There is nothing more important to executives than crunching numbers, or so it would seem. ROI is usually all the talk and has been for years. But what about an ROI on social media? How do you measure it when so few companies use it to actually sell products? The answer may surprise you: You don’t, or at least you shouldn’t.

Gauging Social Media Success

The stats that should get the most attention are the ones that come from the users themselves. There are only two ways to figure that out including asking the users or looking at their engagement.

With so many social media stats available ranging from the best times to post to the number of people reached, why shouldn’t you be paying attention to these? Because the user (customer) doesn’t care about them.

You should maintain focus on what your customers are focused on–themselves. What’s In It For Me (WIIFM) is just as true on social media and it may even be more true on social platforms.

Changing Your Social Media Perspective

Consumers all have a bottom line when it comes to making decisions of where to shop, what to buy, who to “Like” or follow and what to share. For some people that bottom line is price and for others it is about personal experience. But ultimately what leads to their decision is what is in it for them. The last thing they are concerned about is your ROI.

When it comes to social media marketing, when someone enters a contest, in theory, they have bought something from you. Or when they comment on a post they have made a “purchase” and when they RT something they made another purchase.

Getting an ROI

By continually focusing on the WIIFM for your customer the ROI will take care of itself. Your users will start to become brand ambassadors and begin to carry your message to their friends. You’ll need to continue doing what you started or you will lose them.

Perhaps you feel the same way, or perhaps you think that numbers are more important, pray tell.

About the author

Brad Smith

Brad's obsession to make everything neat and orderly didn't manifest itself until he left his childhood home and ventured into a house full of miscreants who couldn't cook, clean or keep mushrooms from growing on the side of the bathtub. Since that day he has spent over nine years with companies helping them improve their processes, work more efficiently and return better results to customers. To date Brad's tally for increased revenue totals over 3 million dollars. Brad's work experience includes Fortune 500 companies such as Morgan Stanley, Discover Card and Aflac. Besides saving the world one client at a time, Brad teaches his wife and four month old son how to play baseball. One of his proudest moments was when someone asked about a baseball rule and his wife knew the answer. Score.