Social media – what is the ROI?

One thing I like about social media campaigns is that they’re measurable; far more so than PR campaigns that have traditionally struggled with the value of column inches. Social media deals in traffic and online engagement, and there are plenty of analytical tools out there which will help you rationalize your statistics and provide insight into how impactful your social media campaign actually is. Let’s be honest, PR and measurement have never been close bed fellows; I’m sure many people won’t agree with that comment but that’s my own view. So, in many respects social media is a god send to an industry that can now use the term return on investment without breaking into a cold sweat.

But, you need to be careful about what you think the return on investment will be from social media. Firstly, this activity is primarily about opening up new channels of communication with existing customers to ensure client retention and possibly increase their average spend. It concerns getting feedback from them on products/services to make your proposition more compelling. It is about increasing loyalty. Therefore, in its primal form, social media is not about selling. If you think it is then return on investment might disappoint. So why bother?

Buyers are using social media to engage and interact more and more with vendors, which means that much of the purchase decision making process is now done via social media tools. Remember, any consumer likes to read reviews/feedback whether it be negative or positive. Much of this dialogue now takes place on social media platforms. The question is can you influence this exchange of information? From my perspective, the answer is most definitely yes.

If companies spend time collaborating with their existing customer base, then the information garnered about that company from social media tools will be so much more persuasive. And that’s good for business.

This is why social strategies should be more concerned with collaboration and generating positive comment rather than providing a quick fix to a struggling sales strategy. If you get the collaboration right, then new customers are a consequence of that activity.

Provoke debate, listen and learn. You have to be active participants in what might be difficult conversations. Leave your ego at home when you start becoming social because you’re now fair game. Your barriers are down and anybody with internet access can question your judgement. And that’s exactly how it should work. They are your customers after all. Did I say anybody with Internet access? Mmm…