“Our head of Social Media is the customer” – McDonald’s

“You can’t just say it. You have to get the people to say it to each other,” says James Farley, CMO Ford

Dell sold $3,000,000 worth of computers on Twitter

What do these statements say to you? For all of us it will be something different. I want you to think about these whilst you read the post below.

It’s common knowledge that social media is pretty tricky to measure, due to it’s fresh appearance on the scene and it’s diversity – many of the pieces that need to be evaluated are difficult to track.

Many times we get asked this question, as do many media agencies executing social media strategies. The Socialnomics blog put’s it extremely well:  “What is the ROI of Social Media? Or the ever popular how do I measure the ROI of social media?  Often when I get this question it’s appropriate for me to retort: “What’s the ROI of your phone?”Other times it’s not appropriate to respond with this answer, which, if done in the wrong tone, or place, can win you a free punch in the face.  Then there are the naysayers that adamantly proclaim, “We aren’t doing social media because there isn’t any ROI.”

To borrow from the Conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Benjamin Zander, there are those in life that sit in the back row with their arms folded, judging, and complaining.  Then there are those that sit in the front row with a vision and they are spending their energy on making that vision a reality.  This article and video have been put together with the hopes of it being a viable tool for those with a vision to get those seated in the back row to stand up and see the social media light.

Social media is not for everyone, it’s for those companies and businesses that do want to reach their consumers on a whole new level,the ones that see the relationship building side one of the most important elements of any strategy. I believe there is no other marketing strategy that can touch this, as we are dealing directly with emotions. When you have built up a relationship with a consumer and harnessed it by strengthening trust, then nothing else can touch that. So back to ROI.

The Socialnomics blog states: “After all, why are we trying to measure social media like a traditional channel?  Social media touches every facet of business and it should be viewed more as an extension of good business ethics.  Which, if done properly, will harvest sales down the line.  Co-Chairman Alex Bogusky of Crispin Porter & Bogusky puts it best when he states:

“You can’t buy attention anymore. Having a huge budget doesn’t mean anything in social media…The old media paradigm was PAY to play. Now you get back what you authentically put in. You’ve got to be willing to PLAY to play.” – Alex Bogusky, Co-Chairman of Crispin Porter + Bogusky

We are high 5ing that!

The video below by Socialnomics, simply get’s my heart thumping. It highlights the Social Media ROI on campaigns and companies that have launched themselves into the Social Media space. Sit back and soak it up!!

So what are you thinking now?