Legal Marketing & PR

Asking "What's the ROI of social media?" is akin to asking "What's the ROI of a telephone?" or "What's the ROI of a computer?"

These are all tools. They all have the potential to be significant time-suckers. And they each can make us enormously effective. Depending on our purpose and actions with the tools.

When marketing with the telephone, you can measure "ROI" (return on investment) of a smile and dial campaign, or you can measure the number of times your phone rings in response to a particular ad campaign. And you're happy if you can tie dollars to either.

These are INITIATIVE SPECIFIC. ROI is tied to an initiative, not a tool. How are you using it?

Which initiatives you undertake should depend entirely on what (or whom) you're marketing and, much more importantly, who the buyers are. Where are they? And what do those buyers want or need to know in order to decide to buy from you. 

Social media are a (fluid) set of tools?applications?that facilitate Internet-based relationship development (the ?social? part of social media).

Social media platforms can be extremely effective tools. 

But social media, itself, or your mere presence on any one application, is absolutely not an initiative that can be measured. And, in general, simple metrics like number of followers, fans, or friends, are mostly irrelevant without defined purpose and specific goals.

To determine any sort of measurable "ROI," strategy must exist behind what you do and why. Your desired ROI is then based on each aspect of the strategy, or on a combination of aspects. Again, never on just the tool.

Social media is most effective when its use is merely a component of strategies that include some online relationship development. With an Internet-initiated or -enhanced relationship, what you seek to accomplish can range from recruiting to prospect conversion to brand awareness to customer service.

Decide whether any particular social media tool coincides with your other marketing, recruiting, and client service initiatives. Then decide if the investments necessary to achieve success with the tools(s) are worthwhile relative to the potential (projected) results.

When someone asks, "What's the ROI of social media?" their underlying belief is usually already that social media is a big 'ol waste of time.

Well, yes, it is for some people. And it's also wildly productive for others. 

We just need to shatter the notion that ROI can be assessed on a tool without a clear plan for its use.