Can You Measure the ROI of Your Social Media Marketing?

Abstract

This paper argues that social media metrics should be captured as customer investments in marketers’ social media efforts and that applications considered in concert with performance objectives drive the choice of metrics. Motivating this approach are the “four c’s” that drive consumer use of social media. These include the connections consumers make with each other, the user-generated content they create, their consumption of other users’ content and their control of their own online experiences. Social media metrics that are linked to three broad social media performance objectives are identified for eight general categories of social media applications and the paths managers have for improving social media effectiveness that rely on using these metrics are discussed.

Keywords: social media, marketing, web, internet, consumer behavior, ROI