Think Engagement, and The ROI Will Naturally Follow

In order to be successful in social media marketing, you must step back and learn to understand that you’re living in a brave new world where traditional “x leads to y” type ROI analytics are not a practical model for assessing the ROI of your social media strategy.  Even with new tools hitting the market to help make ROI seem a little more clear, business people are going to have to learn to accept that a large part of social media marketing is about brand influence and engagement; not direct sales.

When you take the conversation to your customers and prospects,  it pays to remember that you’re not the only voice trying to be heard.  Your customers and prospects have priorities and agendas which extend beyond your products and services.  The keys to success are staying relevant to them in as many dimensions as possible and also measuring success in a way that is realistic given the nature of the medium.

“Okay, so how does the directly impact my bottom line? “

Well, common sense should tell you that having conversations and staying connected to your customers and prospects will pay dividends over the long run.  However, the ability to measure the direct “short-run” impact of your efforts may be somewhat elusive.  This is because the majority of the selling occurs “offline” in conversations in which you’re not directly involved.

Successful online marketers are beginning to appreciate and understand the common sense business principle of the “Mom n’ Pop” stores of old, “relationships matter”.  With that in mind, they’re beginning to measure success by looking to engagement.  To be successful in social media, make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons.  Make sure you’re spending time, energy, and effort building a social media presence because you want to take the conversation to your customers and prospects.  If you do that, you’ll build influence, reputation, and engagement; three very important elements which may not be as easily measurable as “click-through” but pay dividends long after a simple “click”.