Maximize Your Social: A One-Stop Guide to Building a Social Media Strategy for Marketing and Business Success

Chapter 17

The ROI of Your Social Media Strategy

Previous chapters in this book illustrated the depth and breadth of social media and what can be included in a strategy, depending on the specific objectives of your company. However, before you commit to everything, it is important to consider what the costs and return on investment (ROI) mean for your company.

Although some companies are still confused about the ROI of social media, they realize the need to incorporate it into an existing communications channel simply because so many people are using it. Based on my experience, I’ve noticed there’s usually a three-stage approach to adopting social media within a company culture.

First, companies usually ask why they need to use social media. Statistics reveal that more than 90 percent of businesses with 100 or more employees are already using social media in their marketing mix,1 and those that don’t are definitely in the minority. Even if a company has limited social media that can’t expand, there is often a concern about risk (which I hope I helped you mitigate) and whether social media actually has an ROI. My goal with this chapter is to illustrate why it is important, how to achieve optimal performance, and how to execute properly so that you can then educate and convince people within your company of the same.

Companies then begin to think maybe they should consider using social media. They start on a few channels to test the space. They may have limited resources, but undoubtedly, ...