Social Media ROI

I have been spending way too much time pondering and thinking, reading and studying about Social Media and ROI. But then I am spending time, more time than it is worth (maybe) on this marketing channel. So where is the pay back? Where is MY ROI?


Is it the 3 F’s (fans, friends, followers)? Is it the number of calls or emails of interesting in your product of service? Is it the number of actual sales? In all my studying and real time experience, it is or has become all of the above. Yes the more exposure the more hits the more hits the more prospect inquiries the more inquiries the more sales. Makes sense doesn’t it? To my simple mind it does.


Now it seems that most marketers want to put a hard number on what this site is doing this for me or how that site gave me this hit, and while that is important and should be kept track of I tend to look at it as how many hits am I getting in my overall Social Media Marketing efforts. I am in over or on 100 sites some I work some I do nothing with unless I get an inquiry. I try to set them up on automatic postings and getting an email saying I got a reply as much as possible. Is it working? Sometimes.


That being said a report I read somewhere said that over 70% of respondents expect that they will be able to tie in Social Media Marketing into some form of ROI. To date another report said that as of now only 40% of respondents can put a ROI number on their efforts now.


For me I still say the best strategy is to put your ROI in terms of what it is doing to your sales funnel. Yes I still believe in the sales funnel. Silly me huh?


Last May Facebook introduced their version of an ads dashboard which shows not just the number of people who clicked on a “sponsored” ad but how it compares with its potential reach. Pretty neat. It also lets marketers look at the clicks as compared with the number of connections or those actually taking action on the click. So maybe there is progress being made. Or not.


Larson Notes & Satire: Yes friends throw that Social Media Mud! The more mud you throw the more is going to find a wall to stick on! As I said above I am on some 100 or more sites and growing (found a new one yesterday) and with each new week I am getting more inquiries about my serves directly from my Social Media Marketing efforts. Not as many as I should get or deserve to get but it has seen a marked improvement. That does not mean I am abandoning telemarketing and direct mail. No not at all, I am ADDING to my already well oiled machine of multichannel marketing attack methods. If you can handle it the more channels the merrier. Just remember if you’re going to add do it well or don’t do it. If you can’t do it with at least a 90% proficiency level drop it our outsource it to someone like me. If not you are only wasting your time!



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Howard Larson
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