At today's Information Age, networking has never been so easy, and at the same time, so important. Social media is no more an evolving platform to reach people. Most of the online companies have realized the power possessed by social media, and they are already successfully making sales and getting business leads.
With large amount of corporate money is on stake, the social media monitoring and measurements have become the essential component to keep an eye on the ROI made.
Many companies come up with statements that measuring social media ROI is not possible. To be exact, this isn't a straightforward job, as it is for e-mail marketing, advertising campaign and Search Engine Optimization of a website. This is because the concept behind the social media is not the same.
The Concept of Social Media
While all the other channels focus on generating new business, and getting leads, social media is used with a primary focus on developing relationship. This relationship could be between person-to-person, business-to-business, person-to-business and brand-to-person. While the prior is meant to establish oneself as better salesperson, the later is to establish yourself as a contributor to the society.
Social media is not about acquisition, but the act of retaining. As being social is always seen as a progress, relationships should be maintained. And social media delivers the place where people can share and retain their relationship to create a better (easier) way of communication between one another.
The Power of Engagement
Social media provides a place where people can communicate and engage in a conversation. Engagement is the only reason of why social media is popular. With the engagement social media is delivering, people can discuss problems with trusted people in their circle to suggest a solution to their problem. This creates a place where people wants to get out of daily things they listen to.
When people want to discuss their problems, not the products available in the market, that solution can be a product and services available in the market.
Helping people find solution by interacting with people, educating them about a category, answer to their queries, and people will find that you are becoming their trusted resource. Later, this can make you an expert on a subject, among viewers. People will respect your comments and they will respond accordingly.
Problem solving at this state can make you enter people's priority list. And if any one of them are looking for the vendors providing likewise services and products as yours, they will certainly choose you. And also recommend you with word-of-mouth marketing.
Calculating the ROI in Social Media
In social media, ROI is more like ROC (Return on Conversation). If someone is responding to you, like what you say, share your ideas, discuss with you and seeking for your next comments by following you, they are your returns.
In today's popular social media, specifically Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, the only thing that is worth measuring is "Engagement". All you have to do is use the engagement the social media provides, and the social media will monitor the measurements
Facebook Likes, comments, replies, page views and demographic in Facebook. Followers, Favorites and Retweets in Twitter. Connections, comments and replies in Linked In. All are the parameters that can be tracked from time to time to know whether your investments in social media is in the right direction or not.
These parameters provide numbers that can be used as the elements for the social media monitoring and measurements.