Comments on: Social Media Week: The ROI Question – What Do We Actually Want from Social Media?

By: Katie Safrey

Katie Safrey — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:21:44 +0000

Great discussion! It’s been a real challenge for our agency to prove the value of social media to our clients. I do think that being a part of the conversation is valuable, and there is real ROI in being able to address customers/clients/prospects directly, but oftentimes that’s not enough.

I think it’s critical for agencies to work with their clients to set goals for measurement before any type of engagement in social media. Social media programs need to be adaptable on a client-by-client basis with measurement expectations set in place before launch. For example, if a client is in interested in customer service – the success of a program can be based number of interactions/conversations with customers. If a client wants to generate leads the program can be based on traffic to a web form or homepage.

All in all – in my opinion, customizing campaigns based on client goals and objectives is the key to demonstrating the value of any social media campaign.

By: Oliver Fischer

Oliver Fischer — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:30:55 +0000

I agree with both of you… Espacially the question what happens if you don’t participate in social media (as an organisation or company) is very important. Because in my opinion if you don’t jump on the bandwagon you risk to get overrun. Nowadays, a news which has the attention of the online communities can spread around the world in a few minutes… This is a chance if you want to communicate things but it is also a high risk if you are one the communities are communicating about – even more if you are not looking at it yourself.

But there’s one thing I miss in this discussion: If you boost your investment in social media there are not only new opportunities but also high risks, if you do it “wrong”. Beeing on facebook or twitter just for the sake of it, with no strategy and no concept this can quickly leed to a loss of reputation. So it’s not only about being there but also about using it reasonable.

By: Scott Scanlon

Scott Scanlon — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:39:07 +0000

Good overview. I think social media/ROI means different things to different levels of organizations. An individual looking to promote their small practice has different goals than a GEO location small business. Obviously the larger the brand the more moods, attention, and other factors play a role. I find the small businesses tend to have great success and pull, personality comes through, and it’s equal listening and interacting. Which leads to increased sales and customer retention.

By: Laura Mead

Laura Mead — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:09:40 +0000

Wow – I really like Robin Grant’s perspective that social media investment is a bit like life insurance. I couldn’t agree more, we need to be a lot better at communicating this – it’s not necessarily about what you get in return for jumping the bandwagon but perhaps what the impact is if you don’t…