As most folks at Tempero will tell you, I’m fairly plain speaking. I’m not hugely fond of agency speak and I’m certainly not a fan of the smoke and mirrors thrown at clients by some agencies. ROI is most certainly a subject that sees A LOT of smoky mirrors in its reflection.
My views on social media ROI measurement sit very firmly in the common sense camp. It’s extremely difficult, it’s getting easier but let’s not bet the house on it. Yet.
Let’s make it easier on ourselves and think of it slightly differently.
Common sense tells me that actively engaging with your audience over a period of time is almost always guaranteed to resonate more than a giant billboard by the motorway, or indeed hundreds of fleeting views of a brand name in any one day.
Traditional advertising is a sledgehammer; hit enough people with it and a percentage will submit. Have a big enough media budget and you will almost certainly create a buzz – but is that frisson of activity, genuine advocacy?
On the other hand, done well, social media is a scalpel, carefully cutting out the most relevant audience and creating relationships instead of moments in time, creating connections instead of indifference and using the power of people to tell a story.
Done badly, social media is like another other medium, damaging, pointless and a waste of money but with a little thought, planning and budget can make a big impact.
Measuring that impact is when things get sticky, but let’s ask ourselves two things…
1. Is traditional advertising any better?
“I know half of my advertising budget is wasted. I just don’t know which half?” said John Wanamaker in the early 1900’s.
2. Have things changed and can anyone give me decent stats on how effective editorial PR is?
Our insight team can definitely prove social is as measurable as those two, more so if approached correctly, but until we’ve nailed an absolute ‘social media gives a x% return on investment’ figure, I think we all need to bring a big slice of common sense into this on-going debate.
If you’d like to talk more and see what we’re doing in this area, give us a call. No smoke and mirrors – guaranteed!
[Featured image by epSos.de]
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