ROI of Social Media: How to Improve the Return on Your Social Marketing Investment

INTRODUCTION

Social media is exploding as a new media channel. It differs from other advertising media channels because messages are multi-directional and generated by many parties: the marketer, influencers, individuals and consumers. Social media isn't a one-way broadcast of messages to the masses, but a conversation taking place between many individuals and which, unlike the real world, can have many others observing and consuming the content, not just during the conversation but practically forever into the future. Social media marketing has an easily accessible and long memory.

With multiple parties publishing brand-related messages for their own circle of friends and followers, the marketer is no longer in complete control of the message. Because everyone can play a role in what gets said about a brand, a competitor or the category, social media allows a high level of engagement with consumers compared with other “traditional” one-way media channels. Not only can the brand engage directly in a one-to-one conversation, but the conversation itself can provide value to those consumers passively observing it. By using search and the various conversation threads, individuals can read what others say and, in the process, gather both positive and negative brand impressions.

As social media marketers, we need to understand how to engage with these different types of individuals and their behaviors in order to deliver the most value for the brand and to mitigate the risk and impact ...