Gauging and proving the ‘strategic impact’ of social media
Demonstrating a positive ROI is just part of the battle. Savvy marketers should explore other ways to demonstrate the value of engaging on digital platforms.
Despite a litany of tools designed to monitor measurement and metrics, many organizations remain uncertain about the business value of social media.
A new study by Alitmeter Group, “Beyond ROI: Unlocking the Business Value of Social Media,” reveals that 84 percent of social media executives measure the effectiveness of their efforts, yet 29 percent are still trying to prove its value.
The shortcoming of measuring just ROI
“A strict ROI approach, while highly credible, does not capture the value of interacting with customers over time and across multiple channels and timeframes,” Altimeter analyst Susan Etlinger writes.
More than twice the number of companies measure the impact of social media at the awareness stage (71 percent) than at the acquisition stage (35 percent). Tracking customer acquisition remains challenging, but 84 percent say it presents an opportunity to use digital platforms for increased sales and commerce. Proving that activity is another matter.
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