NYC’s Social Media Week: ROI & Client Expectations
Posted by dna 13 on Wed, Feb 03, 2010
February 1 marked the first day of the second annual Social Media Week, during which time conferences occur simultaneously in cities around the world, from New York City and Berlin to Sao Paulo and Toronto. The common goal: advancing the understanding of social media in the corporate, public and nonprofit sectors.
New York City's Social Media Week kicked off yesterday with a panel of PR professionals discussing the uses of social media within their industry. Among the topics of conversation were social media's implications on client relations and, not surprisingly, ROI. Though the two topics were not formally linked during the panel itself, panelist comments pertaining to each underscored a number of critical best practices for executing communications initiatives with an emphasis on ROI:
Define expectations up front: Whether you are working for a client as an external PR partner or within an organization's communications department, managing expectations from day one is essential, especially in the context of social media. From the client management side, often expectations are too much, too fast; they expect to see social media deliver results instantly, and their judgment is clouded as a result.
According to panelist David Teicher, Social Media Manager at McCann Erickson, "Clients don't have accurate expectations of social media. People need a reason to be engaged."
Danielle Mancano, Account Manager at SHIFT Communications, supported Teicher's comment, saying, "Clients often lack goals. [It's] important to listen first and pay attention, [and then to follow up] with action."
Making listening a core part of measurement: Piggybacking off Mancano's statement, listening to social media conversations is not just one step in measurement/evaluation, but an ongoing process that must inform strategies throughout the duration of the initiative. Not only does this maximize ROI, but it also helps to optimize the PR budget - a huge benefit in today's challenging economic environment.
Tie measurement back to the original expectations and objectives: The Social Media Week panel addressed social media ROI in the context of the various metrics that are at executives' disposal, including:
• # of retweets on Twitter
• Google Analytics
• "Likes" comments on Facebook
• # of Twitter followers
• # of Facebook status updates
• # of Facebook fans
These metrics are all pieces of the ROI puzzle, but they need to be put into context-that is, there need to be benchmarks from the outset of the initiative that can be cross-referenced against changes over the duration. Otherwise, ROI is calculated in a vacuum, and PR workflow is stunted as a result.
Stay tuned for more reactions to the various Social Media Week events taking place in New York City ...