How to Calculate the ROI of Social Media Marketing Campaigns

Being able to calculate the ROI of a company’s social media initiatives has been a big debate within the industry. What is social media ROI? How do you know if your sales are stemming from sites such as Facebook, Twitter, or your blogs? These are questions that keep many businesses on the fence of starting to use social media for marketing practices. Of course, there are returns that are not necessarily financial, but let’s face it; all Chief Marketing Officers need to see what will happen to their bottom-line figures. Today, we will take a more in depth look at how marketing executives should be measuring their ROI.

The first step in the ROI measurement process is to form a social media marketing plan that directly correlates to all corporate and branding strategies, without only focusing on the ROI. This means, figure out what your strategic priorities are. Do you want your social media marketing to increase traffic to your sites, improve brand awareness, or improve your search rankings? Do you want to see lead generations or are you planning on using social media as another form of customer service? There are different ways to measure the ROI depending on the strategies you choose. For example, using social media for customer service reduces costs associated with that department, which in turn increases the financial value of your strategy. Refer back to last Monday’s article to see how that is done correctly.

A Social Media Bubble?

Just like when anything has a rise in popularity, those sticking to their guns on the sidelines always have to raise controversy. So now that social media is the newest and hottest form of marketing and advertising, that must mean there is a bubble? A social media bubble you say? Like the dot-com bubble, right? Wrong. I mean, everyone is entitled to their own opinions on the validity or effectiveness of using social media. Most common arguments claim you can’t measure ROI, or that social media relationships are fake, or whatever people will say to negate the power of social media. The arguments are a dime a dozen and rarely backed with any good juicy information. I also read an article about this “social media bubble” on the Harvard Business Review, stating social media is creating artificial connections. This article is to those skeptics who see no true value in social media and or claim there is a “bubble” inflating…

Now I am not trying to call out this one article in particular, it is very well written with great points. The writer may just lack further insight into social media as a whole, as most of his arguments are based on opinion.

Social Media Spotlight: Welch’s

Today, our Social Media Spotlight will focus on the well-known, family favorite brand, Welch’s. Welch’s has been in the grape business since 1869, and offers a variety of 100% grape juices. Their product line also consists of other 100% juices, sparkling beverages, juice cocktails, concentrates, jams, jellies, and snacks. Welch’s is currently the world’s leading marketer of Concord and Niagara-based grape products. Let’s find out how such an established company uses social media marketing to its benefit. Erika Jubinville gives us the inside scoop on their social strategy.