Comments on: Show me the Value – Hunting for ROI in the Social Media Maze

By: Guest

Guest — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 22:47:30 +0000

Absolutely agree with REBlogGirl! If I went into any campaigns, be it e-mail, social or an advertising campaign with no goals as to what the end results should be, I'd be out of a job. Don't think my clients would be happy either. Every move in marketing has a goal….every move. Campaigns are thought out, developed and launched with those goals in mind. Social media use is no different.

By: Guest

Guest — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:47:30 +0000

By: HighTouch

HighTouch — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:55:16 +0000

Mary, Great Article.. I get asked that very question about how is this going to bring me more business. Now I have something great to say back to them..

By: REBlogGirl

REBlogGirl — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:53:48 +0000

I still don't get what you are saying here. 1. social media is not free – it takes time and resources. Yes, some tools and channels may be free but if you want to implement social media correctly, you pay for real analytics tools like SM2 or twitalyzer. 2. only 8% of leads come from social media according to studies therefore, the the results from social media alone aren't going to blow up someone's skirt or save a failing business. Using hyperbole to describe what social media can do is setting an unrealistic expectation. Everyone using it should set a goal and an expectation for their campaign based on real metrics and the allocation of resources and follow through with measuring results with real analytics tools like the social media plugin for Google analytics or even Trackur. And yes, anyone serious about their social campaign – uses conversion pages, bit.ly and paid services for metrics and listening. As for small businesses using social media – if they want to use it effectively they must have a plan, a goal and an expectation of performance as they would with a direct mail or advertising campaign. Not having those things sets the campaign up for failure.

By: Mary Kurek

Mary Kurek — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:01:21 +0000

I hear your point, but you clearly misunderstood mine regarding expectations. First, if a company has paid someone like you to manage social media for them – yeah – they should have some expectations…of YOU. The social media isn't going to return anything that YOU don't manage to that end. I think the ROI on social media, if worked by someone who knows what they are doing, can be amazing…unlike anything you can achieve otherwise. However, my experience is that most organizations don't have the resources to allocate to hiring a pro for social media — they make a stab at it themselves, and, if it doesn't seem to produce what they expect (because they've been reading and hearing how great it is) then they throw up their hands and blow it off. Take another look at the post – I do say they should get clear on what they want from social media – absolutely. But, there is a different between wants and expectations. Wants relate to what a person is aiming for, expectations are out of line if talent and appropriate action isn't applied to the want. Gotta remember, the pool of business users is quite diverse, with a heavy helping of those who are not Fortune 500 types.

By: Mary Kurek

Mary Kurek — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:58:00 +0000

I hear your point, but you clearly misunderstood mine regarding expectations. First, if a company has paid someone like you to manage social media for them – yeah – they should have some expectations…of YOU. The social media isn’t going to return anything that YOU don’t manage to that end. I think the ROI on social media, if worked by someone who knows what they are doing, can be amazing…unlike anything you can achieve otherwise. However, my experience is that most organizations don’t have the resources to allocate to hiring a pro for social media — they make a stab at it themselves, and, if it doesn’t seem to produce what they expect (because they’ve been reading and hearing how great it is) then they throw up their hands and blow it off. Take another look at the post – I do say they should get clear on what they want from social media – absolutely. But, there is a different between wants and expectations. Wants relate to what a person is aiming for, expectations are out of line if talent and appropriate action isn’t applied to the want. Gotta remember, the pool of business users is quite diverse, with a heavy helping of those who are not Fortune 500 types.

By: REBlogGirl

REBlogGirl — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:27:12 +0000

I strongly disagree with this post. I work social media for a Fortune 500 record label. If I went back to my boss and gave him any of these answers I'd be fired. In marketing, there are CLEAR expectations of performance. Here's a fact – social media represents 8% (that's a real stat from Hubspot and the AMA) of where a company's leads are generated therefore less than 8% of a marketing budget is devoted to it. That means, a real company investing dollars in social media expects RETURN on the investment. Any marketer that comes to me and says don't have clear expectations for a campaign does NOT belong in the field.