That’s right, there is no social media ROI, none, nada, zilch, zero; there I said it. So now let me ask you this, now that you know there is no social media ROI are you still interested? I mean why bother with your precious time, why bother getting involved in all these social media channels if you know that you are never ever going to see any type of ROI and are never going to see a quantifiable dollar amount…EVER! You don’t possibly have the bandwidth to set up a free account on all of these social media channels and heaven forbid if you invest the resources to get someone to participate. Nah you’re right, it’s a waste why bother? Glad we got that cleared up and thanks for reading…ciao.
Of course there is that other thing…or should I say things:
- Brand building
- Relationship management
- Product development
- Reputation management
- Customer interaction
- Customer feedback
- Customer support
- Community building
And a plethora of other things. But then again, these items don’t exactly translate into a traditional ROI or dollar amount, but they are the most important things that a company or a brand needs.
If you think social media is all about the ROI and dollar amount then please read the first paragraph again and thanks for stopping by.
The analogy I always use for social media is this:
Think about all of the people in your life including friends and family. How much would you be willing to pay to keep them in your life?
That is how you should think about social media. I mean do you spend time trying to figure out the ROI from your friends or how much your family is worth in terms of a dollar amount? No, of course not. Yet think about how your friends and family have influenced you and helped shape who you are. Think about how much you have learned and experienced. There is no ROI for this and there is no dollar amount for it yet for some strange reason you keep your friends and family around…why?
I’m not going to use a fancy term like ROP (return on participation) or ROI or any other business nomenclature, because quite honestly it’s a bunch of B.S. Social media is a way to connect with other people and make friends, leave it at that. Why you want to make friends and connect with other people is another topic and none of my business, but whenever someone asks you about social media and why you are involved with it, why don’t you ask them why they have friends and family and ask them why they value their friends and family, that is why you are involved in social media.
thanks for reading…really
of course, because there is little real investment (in capX terms at least)
however, the ROR, Return on Relationships, is effin HUGE!
Great post. I circulated it to several clients.
Thanks!
— @fein
Great point. How many times do companies ask their employees for the ROI of their telephones? Or the ROI of email? Exactly. Social media is just another communication method.
@chris
exactly, relationships or more valuable than any dollar amount. i still don’t like using the term ROR because it sounds too much like making friends is a business decision and not so much a personal one. i prefer to simply use, friends.
@samantha
why thank you very much, im glad you enjoyed it 🙂
@scott
yep, the term ROI is becoming a cliche, we need to accept that when it comes to relationships ROI is not a metric we should be looking at.
I’m still torn. In a perfect world it would be about relationships and fun and everything would be grand. But this takes time for companies and time is money, so they want some sort of ROI/ROP/whatever you want to call it. And each company is different so it’s dumb to try to set a standard metric…
I agree that people SHOULD think about social media the way you’ve laid out, but it’s not always practical or possible.
I’m not going to suggest you’ve gone too far to the ‘other’ side, but there are some distinctions needed. Social, relationships: related. But look at all of the equations and variables. How I relate with family/friends, different than industry colleagues, different than immediate team members, different than companies I do business with.
Capitalizing on and optimizing all of these distinctions IS the opportunity that stands before us.
@paula
good point, i don’t thin i’ve gone to the other side as the title of the post is sarcastic. social media is extremely valuable, but thinking of it in terms of a dollar amount or roi is just not the right metric to use. thanks for reading and commenting!
Corporates stopped spending money on visitable branches and real employess (nationals of the country) answering phone calls and delivering good old fashioned customer service which was an opportunity for interaction with customers and helped shape, enhance or maintain people’s views of them.
As the pace of customer alienation increases – catalysed by online purchasing (in part driven by customer’s need for convenient and cheap) is social media a cheap way of clawing some of that relationship management back?
ROR huh. Cynical and call center hardened old me thinks the corporates dont want to be my friend but sidle up to, caress or lighten my wallet with minimal complaint. So i wont be placated by or enthralled with any pointlessly blogging CEO/MD or minion thereof – unless he/she displays humility, accountability, dependability and can listen, understand and take action – then social media has real value to all. Then we have ROI and ROMI – return on *my* investment in their business/product.
Was that a bit ranty for a sunday night!
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But I like the term “return on participation”
ya, there are so many names for it, i think every company will have it's own “return.”
thanks for reading and commenting!
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Amazing post and perspective! this is still so misunderstood in the advertising and marketing field, and you captured it beautifully.
hey amber, thanks for the kind words im glad you enjoyed it.
thanks for reading and commenting, hope to see you around here more often!
hey amber, thanks for the kind words im glad you enjoyed it.
thanks for reading and commenting, hope to see you around here more often!
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The concept zero originated from Arabic culture. The word “cipher” comes fro the Arabic word “zifr” meaning zero.