big question out there these days is: What is the ROI of Social Media? Or the ever popular how do I measure the ROI of social media?  Often when I get this question it’s appropriate for me to retort: “What’s the ROI of your phone?&#   Other times it’s not appropriate to respond with this answer, which, if done in the wrong tone, or place, can win you a free punch in the face.  Then there are the naysayers that adamantly proclaim, “We aren’t doing social media because there isn’t any ROI.&#. by Erik Qualman. 20-23.  25-28.  MORE >>

The confusion on social ROI might remain the same unless social media professionals stop trying to evaluate their online efforts the same way they measure the success of their other marketing activities. First and most importantly, a very significant notion for brands is that they must start viewing social media ROI metrics as a list of intangibles that have the potential to deliver way more value rather than simple “return on sales” type of tangible measurements. Following are four of those metrics for measuring social media ROI, which we see as of great importance. MORE >>

Our (SocialFish) definition of Social CRM is “ the discipline of applying social media to membership management “, and the 12 use cases in our white paper, ROI and the Impact of Social CRM , show this in action. In ALL cases, you should be building your community on social media sites before you even think about ROI. ROI = low-cost, high-quality leads. Social CRM and ROI UncategorizedUsing LinkedIn for member recruitment  [Possible now]. USE CASE: An association has a members-only group on LinkedIn. Level – basic. What you need: Time. MORE >>

Another year of measuring social media ROI. Because first, we should dispel some myths about measuring social media ROI. I’m an advocate for social media ROI, but before we can measure social media ROI, we have to kick these myths to the curb. If you hope to measure ROI, you must first have an investment. All of those things will cost you either in terms of money or time. Either way – there are hard costs IF you commit. There is no single way to measure social media ROI. Culture ROI social media VentStay Akamai: Phew! MORE >>

The post sparked quite the discussion in the comments, a lot of it about ROI (return on investment). This stemmed from a quip Gary had made to an event attendee who was asking a few times about the ROI of social media, to which Gary replied, “What’s the ROI of your mother?&#. said as much in the comments, and Chris Theisen raised an interesting point with his question: “Do companies actually measure whether each employee has a positive ROI on the company?&#. Insights Business employees roiIf they don’t, then they should. MORE >>