Measuring the ROI of Social Media

Here’s a cool new infographic I found on the ROI of Social Media.  Now, don’t go rolling your eyes at me — here she goes with ANOTHER infographic.  I know I post them a lot, but that’s because they work.  Infographics convey a lot of really complicated information in a very concise way.

So, ready to understand more about the ROI of Social Media? Here goes!

Let’s break down some of the info from this graphic.

1. Marketers are beginning to understand that the ROI of social media extends beyond sales goals.

Sure, making sales is the name of the game.  It keeps the lights on and the investors happy.  But, a singular focus on sales often ignores the potential to make EVEN MORE sales in the future.  Prospective customers need to move from awareness of a product, to beliefs about the suitability of the product, toward a decision to buy the product.  In social media, that means some additional steps that amplify your message such as Liking and engagement.  Focusing only on the end state — buying — ignores the bigger potential possible when you focus on the whole hierarchy of effects.

Yet, when we look at WHAT CMOs are measuring, we find they’re still measuring too many elements high up in the hierarchy rather than lower in the hierarchy — those things that more directly translate into sales.  Measuring things like number of fans or visits to your website are not as meaningful as measuring positive mentions or other signals that consumers are engaging with you.

Only about half of CMOs understand the importance of social media on SEO at a time when Google continues increasing the importance of social media engagement on SERPs.

Meanwhile, moving lower in the hierarchy of effects to evangelism, few CMOs (11%) measure reduced call volume.  A major benefit of using social media is you save money on customer service when customers can get help from other customers on your Facebook page rather than having to call in for help.

2. Blogs still have the greatest contribution to ROI of any other social media.

I’m glad CMOs agree about the importance of a blog for creating ROI in social media.  Probably, blogs have the greatest impact on driving traffic to your website both through links in other social networks and their impact on SEO.

Unfortunately, nearly 50% of CMOs are either not using blogs or not measuring them properly so they’re not aware of the contribution of a blog to ROI in social media.

3, Plans to improve the ROI of Social Media by increasing utilization.

Most respondents used social media between 1 and 3 years — so they’re relative newcomers to the social media party.  They’re convinced enough in the tactic they’re planning to increase the extent of their social media efforts, especially on YouTube, Facebook, blogs, and Twitter.

4. The future of measuring ROI in social media.

Social media is still a young discipline and, too often practiced by those unskilled in marketing.  To many, the growth of social media offered incentives for technical individuals or writers to hang up a shingle as a social media guru and under price their services to CMOs who didn’t know the right questions to ask.  Then, companies didn’t see the ROI of social media they way they hoped — a surprising number of these social media gurus don’t even provide clients with metrics or with the wrong metrics (those not even mentioned here).

I think that’s rapidly changing.  Every day I see more professionalism among social media consultants.  And, it’s not just me.  Major watchers like Forester report the days of just anyone claiming to social media are OVER.

If you’re a CMO or marketing director or a business owner looking for ROI from your social media investment, be sure to check out the references of the consultant or agency you hire.

• Get some education.
• Know the right questions to ask
• and, if they don’t discuss strategy and metrics — run

Wanna know more about the ROI of social media?

Join our mailing list where I share strategies that make your social media SIZZLE.  And, we’d love to send you a proposal demonstrating what Hausman and Associates can do for you — BTW, we DO stress metrics that help you accomplish your goals.