There are more theories about the ROI of social media than there are ways to actually measure the ROI. We know it works intrinsically, but where are the numbers?
At times, I’ve considered putting a forum in on Soshable simply to get input about things. It would be nice to have a Quora widget available that would pose a question and solicit answers (hint, hint). In the meantime, we’re stuck with standard blog post comments.
I have seen the direct measurement of social media marketing and its effects on the bottom line in the automotive industry, but I would love to hear from others. What tools and/or techniques do you use to measure the success of your social media marketing efforts? I don’t normally ask for retweets and Facebook posts, but I would really love to get a robust discussion going, so please share away.
Post your thoughts or questions below. I will do the same on a subsequent blog post when I discuss what we’ve learned at Hasai and TK Carsites.
About JD Rucker
The idea for a Quora widget is a great one. Would love to see that happen, and I can’t be the only one.
@cecil – There are at least 2 of us.
At this point I think of social media like Goodwill its something that you can put on the balance sheet and guess at, but you never really know what the effects are on the bottom line. NetworkEtiquette.net
The problem with measuring Social ROI is that it takes work – and let’s face it, that’s a pejorative even outside the automotive industry. One client, in particular, Marlboro Nissan, has done some work and seen some incredible results.
Currently, they have over 30,000 Facebook Likes on their fan page and are collectively approaching 100,000 twitter followers across the many twitter accounts they control.
So how did we measure their 40% increase in net profit due to social in 2010? WORK. First, we used all of the data collection that the Facebook platform allows and funneled all of that data into our CRM. Which, in turn, flagged when those people turned into prospects.
We held contests that required people to come to the dealership for drawings instead of just giving an iPad away when we got “X” number more fans (like I see so many dealers doing).
Lastly, we did the work — Post Sale Survey. I think this is the largest overlooked area for sourcing. Of course, anecdotal sourcing will NEVER be perfect. But it’s what you ask. It’s wether the person asking gives a shit about the answer or not. Can they think critically and ask further probing questions based on the consumer responses? Sure, you can script a lot, but you can’t script how to care and how to think.
I can’t count how many times I would see a customer come to the showroom, be asked how they heard about us, get sourced as AutoTrader, or the Newspaper(which we’re not even in anymore) or whatever source is at the top of the up sheet, then an hour later after they bought and are just shooting the breeze, comment that “Oh who does your Facebook Page? I just love those games you put on there! Oh I check in every day to see what you’ll post next…” etc. This is why the post sale survey is so important… But it’s WORK. Which just isn’t something most businesses are willing to do to get the answers.
Short of putting microchips in people to know everything they’ve been exposed to and how often, (not as far away as you might think) this will be the only way we can truly measure ROI when the ultimate purchase takes place offline.
I just started a marketing internship with taoti.com and I am starting to manage their social media, so I am eager to hear what people say on this subject. Thanks!
In my experience, the ROI is not ah been good about social networking, and agree that a widget would be very useful in these cases.
Sebas ..
Our marketing is hand in hand linked to our CRM. We find it WAY more effective and results are much better and easily measurable. We focus on SugarCRM & Hubspot linking together.
To see how we do it effectively check out this webinar we are producing next month.. http://bit.ly/jLE015
Despite all the buzz about impact of social media there is plenty of skepticism about the ROI of social media. Here is a white paper which takes a comprehensive look at the challenges involved in measuring ROI of social media, reviews the thought leadership on the topic and provides practical recommendations on how to achieve stronger ROI from your social initiatives: http://bit.ly/mmproi
Socially charmed,
Danielle
Brand Evangelist @MutualMind
I was browsing some of the comments for tips on how to measure social medial success – can you please cite some blueprint on how we can do this measurement thing?
I hope you consider doing a twitter chat as you’ll be surprised with the lively discussion you’ll get from like minds. I wonder just what exactly translates to your social media marketing’s ROI? It’s just that having thousands of likes doesn’t mean these likes will convert into buying customers. So, do we measure the number of likes, friends or followers… or how much sales we’ve got from all the social media marketing efforts? Do we measure engagement like one would use Klout? I’m a social media enthusiasts myself and I really want to know what’s the real deal with ROI and what social engagement is truly about.
My best advice to measure ROI is to setup appropriate systems to track and report the right metrics. Use bitly or hootsuite to track clicks, use Google Analytics to track visitor data, study Facebook and YouTube Insights, include social tracking in your CRM. On the backend, create a robust dashboard to analyze and flesh out any conclusions.
Easier said than done.
In my opinion the objective of Social Media Marketing is to increase in the popularity of a company. It could be measured by number of fans, likes, followers, posts or comments. The content used in Social Media Marketing can help you take top ten places on search engines and strengthen your personal brand presence. Also the Social Media Marketing Measures helps in building strategies and setting goals and targets for your business.
I’ve started an internship at http://www.socialmediaeducationgroup.com/. Obviously for a social media company, Social media is incredibly important, so i would love to know the degree to whcih it works – the bottom line!
I’m searching about social media marketing and I think this website is perfect for read some important facts about social media marketing like this one.
Good article, but while I feel measuring the ROI of social media is important, it is not always possible to get an accurate assessment. Because social media and its results are quite frequently intangible, they can be difficult to measure. Social media is about building relationships and trust with customers. This may not pay off immediately or equate to a number you can insert into a spreadsheet.