I have had much discussion recently about the ROI of social media. Traditionally, ROI is used as a financial gauge on how successful a marketing campaign was relative to how much money was spent on that campaign. Let me be bold: Social Media is NOT traditional. So why do we try to use traditional models of measurement to indicate success?
The NEW ROI = Return on Influence. It’s a shift in business strategy and thinking to engage their customer base so that they become brand champions online. Even more so, personal champions of your employees who represent your brand. After all, we do business with people, your business. ROI (return on influence, to reiterate) is still a numbers game – how many genuine relationships can you create and maintain (key word) so that positive encounters with those people generate buzz and conversation about your business?
Case Study
Last year, I set out on a journey to gather information that would gain Groundswell within my organization. I needed a way to positively impact our footprint within 5 markets and increase online revenue by using social media tools as a “free” and easy way to build relationships with potential clients. I chose Twitter as the best tool for my project.
Return on Influence at work:
Summary
- 6 tweets
- ~2000 tweeple viewing tweet exchange and products and services for TV interview idea
- 205,320 viewers exposed to the brand
- 205 potential clients
Details
1 follower: local tv station managing editor (~2000 combined followers at the time viewing tweet exchange)
6 Tweets with follower = 3.9 minutes* =$2.15 cost of tweeting
2 – 15 second TV interviews ->
205,320 people exposed to the brand
OK. For those that just can’t stand it, read on for your <shutter> “return on your investment” </shutter>
x 1% response rate: 205 potential clients
205 clients x average of $3/client spent annually = $615
$615 – $2.15 (cost of tweeting) = $612.85 revenue
Those are pretty staggering numbers!
Employees of big brands can have an influence that will spread like wildfire if they take advantage of social media tools. These tools are connected through a series of tangled webs. The conversation starts with them which is quickly broadcasted through their communities in seconds which looks a little something like this:
Social Web - Spiders do it best
There is some argument that this is just “reach” vs true influence. That’s quite possible but I also believe that influence is also attributed to the integrity and trustworthiness of the transmitter who may be able to help convert the conversation into a sale. If the influencer (or person who starts the conversation) isn’t following up or engaging others about the product or service, then yes, the mention is only reaching a wider audience and not enticing them to do anything with the information.
Social media is a more grassroots and creative way to affect the way people think about and interact with you. Your metrics need to be as flexible as the tool which is quite the opposite as using traditional tools like direct mail where the statistics a 1:1 relationship.
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