ROI is such a loaded term in the social media world. You have to be able to somehow quantify the value of “soft-cost” items. What is the value of your stationary to your business? How about the receptionist? the cleaning company? These are all critical pieces of the pie that create your company and your overall image. Sending out letters on plain white paper, letting the phone always go to voicemail and having a filthy office would all send a specific image to potential customers. These items obviously provide huge value to your company, but it is nearly impossible to quantify.

Unless you are doing some sort of direct marketing campaign through your social media channels (which can be very successful!), it is very challenging to put an ROI value on these efforts. The value of having an online presence where your customers “are”, eliciting feedback on your products or services and generally putting yourself on the same level as your patrons are very valuable strategies that will provide some great returns to your company.

One of the simplest ways to quantify your social media efforts is through website traffic. Since you can track where your web traffic is coming from, this is one great way to see if what you are posting is driving traffic to your site. The “insights” Facebook offers is also a great place to start your research.