Here are six of the best posts I’ve read recently (and some not so recently) about the ROI of social media. I think while we’re all continuing to think a lot about this issue, it’s becoming less and less about simply proving our case to the powers that be and more and more about finding a simple, replicable system for what’s worth measuring and why. For the association industry, measuring engagement is one significant piece of this puzzle, but all nonprofits still have businesses to run and it’s worth having a look at what some smart people have said about it all.
These are in date order.
NTEN – The Three Dimensions of Social Media ROI
The BrandBuilder Blog – Defining Social Media ROI once and for all, and understanding the action-reactive-return narrative
Adam Cohen (A Thousand Cuts) – The Basics of Social Media ROI
Social Computing Journal – Measuring Social Media ROI: Does size matter?
BrandSavant – What’s Wrong With Social Media Marketing Strategy
Jacob Morgan – The Importance of a Social Media ROI Diagnostic
Let us know what you think of these, and if you have other links to share or ideas about how to measure the ROI (or ROE) of social media in a way that can be shared easily throughout the industry. I’m sure someone out there has had to do some kind of report for their Board where you had to organize all the quantitative and qualitative data in some way that makes a good business case…
UPDATE:- this post has, as of this writing, had over 7300 20,340 views on Social Media Today (typos and all – LOL!), and there are a bunch of comments over there (thank you!!) with more good links. I also got a really good one via a message from the site which I want to repost here, and I’ll continue to add to this post if I see more on the next few days (or I’ll do another round later).
