversation
· Listen
· Engage
Enter brands within existing communities
· Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Twitter, etc.
Create your own conversation
· Corporate blogs
· Corporate communities
Social Media Measurement ROI
Okay, so you make the leap and figure that using social media could be good for your company. How do you measure it? Some argue that you can’t or don’t need to. Well, we’re in the business of doing business and we do things to have a positive effect on business, so let’s look for ways to make sure that what we do makes a difference.
This table is based on a model by Forrester Research.
(http://blogs.forrester.com/groundswell/2007/01/new_roi_of_blog.html)
Here we can begin to consider the value (ROI) of our Social Media efforts:
Tags: blogs, online community, return on investment, roi, social media roi