We’ve been talking about the ROI of Social Media, or its return on investment, almost as long as we’ve been talking about social media itself. My first deep dive into the discussion was in 2008 when it became the biggest topic of conversation at a PRSA International convention. At that point, I made an interesting argument:
The problem with trying to determine ROI for social media is you are trying to put numeric quantities around human interactions and conversations, which are not quantifiable.
Rooted in the “relationship” focus of the social media purist days, my argument was both informed and inspirational, but wasn’t altogether accurate. In the online space, you can certainly quantify human interactions and conversations. You can count words. You can score sentiment. You can identify numbers of participants or witnesses. You can measure clicks to and from.
In my interview then with public relations measurement guru Katie Paine (below for your viewing pleasure), we discussed the quantifiable, unquantifiable and challenges with both. Not surprising (to me), the conversation is as valid in 2014 as it was six years ago. Companies are still futzing around with the ROI of social media and not getting it right. This interview is worth the time for them, and you:
