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Measuring social media ROI

The final session of ITWeb's Social Media Summit focused on social media return on investment and setting concrete objectives to ensure success.

Joanne Carew
By Joanne Carew, ITWeb Cape-based contributor.
Johannesburg, 16 Aug 2013
Brands must ensure their messages are creating public conversation and encouraging engagement, says PiKE's Walter Pike.
Brands must ensure their messages are creating public conversation and encouraging engagement, says PiKE's Walter Pike.

Social media requires us to define new sets of rules, particularly when it comes to return on investment (ROI).

This was the overarching sentiment of the final session at ITWeb's Social Media Summit, in Bryanston, yesterday.

People like to spread ideas, and in order to capitalise on this, brands need to ensure their messages are creating public conversation and encouraging engagement, said Walter Pike, founder of PiKE and the Digital Academy.

The broadcast era was about building as big an audience as possible, but the social media age requires conscious interaction with that audience, he noted. "Many of the strategies that were effective during the broadcast era no longer apply in the era of social media," said Pike, stressing that social media is about more than communicating with consumers; it is about how people are talking to each other as a result of that message. "The most important conversation is the one between our audience and their friends."

Lara-Lee Magnus, MD of Second Floor Consulting, agrees, pointing out that we shouldn't be trying to measure social media effectiveness like we would other channels. "People want reports on where social media investment money is going. Financial managers are not very interested in likes and followers," she said. And rightly so, Magnus noted, pointing out that a truly successful viral campaign is not about the number of likes or impressions, but rather about collaboration, sharing and action, and about ensuring the message engaged with the right kind of people.

Facebook likes or Twitter followers do not really quantify ROI, said Pike, adding that effectiveness is not about the size of the audiences, but rather about networks and connections. What really is important when looking at the effectiveness of a social-media-based campaign is what happens after a message has been transmitted, and how people engage with that message, Pike said.

According to Tom Manners, MD of Clockwork Media, when looking at the value of social media, brands should be asking questions about sales, leads generated and complaints resolved.

Pike, Magnus and Manners all agreed that setting clear objectives is essential. Like in any area of the business, there should be a specific strategy behind social media campaigns and a distinct outline of what you are looking to achieve, said Manners.

These objectives should be actionable and realistic, and there should be a time limit on them, Magnus said, adding that they need not be monetary and should always be closely aligned to the business' core objectives. She described attempting to measure social media ROI in monetary terms as "fluffy", which further highlights the importance of setting clear objectives and working towards those goals.

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