I’ll be honest here, I’m a bit tired of people asking me what the ROI is on social media; everyone wants to know how much money they can make, and how fast they can make it. Well you know what? If that’s your agenda and that’s your goal, then don’t join the conversation, we don’t want you. Stick to your mass media advertising and stay out of the social media space.
Think of it like this, how much money would be willing to spend to keep your friends in your life? Think about your valuable experiences, your life stories, the things you have learned and the memories you have shared. How much is that worth to you? Can you quantify how much money you have made as a result of your friends or long term relationships? Now flip the question around, don’t ask how much money you are going to MAKE from your customers. Ask how much you are willing to GIVE to your customers. It’s not about you, or your brand. It’s about your customers; it’s about what they want.
I have used this analogy a few times with people and it really seems to hit home and make sense. It’s a fundamental shift in thinking. The first step in creating a social media strategy is not creating a blog or analyzing your objectives, it’s changing your mindset. It’s about realizing that your customers and your readers are doing you a favor by talking to you. They could off with their family or on another website, but they aren’t, they are on your site! Let me ask you this, if you knew up front that you would not make any money from your friends would you still want them in your life? There is always the risk of losing money and damaging your reputation, but these are temporary. If you join the social media space only to find out that people are bashing you or your brand, well then there is a reason for it. Learn from what your customers have to say about you; it’s not always going to positive. Take the negatives and learn!
So the next time someone asks you what the ROI is on social media, what are you going to tell them?
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