Mashable - The Social Media Guide - Latest Comments in STATS: 84% of Social Media Programs Don’t Measure ROI

Re: STATS: 84% of Social Media Programs Don’t Measure ROI

Julian Chacin — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:14:56 -0000

One of the best ways that you can track your social media ROI is through the use of 1 800's with specific extensions. For Instance, place a campaign with a 1800'XXX-XXXX Ext 1001 for Facebook. 1800'XXX-XXXX Ext 1002 for My Space, etc...you will see which one is more effective and therefore your ROI. If you need more information you can always contact me for this service. Julian@miamicc.net... I love it!

Re: STATS: 84% of Social Media Programs Don’t Measure ROI

aarti — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:38:33 -0000

According to me no tools are availabel to measure success. only one way to show our success that is celebration.Always celebrate our success .success is journy not a destination.

Re: STATS: 84% of Social Media Programs Don’t Measure ROI

ecentric web design — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:21:34 -0000

So many clients are wanting to jump on this band wagon right now, without having a clear strategy for their efforts. Part of that strategy certainly has to be a way to measure the effectiveness of any such campaign.

Re: STATS: 84% of Social Media Programs Don’t Measure ROI

Business Sense MKT. — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:24:37 -0000

Just because you can measure a marketing activity such as a tweet with a link, doesn't mean it's worth doing. Raw data needs a deeper analysis to be useful and that requires resources. It took time for companies to develop financial systems and measurement tools. How can you expect companies to be so competent in a medium that had little visibility two years ago?

Marketing professionals need to get more realistic that the world can't always immediately revolve around them. We are in a recession. Companies have a multitude of challenges.

I thought social media was about conversations, not marketing campaigns.

Re: STATS: 84% of Social Media Programs Don’t Measure ROI

Guest — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:24:37 -0000

Your timing is terrific, I represent the statics that is at a loss of knowing how and with what tools to measure the ROI of my social media efforts. I use twitter (ChrisSheehy), LinkedIn (ChristopherSheehy), industry trade site www.CollisionHub.com, and post blogs at 3 blog sites - one of which is mine http://autobodyconsultinggr..., the other is an industry site http://workshop.search-auto...

What economical option's are available to measure ROI?

Re: STATS: 84% of Social Media Programs Don’t Measure ROI

Jenny — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:55:33 -0000

Is there a way to find ROAs on the social network companies themselves? I have a project for a business class focusing on Youtube (Google) where I need to compare financial data amoung competitors and I cannot seem to find the info I need

Re: STATS: 84% of Social Media Programs Don’t Measure ROI

andrewmueller — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 02:52:25 -0000

Hello Christina,

thanks for the reply. It seems that we are really not far from agreement. I too believe the ROI should be measured whenever possible and that is not the only measurement of value.

I think that many businesses are analyzing their social media efforts but are measuring them against desired outcomes rather than in true ROI. Is this a bad thing? Is it less valuable than measuring ROI? For some maybe, but perhaps not for those that have a deep understanding of their businesses, who understand how customer interactions at every touchpoint determine the brand, and how changes in brand sentiment affect frequency, reach, and yield.

We all must remember that social media is a disruptive technology that spans numerous
corporate silos including, marketing, pr, customer service, HR, R&D, communications and
more. Honestly, even though I believe that true ROI is measurable for well defined
social media initiatives, I am extremely skeptical when anyone tells me they can truly
measure the ROI of a broad social media effort that spans numerous corporate silos, and it is exactly these companies that are fast to move with a well concieved strategy on broad social media efforts that will be positioned to benefit the most.

Re: STATS: 84% of Social Media Programs Don’t Measure ROI

jstratford — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:27:44 -0000

Personally I'm going to look at the problem through a different set of filters. I see a couple of flags coming up which help create the buzz (which is awesome it gets people to think). The first statement regarding the survey that they have adopted social media in some way. I'll say the same thing here I've said on FriendFeed, while blog commenting, and on Twitter, but slightly different.

That you can't do something in some way in social media. Some way is never the right way! In some of these cases a company needed someone in social media and I see the PR companies as the worst offenders poised as experts when they should be one of the best examples. They don't have the experience and targeted follower base needed which can't be simulated. They don't have the understanding since it's not the same as the PR in the textbook. They like many companies aren't looking in the right place for the right person. They don't realize that in the front lines it needs to be the person with the right temperament, intellect, with a burning desire to work in that capacity. It's interesting that many times it's a well educated person who can't go to a party without talking stiff and formally. It's a different world where relevancy, transparency, authenticity, and sharing and caring matter more than the traditional. It's not the people coming to the company that make the difference it's the people coming to check out the company or their social media representative. It's that person capturing their attention, cultivating their interest, consuming their desire, and closing their action.

This generally can't be done by the favorite of the office who has been spending years climbing the corporate ladder since everyone knows their views, many times they are self centered, egotistical, and from their point of view the company owes them anyways. The truth is it may be that nice pleasant receptionist that would better serve the company than the person clawing at the ladder. The one exception to look for in your company would be the wonderful pleasant person that you couldn't promote since they wouldn't get their hands dirty. This is the one who is naturally transparent, honest, has the authenticity, caring and sharing and is there with you now.

With all that said let me move to the point. The surveys are generally put out with a slant, though most of it is awesome and it gives us great things to analyze, discuss, and ponder. The thing that's not to be missed is that part of social media is no social media. There are components that need to be utilized to optimize the use of social media. Yes it can be measurable, quantifiable, and verifiable. It isn't learned from one or 100 blog posts it's a process of setting up processes utilizing tools that are out there as well as ingenuity and thinking outside of the box. One size doesn't fit all.

One tip is that in all of the social media platforms that a company is utilizing need to have each of the contacts from the individual platforms put in a spreadsheet or database. It needs to be updated as the size of the audience increases. It can be handy to make notes on the types of topics or products that people relate to. ... Enough for now it's not a blog post.

My Two Cents
@JRStratford on Twitter

Re: STATS: 84% of Social Media Programs Don’t Measure ROI

Amber Naslund — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:41:28 -0000

I'd actually be curious to know if the companies saying they're not measuring social media are also measuring other things (or not). What I encounter a lot are companies that simply don't know HOW to measure, mostly because they a) haven't benchmarked properly in the first place or b) don't really know how to gather the data that lines up with their goals and objectives.

Accountability is really important; the tools and resources are there to measure social media, without question. ROI can be calculated on anything you spend money on. There are whole hosts of qualitative and quantitative metrics that demonstrate impact, cost savings, revenue and revenue potential.

I'm wondering if some of the businesses that aren't measuring social might need some help measuring their traditional communications initiatives, and not just in terms of eyeball metrics. My guess is that the issue isn't isolated to social, even though that's where this survey focused.

Re: STATS: 84% of Social Media Programs Don’t Measure ROI

Amber Naslund — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:37:54 -0000

Thanks, Mary. Appreciate that. :)

Re: STATS: 84% of Social Media Programs Don’t Measure ROI

Andres — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:21:07 -0000

yeeeahhh...no. That is like saying Sales is a minor detail for a Sales team. Good content costs money. I need to make a good case to fund the creation of good content.

I have all the faith of the world and strongly believe how Social is good - but I also want to see the moniessss. It is definitely not a minor thing.

Re: STATS: 84% of Social Media Programs Don’t Measure ROI

Christina Warren — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:33:37 -0000

My statement really wasn't meant as a judgment on companies that aren't measuring or looking at how to measure social media ROI -- I agree with you, the fact that they are using it at all is great -- but I still stand by my statement that it is worrisome that such a large percentage of the sample didn't even know if they could measure ROI from their social tools.

Yes, social media is in its infancy and the best ways to get the hard and soft measures you mention are still being figured out, but I get worried when it appears that analysis is never even part of the equation. Lots of jobs specifically for social media are cropping up, which is wonderful - but those jobs will be eliminated if companies can't produce tangible reports to see how well something is working (or not working). I worry that by not treating social media as any other aspect of a marketing or customer service or visibility venture, companies will be more inclined to just pass on direct-engagement if they don't experience an increase in sales or retentions (that might not even be directly attributable to social media, but that they could use as a feeler to credit SM).

I do agree that there need to be more tools and more information out there for businesses to track these metrics. That in and of itself is a burgeoning industry.

Re: STATS: 84% of Social Media Programs Don’t Measure ROI

computer speakers — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:03:01 -0000

AHMM......
Its great statistics.I know that this affordable and expected one.Thanks for the statistics.

Re: STATS: 84% of Social Media Programs Don’t Measure ROI

davereinhardt — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:48:43 -0000

Peter Drucker would argue that if you don't measure it, you can't manage it. I buy the argument that there is demonstrable evidence just by observing how much engagement your brand/business is having on social media, but in larger organisations there is typically a need to evidence ROI. As the engaged web matures, ROI measures will have to become part of the package.

An hypothesis - I wonder if this is because many of the companies that are making big moves into social are smaller / more nimble / less mature? Many, not all, but enough to weight the survey responses.

Re: STATS: 84% of Social Media Programs Don’t Measure ROI

ginote — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:05:40 -0000

All i know is http://bit.ly/1e1F3f

Re: STATS: 84% of Social Media Programs Don’t Measure ROI

madfoot — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:12:52 -0000

Great -- please enlighten us as to HOW.

Re: STATS: 84% of Social Media Programs Don’t Measure ROI

Umar Ghumman — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:46:10 -0000

Well last I checked they are still working on finding a way to do check ROI. Social media presence and initiatives should be looked at as a long term investments for the brand's image and loyalty

Re: STATS: 84% of Social Media Programs Don’t Measure ROI

Ian Huckabee — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:28:48 -0000

I agree with Nadia. A unique landing page with a call to action that leads to another unique page. Include the bit.ly in your Tweet. Watch it unfold on Analytics (read Julie Burgmeier's comment below).

Re: STATS: 84% of Social Media Programs Don’t Measure ROI

social_smart — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:16:33 -0000

We also discussed this topic on our blog recently. Our angle was "The Question is Not Can You Measure Social Media ROI? It is Should You?" - http://socialsmart.wordpres... If you look at the example of Dell, they are not concerned with ROI. They consider it as a service to their customers. Social media is trending towards being a CRM tool rather than a marketing/sales tool. However, I agree with the commentors who say that ROI can be measured if so desired. The key is to understand what you are measuring and to build measurement into goals and objectives before you start. The problem for a lot of companies is that they start their social media before they have a goal in mind. Objective measurement is then highly problematic.

Re: STATS: 84% of Social Media Programs Don’t Measure ROI

Andrew Krebs-Smith — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:08:43 -0000

I agree, but try telling that to paying clients.

Re: STATS: 84% of Social Media Programs Don’t Measure ROI

Tim Baker — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:53:49 -0000

It all comes down to what you are trying to measure. Is your brand trying to increase traffic to your site? Then you measure referring URLS to see if your social media efforts are working.

Are you trying to sell more products online? You track the increase of products sold and referring URLs.

Are you trying to manage your brand reputation? You track sentiment and mentions.

Are you trying to increase awareness of your brand? You track mentions and followers.

Are you trying to gather feedback? You track mentions.

Obviously I'm being vague here but there is no one right answer. You have to find what makes sense for your brand and what is important to you and create your own ROI.

Re: STATS: 84% of Social Media Programs Don’t Measure ROI

mary — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:53:20 -0000

You have to determine what your ROI would be before you can measure it.

If you want to look at drives to your site and such, Google Analytics is an easy win.

I think it's also really important to look at the buzz about your brand and not just your campaigns. I like Radian6 for that.

Re: STATS: 84% of Social Media Programs Don’t Measure ROI

John — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:50:01 -0000

I should also add, that there is a general concern from me, about media democratisation .... People with no expertise on a subject have as just as much influence as the people who've spent their entire life on a subject.

It’s all about who can shot the loudest these days… The good example of Wikipedia. An established globally recognised professor in the Environment was thrown out of the site because he disagreed with an individual about global warming who had no expertise in the subject. One wonders what company he was working for…

Just thought I might start a little debate….

Re: STATS: 84% of Social Media Programs Don’t Measure ROI

John — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:45:52 -0000

My boss would like that answer... I might steal that!

Re: STATS: 84% of Social Media Programs Don’t Measure ROI

Kelly Rusk — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:44:44 -0000

I agree it's a little shocking, but I also think (as other's mentioned) that ROI isn't the be-all and end-all of social media measurement, I did a post about it with details here:
http://www.turningnewsintok...

That being said, relating social media involvement back to business goals should be the first thing any company does before creating a twitter account, FB page or whatever else. However, it's understandable (though not necessarily acceptable) that many just want to dive right in because of all the hype.