What exactly is ROI?
What is social media ROI?
Image: Mark Smiciklas via Flickr, CC 2.0
Is ROI or “impact” more important? Or are they equally important?
Should companies starting out in social media be concerned about ROI?
These were the questions we discussed on yesterday’s #measurePR chat with Don Bartholomew, aka @donbart.
It was terrific.
As Sean Williams said,
Don is a refreshing blend of theory and practicality when it comes to demystifying what seems to remain one of the most puzzling questions in the social media and measurement worlds.
At least, Sean said something to that effect, but I can’t find his exact tweet, so let’s assume I’m not misquoting him… too much.
Here are some of the tweets from yesterday’s session:
That’s meant to be “think,” by the way.
The key point that Don, Sean, and a few others were trying to drive home is that ROI is ROI is ROI.
It is not “value,” and it is not “impact.”
Update at 11:42 am: Don just corrected me, saying, “… one could argue ROI is a form of Impact, but Impact is not ROI.”
He’s right, and that’s what I meant, and should have said.
Back to your regular programming.
When we start trying to redefine “ROI,” we are opening a can of worms. Because the C-suite understands ROI as something very specific.
If we’re then going to try to change that definition, it can’t end well.
Focusing on Impact, on the other hand, makes a lot of sense, because here you’re starting out with measurable objectives (tired of that phrase yet?!).
Once you do that, you’re going to track your program(s) to see if they result in those measurable objectives… which should be created with some kind of impact on the business/organization in mind.
Do have a read through the transcript of the #measurePR chat with Don; there are some real nuggets in there.
The conversation was so interesting, that Don agreed to come back for Round 2 of the SM ROI discussion.
So save the date: Sept. 14, 12-1 pm ET.
If it makes life easier for you, you can RSVP for #measurePR with Don, Round 2, on Facebook.
It would be great to get some questions from you, so that we don’t have to repeat everything we discussed yesterday.
Will you send them along, either by leaving a comment below, or by shooting me an email or DM?
Don and I hope to see you there!
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[…] Props to Kellye Crane for reminding me of this during the most recent #measurePR with Don Bartholomew. […]
[…] We continued our conversation on social media and ROI. […]
Shonali — agree with Rich, LOVE the graphic!
I just published today on socmed analysis tools, asking for folks to share experiences/best practices. Care to share? Here’s link: http://bit.ly/bJay0b
Chris, thanks so much for the link; looks like a good list you’ve got going there.
The lead picture said it all. What an excellent graphic.
I sometimes shift the speaking away from ROI and call it Return On Communication for this very reason. Doing so can also help direct what we define as measurable outcomes. An outcome can be a way of thinking about something as much as it can be a sale, etc.
Best,
Rich
Rich, I haven’t been ignoring your comment. Yes, I knew instantly when I saw the graphic that it was perfect for the post.
I understand trying to redefine expectations. I think where Don, I and several others were going with not trying to reinvent “ROI” is that it already has a definition that is understood by the C-suite in very specific terms. Opening that door could be a can of worms.
I personally think focusing on outcomes is what we should always have been, and be, doing. That’s why including measurable outcomes in one’s strategy is so essential, because it helps us know, from the get-go, what we should be focusing on, instead of simply outputs.
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Kami Huyse, Shonali Burke. Shonali Burke said: Social media "ROI" is not "Impact." Recap of #measurepr w @donbart http://ht.ly/2xTEw, he's coming back on 9/14! RSVP: http://ht.ly/2xTFt […]