Why Social Media ROI is so hard.
1. social media engagement is voluntary, you cant use any kind of leverage on it or it will break.
2. social media's nature demands a certain amount of grace that advertisers and marketers generally lack i.e. (people don’t like to be treated as targets, nor do they like to be shouted at)
3. Marketers are generally egocentric, anal and impatient...so, they measure individual or organizational success from an outside-in perspective rather than an inside-out perspective. (outside-in = what do we get from the other/user/consumer/target, whereas inside-out = what value are we bringing to the table, what are we providing to the other/user/consumer/guest).
A better method for measuring return on investment should take it's cues from what every career focused marketer goes through at some point in their life.
See, marketing is full of Type-A personalities, and at some point in every type-a's life they come home to their family and realize that that can't manage a significant other, family, or friends, like a business. At that point they stop trying to get results on their own egocentric timeline and they begin investing in deepening a daily relationship w/ individuals or groups that are important to them. Over time they begin to give up control of certain conversations, but gain immense value from the participation and inclusion that begins to envelop them as they move deeper into the fold.
At that point the ROI, when looked at in hindsight and holistically, is obvious.
However, my gut tells me that most marketers are deathly afraid of relinqueshing control and at some point, many simply stop listening and would rather end a relationship than change their own behaviors.
Feel free to discuss, debate, or rip me a new one...
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