ROI - Return on Investment. It factors into how much you spend (or don't spend) on a product or service for your small business or non-profit. Will you get more out than you invested? And if so, how much more? And how will you know?
ROI is a difficult subject when it comes to social media because you are trying to measure relationships. Building and nurturing relationships is what social media is all about. Those relationships can led to new customers, donors or volunteers. Yet, social media platforms can also help your current clients and supporters to develop a deeper and more meaningful relationship with your business or organization. That is why social media is so critical and creating ways to measure not just ROI but also Return on Relationship (ROR) is very important.
Here are a few ideas about how to measure ROR:
- Know what types of relationships you HAVE with your current customers or supporters and what type of relationship you WANT to have with these folks. This will help you establish goals or markers so you can determine if your social media strategy is giving you a healthy ROR.
- Create opportunities for interaction. Too often small businesses and non-profits use social media for one-way communication, a sort of cyberspace bulletin board. Relationships require give and take. Your posts and feeds and tweets should be designed to encourage interaction. The number of "likes," comments or retweets can tell you if you are starting a conversation or doing all of the talking.
- Having said that, set realistic goals for interaction. It is unlikely that 80% of your Facebook fans are going to respond to any given post. That is OK, since not ever post or tweet or link is going to connect with all of your supporters or clients. Think about your relationships and who you are really trying to reach with your messages (a fraction of your total audience) and then work towards 5-10% interaction from that group.
- Ask for feedback. Talk to your customers or volunteers. Find out if they are connecting with you via social media. If so, are they reading your posts, tweets, blog or links? If not, take a deep breath, put your ego on hold, and ask the right questions. It is not a good idea to ask them why they don't pay attention to you. That will just put them on the defensive. Rather, ask what types of posts or blogs or tweets they do interact with. What peaks their interest? Keep it simple and direct and think about a way you can reward them for taking the time to share their insights with you.
ROR is a vital part of your social media strategy. Don't overlook it when you are planning how to use social media to grow your small business or non-profit. Questions? Need some more ideas about how to factor in ROR? Visit me at www.rubateconsutling.com or e-mail me at roger@rubateconsulting.com.
©2011 Roger Burns-Watson, All Rights Reserved
