I’ll be honest here, I’m a bit tired of people asking me what the ROI is on social media; everyone wants to know how much money they can make, and how fast they can make it. Well you know what? If that’s your agenda and that’s your goal, then don’t join the conversation, we don’t want you. Stick to your mass media advertising and stay out of the social media space.
Think of it like this, how much money would be willing to spend to keep your friends in your life? Think about your valuable experiences, your life stories, the things you have learned and the memories you have shared. How much is that worth to you? Can you quantify how much money you have made as a result of your friends or long term relationships? Now flip the question around, don’t ask how much money you are going to MAKE from your customers. Ask how much you are willing to GIVE to your customers. It’s not about you, or your brand. It’s about your customers; it’s about what they want.
I have used this analogy a few times with people and it really seems to hit home and make sense. It’s a fundamental shift in thinking. The first step in creating a social media strategy is not creating a blog or analyzing your objectives, it’s changing your mindset. It’s about realizing that your customers and your readers are doing you a favor by talking to you. They could off with their family or on another website, but they aren’t, they are on your site! Let me ask you this, if you knew up front that you would not make any money from your friends would you still want them in your life? There is always the risk of losing money and damaging your reputation, but these are temporary. If you join the social media space only to find out that people are bashing you or your brand, well then there is a reason for it. Learn from what your customers have to say about you; it’s not always going to positive. Take the negatives and learn!
So the next time someone asks you what the ROI is on social media, what are you going to tell them?
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While I can see your view on this one and I agree with a lot of the points made in it, unfortunately it's not that easy for businesses to do likewise. (I'd also be split on whether telling someone to “stay out of our space” has any part in the sharing approach of social media).
While many will understand that they need to change their mindset and look at how they can benefit their customers as much as themselves, at the end of the day they are still a business. They still need to make money and profit to survive, to keep their employees paid and meet financial and stakeholder requirements.
This is where the “keeping friends in your life” analogy to not making money doesn't seem valid here. I cherish my friends over anything and we'll always have each others backs, but friends don't pay suppliers; friends don't meet monthly wage needs; friends don't keep the bank manager at bay. They offer support emotionally and yes, sometime financially too. But there's a limit as to how much a friend can help – and I have no problem with that.
What is needed by CEO's and decision-makers in a business is to have real-world results and examples on social media successes. I always share a PP presentation with new clients (and existing) on potential social media strategies, with emphasis on timescale and how long it could take to see any real results. This has worked well for me as clients know what to expect and how to expect it. There's no “give me your money and expect to see this in week 1” fallacy – just straightforward figures and potential.
Friends are there to support you through good and bad, but only tangible results will get you through the good/bad times in business. This is what businesses want to see and it's our job to help educate and dispel their fears and concerns.
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Hi Danny,
I understand what you are saying but just because a they are a business doesn't mean that they can't think differently. it's part of the evolution and innovation process. a company is more then welcome to stay mediocre and a company is more then welcome to not use social media to build relationships with their users. in fact i even advocate that social media shouldn't really be pitched or “sold” to anybody. a company needs to realize that a change has to be made.
the reason i use the analogy of friends and customers is because the measurement or ROI is not quantifiable perse. social media is a more qualitative medium and thus looking at how much you can “make” from your users is not the best way to approach it. we take conversations for granted nowadays. of course these companies need to make money and they need to cover their costs, but the new way to do this is to build relationships with users and customers, the way you build a lot of these relationships is through social media.
there are plenty of real world results, examples, case studies that all show the benefits of social media, but each case is different and in each case the company took a chance before it was able to see results. it's not about the tools or the medium but how you use them.
friends are to personal relationships what users/customers are to business relationships. i agree it is our job to help educate companies, but only if they ask. there are always going to be fears and concerns and there should be. when gm launched their new yukon social media strategy it blew up in their face because all users talked about was that the new car was a gas guzzler.
people need to understand that with social media comes the positive and the negative.
thanks for the comment danny
Hi Danny,
I understand what you are saying but just because a they are a business doesn't mean that they can't think differently. it's part of the evolution and innovation process. a company is more then welcome to stay mediocre and a company is more then welcome to not use social media to build relationships with their users. in fact i even advocate that social media shouldn't really be pitched or “sold” to anybody. a company needs to realize that a change has to be made.
the reason i use the analogy of friends and customers is because the measurement or ROI is not quantifiable perse. social media is a more qualitative medium and thus looking at how much you can “make” from your users is not the best way to approach it. we take conversations for granted nowadays. of course these companies need to make money and they need to cover their costs, but the new way to do this is to build relationships with users and customers, the way you build a lot of these relationships is through social media.
there are plenty of real world results, examples, case studies that all show the benefits of social media, but each case is different and in each case the company took a chance before it was able to see results. it's not about the tools or the medium but how you use them.
friends are to personal relationships what users/customers are to business relationships. i agree it is our job to help educate companies, but only if they ask. there are always going to be fears and concerns and there should be. when gm launched their new yukon social media strategy it blew up in their face because all users talked about was that the new car was a gas guzzler.
people need to understand that with social media comes the positive and the negative.
thanks for the comment danny
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