The buzz of social media was once blind, but now it can see. Advertisers far and wide are finally able to answer the million dollar question of 2008, ‘What is social media? And how can I use it?’.

The aftermath has become, ‘I’m using social media, but I have no idea whether or not it’s doing me any good.’

In a post found on MediaPost’s Online Metrics Insider, Social Media ‘Maybe I just don’t get it’.

A series of internet marketers are questioned “Have you been able to measure or track any tangible outcomes from your social media initiatives?“. Below are excerpts from Mediapost’s translations of their responses:

Expert #1, I don’t really know

Expert #2, ROI is likely negative.

Expert #3, It’s difficult, and we don’t know yet.

How to get it…

Social Media cannot be appropriately given a confident ROI if it is nonstrategic and improperly monitored/tracked.

Paid search is really the culprit here. Advertisers want all other marketing to be as easily definable.

Step one: someone searches a keyword.
Step two: My ad is clicked
Step three: 3%-5% of the time I earn a lead from the click pool

If the intangibles of paid search were monitored as though it were a social media campaign, it would fail 100% of the time.

Am I gaining online mindshare with paid search? Most likely never

Are key industry influencers talking about my product? It would strictly be by chance if Search propagated this.

Is my positive sphere of influence trending upward? Again, good luck purposely accomplishing this with Search.

The question here boils down to ‘Is there value in social media?’

If you are answering ‘no’, or ‘I don’t know’ then you were sleeping or hung-over in your Marketing 101 class.

Branding IS important.

The ability to precisely target your demographic profile and market WITH, rather than AT, your prospects is monumental. Never has a branding opportunity afforded this.

Cut to the chase, Dan.

Where do I see ROI?!?!!? It’s portfolio wide, as you can expect with any good branding campaign.

1. It could rear itself as improved SEM conversion rates
2. or Direct/branded traffic gaining momentum.
3. Improved customer satisfaction (retention)
4. Lessening the days to purchase or increasing visitor loyalty

And at least 100 other valuable benefits that could just as easily go unnoticed if they aren’t earmarked.