Social Media Measurement Lags Adoption

ROI metrics neglected by most

The vast majority of professionals worldwide are using social technologies for business purposes,
according to 2009 survey by Mzinga andBabson Executive Education.

Fully 86% of respondents to the survey of professionals from a variety of industries said they had
adopted social technologies. Most said they were using the tools for marketing (57%), followed by
internal collaboration (39%). Almost three in 10 respondents reported using social technologies for
customer service and support.

It was more common for professionals to report devoting employees, either full- or part-time, to working
on social media initiatives (57% of respondents) than it was to commit budget dollars for social media
(40%).

The top way for professionals to implement social applications was integrated within their Website or
another site, mentioned by 61% of respondents. Standalone community sites and third-party widgets
were popular among 40% and 39% of professionals, respectively.
Despite widespread adoption of social media, measurement still lags. Only 16% of those polled said
they currently measured ROI for their social media programs. More than four in 10 respondents did not
even know whether the social tools they were using had ROI measurement capabilities.

Measuring the success of social media marketing can be difficult, but using a variety of hard and soft
ROI metrics is one solution. For example, distributing a coupon via a social network and monitoring its
redemption can put a concrete number on social success. And marketers can also assign a dollar value
to soft metrics, such as number of fans or followers, to measure ROI.