I've been following a number of blogs and other posts and thoght I would put this out there. Obviously, I think you know where I believe the answer to the title question lies, but it also shows the trepdidation that many marketers have in measurement and ROI, especially when it comes to a new media channel.
Measuring Social Media ROI
It's very interesting to read these discussions about ROI when it comes to social media. They are very similar to the discussions from 10 years ago when it was also 'impossible' to measure ROI from a website. Now Internet ROI is measured everyday and generally very accurately. ROI needs to be thought of as a tool to not necessarily get approval, but as a method to do better. We may not know how much incremental revenue social media marketing is going to deliver, but we know that it is worth the risk.
Companies that have never done TV advertising before, set up their first spots so they can test to see if they worked. If they do, they invest more. If they don't they tweak their plan to make it work. We need to think of social media in the same way.
1) Take the risk and take the plunge
2) Measure results to see where we can improve
3) Determine whether it's making a difference and keep measuring.
No one disagrees with the fact that social media is the place to be and that it will be a major place to be for a very long time.
Our company has been measuring the impact of social communities for a few years now. It isn't that hard. You just need to want to do it and have the measurement know-how. Please reach out to me on twitter at @GuyPowell or go to my book site at http://www.marketing-calculator.com
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