I suppose we’ve made progress. In 2003-2004, I was defending the idea that there was any ROI whatsoever for the business use of social media. Now, clients want to know how they’re going to measure it. While I do firmly believe – know, even – that investing in social media can deliver business value, the things that are easy to measure in social media only scratch the surface of the real ROI of social media, the topic of my latest OPEN Forum article:
It’s the question that businesses have been asking ever since the first person suggested that maybe we could actually do some business in all this new "social" media: "What’s the ROI?"
It’s not a bad question. Surely, if you’re going to spend money on something in your business, it should generate some kind of return… or at least cut some visible and measurable loss.
And yet, there are all kinds of business tools and functions that companies commit money to without measuring the ROI — they’re simply an essential part of business. What’s the ROI of your HR department? Laptop computers and mobile phones for all your employees who travel?
If you’re asking the ROI question about social media and expecting to be able to show it all on a spreadsheet, you’re still looking at social media as a channel, most likely for just one or two business functions, such as marketing or recruiting. While it’s true that social media can be used in that way, it has become something else entirely: an essential communication utility.
What’s the ROI of the telephone? Or email? It’s a ridiculous question, right? It would be impossible to have a business without them. They’re how you communicate with your employees, customers, partners — everybody. Social media is just a collection of communication tools, and they have flourished because for certain tasks, they’re better than the phone, email, or face-to-face communications.
The value of social media that’s immediately visible and measurable is just the tip of the iceberg. The bulk of its value lies below the water line — not in the major corporate social media initiatives, but in the daily process of helping every employee do their job more efficiently and effectively.
Here are some tips on how you can realize the real ROI of social media below the water line: