What’s My ROI on Social Media?

by Wiz on February 22, 2012

social media roi cartoon

In the world of online marketing and lead generation, few topics generate as much hoopla as “social media”. Hardly a day goes by anymore where I’m not presented with a list of “reasons” (opinions, really) on why I “must” be on <insert social media site here>.

The question that’s hard to answer, though, is “How do I know if it’s working?” Which usually gets translated as “What’s my ROI?”

In the past, when companies launched almost any kind of marketing campaign, they had specific things they were trying to accomplish. Most often this translated into such measurements as sales closed, revenue generated, new leads captured, etc. Success and failure was determined using these measurements. So it would make sense to try to apply a similar logic to social media, right? Can’t we compare social media to any other type of lead-generation campaign and measure the ROI?

I used to think so. Now, I’m not so sure.

While reading a recent article over at Mashable, I saw an analogy that has caused me to think about this in a new light. Hal Thomas, a content manager at BFG Communications, likened social media to a business card. Business cards are passed out at every opportunity – you can pass out dozens and pick up hundreds at an industry conference. Yet when you come back to the office, you really can’t calculate the ROI of the cards you handed out. Similarly, Thomas says, you can’t measure the value of a Twitter follower or a Facebook fan.

A Fan is not a Lead

I think the real distinction comes in recognizing that a fan or a follower is not the same as a lead. Social media fans are about as close to passive as you can get – there’s almost no effort in “liking” a page or retweeting a post. Whereas leads – qualified leads, anyway – are more “active”. They’ve had to raise a hand and say, “I’m interested.”

So can one measure ROI of social media? Thomas considers social media a communications tool, like a telephone or email. In his view, you don’t measure the ROI of the tool – you measure the ROI of the activities you do with the tool.

Whether this is a true distinction or simply a matter of semantics is debatable. Because in the end, the question is the same: does my use of social media justify the resources (time, effort, finances) that I’m giving it? Or is there a better use for those resources?

For myself, I’m still keeping an open mind. If you have thoughts on this, please share them.

(Note – a colleague of mine has recommended the book Social Media ROI as a good place to start thinking about the ROI of specific social media activities. It’s on my list, but I have yet to read it. If you have, I’d appreciate hearing what you thought of it.)

Related posts:

Effective content marketing doesn’t end with the content

Secret to B2B success in 2012: Customer loyalty supported by the right messaging

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Build a better mousetrap with white papers

by Karen on February 17, 2012

In today’s marketing world things change fast. And you want to keep pace with your content. So if you have a terrific white  paper, how do you easily keep it current with minimal effort?

Specifically, how do you update the links in your white paper that give prospects more in-depth information (e.g., product demos, special promotions, product data sheets, case studies, etc.)?

This flexibility is important because quality white papers get shared, stored, and referred to again and again over time.

And you not only want the latest information in the white papers being downloaded today, tomorrow and the next day … but you would like to also update those already in the hands of prospects.

One way to “build” a better white paper is to make it dynamic.

For example: One of the main services your company offers is oil well logging. You have a white paper that discusses the three biggest challenges in producing quality logs, and it ends with how your company does this the best.

In your white paper are links to your website with a few customer case studies and other in-depth details on your service.

But you just finished a tricky job for a customer and you want to include a new case study (client success story) because it is such a strong example of how your service is better than the competition.

How do you share the new case study without writing a new white paper?

First step (i.e., back when you first created the white paper) is to include a barcode (QR code) for your links to landing pages. Now your options are:

1.    Change the content on your landing page

2.    Create a 301 Redirect to your new landing page

3.    Use JavaScript to redirect visitors to you new landing page

These are all fine unless you have other campaigns linking to the same landing page. If you change the content on the landing page then you’ve fouled up these other campaigns. (Another good reason to create unique landing pages for each campaign.)

But if you have a mobile barcode (e.g., QR code) with enhanced capabilities, then you can repurpose that code over its lifespan. It’s possible to manage your content (white papers or anything else) in real time. The destination for a barcode can be changed easily without updating your website landing page.

More than one mobile vendor has this capability; Neustar is one good example. I met Matthew Valleskey, Director of Marketing for Mobile Services at Neustar a while back. He told me of this cool capability with mobile barcodes.

It helps make your job of generating leads easier. Plus it’s a way of producing content that meets the needs of your audience for longer periods of time.  It gives you more flexibility for leveraging content that’s already produced.

Whether linking to a case study, a product demo video, or anything else on the landing page that you may want to update in the future … mobile barcodes with enhanced capabilities are one way to keep published content current. They’re one way to build a better mousetrap with white papers.

Related posts:

QR codes … How easy-to-use technology generates leads and builds loyalty

Is the White Paper an Endangered Species?

Top 5 B2B White Paper Mistakes

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