We Are Social: Social media: you need to pay to play
Tom Planer
· 2 months ago
Really interesting article. I think a lot of companies need to work out what they mean by ROI. If you want to see a direct attribution of every £1 you put in as a sale in your back pocket, then yes, you might struggle to prove a pound for pound return on Social Media. If however you count buzz, positive sentiment, brand awareness and engagement as returns, then it becomes a whole lot easier.
Of course the bottom line matters, but that kind of sales led approach won't fly anymore. Brands now need to evaluate their communications on so much more than just sales, and like you say, Social Media is a long term commitment so why not get started ASAP?
Stefano Maggi
· 2 months ago
As Chris Brogan says (http://www.chrisbrogan.com/the-audacity-of-free/) it makes a lot of sense to charge for value: consultancy needs to be perceived for the return it brings. The "free" part of social media is about the tools, but it doesn't mean this should apply to strategy, thinking, tactics, design and production related to consumer engagement. Using a tool is usually free, understanding the best way to use it rarely is. It requires skills, experience, passion and dedication. Wouldn't you charge for them? ROI is an excellent point to prove investments are worth in this space, but are we sure consumer is a totally new field? What if we call it influence marketing? It's something that's always been there, even if with different methods, environments strategies and tactics. There are ways to measure ROI, effective ones, as Amber Naslund says (http://altitudebranding.com/2009/03/get-a-yards...). So pay to play, start with baby steps and adapt as soon as you get your first measurements done.
Oscar Del Santo
· 2 months ago
I agree with Sandrine that evaluating the ROI for social media engagement is still a work-in-progress. But that must not deter companies from benefiting from joining the conversation through the social media in a myriad ways.
Listening to customers and followers in real time conversations, for instance, is a great way to drive product/service improvements without investing massive amounts in the R&D department. What is the ROI of that?
As the image points out, ROI in the social media has to take into account many variables other than hard sales. As social media metrics improve, we are bound to witness more accuracy and accountability. In the meantime, organizations of all kinds will miss out wonderful opportunities if they turn a deaf ear to the conversation that is already taking place around their product or service.
jacobmorgan
· 2 months ago
I run a consultancy that is focused on the business of social media. The definition of ROI is money in vs money out; there are no questions about it. Non-financial returns should not be referred to as ROI but as Impact from social media efforts. Sometimes impact is enough for a company and sometimes they want ROI. It depends on what the goals of the company are; but at the end of the day if you can't measure it; then you shouldn't be investing in it.
Ley
· 1 month ago
I like your post& and the link However we can measure social media buy as stated not its effectiveness.. therefore we go back to the same point.. social media= ROI? or...
Ortwin Oberhauser
· 2 months ago
There are 8 Social Media Communities in the alexa.com Top 20 for Germany so I think there is no need anymore to discuss about the standing from Social Media in online marketing.
I am inhouse SEO for a austrian media house and I often get asked in SEO Workshops: "Are you sure that there will be a ROI?" and “Why do you like Social Media so much?”
My answer is: YES, YES, YES I am sure there will be a ROI!!!
Next question mostly is: Why?
My answer is: Because I don't need a lamp to see the sun!
I think who isn't able to see the potential in social media now, should do some business which ist not related to internet, because social media will not go away like some people think, the other way round, what we see now is for sure just the black and white television.
Many Thanks to the "we are social team" for these interesting posts, you are amazing!
What's the ROI of client support? Or guarantees? There's ROI but it's difficult to know.
thedebonair
· 1 month ago
I am creating a social media campaign for a furniture company - we are going to put the employees center stage as design experts. I was trying to figure out how to explain the ROI to this company, when I realized there is much you can't quantify and one thing you can! If a company usually invests in print ads, then they spend thousands of dollars with no clear ROI, nor any direct reach to ALL their customers (they also reach a lot of "other" people). They know how many sales they made, but not which sale came from what ad. Social media presence and interaction (i.e.Facebook, Twitter, YouTube...) has a large up front cost (but smaller than print ads) and minimal maintenance costs. Yet, you now have the ability to reach ALL people interested in your products whenever you like. You could announce weekly sales if you like, or daily discount codes. The viral nature of social media will be ever-creating more potential customers whom you could interact with almost nothing. And as time goes on, and the company has made back its initial investment, marketing is virtually free to people who want to know about you!
All Comments
Of course the bottom line matters, but that kind of sales led approach won't fly anymore. Brands now need to evaluate their communications on so much more than just sales, and like you say, Social Media is a long term commitment so why not get started ASAP?
The "free" part of social media is about the tools, but it doesn't mean this should apply to strategy, thinking, tactics, design and production related to consumer engagement.
Using a tool is usually free, understanding the best way to use it rarely is. It requires skills, experience, passion and dedication.
Wouldn't you charge for them?
ROI is an excellent point to prove investments are worth in this space, but are we sure consumer is a totally new field? What if we call it influence marketing? It's something that's always been there, even if with different methods, environments strategies and tactics. There are ways to measure ROI, effective ones, as Amber Naslund says (http://altitudebranding.com/2009/03/get-a-yards...).
So pay to play, start with baby steps and adapt as soon as you get your first measurements done.
Listening to customers and followers in real time conversations, for instance, is a great way to drive product/service improvements without investing massive amounts in the R&D department. What is the ROI of that?
As the image points out, ROI in the social media has to take into account many variables other than hard sales. As social media metrics improve, we are bound to witness more accuracy and accountability. In the meantime, organizations of all kinds will miss out wonderful opportunities if they turn a deaf ear to the conversation that is already taking place around their product or service.
I am inhouse SEO for a austrian media house and I often get asked in SEO Workshops: "Are you sure that there will be a ROI?" and
“Why do you like Social Media so much?”
My answer is: YES, YES, YES I am sure there will be a ROI!!!
Next question mostly is: Why?
My answer is: Because I don't need a lamp to see the sun!
I think who isn't able to see the potential in social media now, should do some business which ist not related to internet, because social media will not go away like some people think, the other way round, what we see now is for sure just the black and white television.
Many Thanks to the "we are social team" for these interesting posts, you are amazing!
Stay tuned
Ortwin Oberhauser
feel free to follow me on Twitter:
@Oberhauser http://twitter.com/oberhauser
If a company usually invests in print ads, then they spend thousands of dollars with no clear ROI, nor any direct reach to ALL their customers (they also reach a lot of "other" people). They know how many sales they made, but not which sale came from what ad.
Social media presence and interaction (i.e.Facebook, Twitter, YouTube...) has a large up front cost (but smaller than print ads) and minimal maintenance costs. Yet, you now have the ability to reach ALL people interested in your products whenever you like. You could announce weekly sales if you like, or daily discount codes. The viral nature of social media will be ever-creating more potential customers whom you could interact with almost nothing. And as time goes on, and the company has made back its initial investment, marketing is virtually free to people who want to know about you!