Social ROI

Social ROI explained

Start with the task: should social media build demand, answer a question, maintain relationships or support sales? Not every objective needs to trigger an immediate purchase. Choose appropriate observations and research instead of forcing every outcome into a single monetary figure.

A financial calculation needs an explained cost basis, such as strategy, production, media, community management and evaluation. Compare the included costs with the financial contribution. If starting from revenue, account for relevant delivery costs before describing the result as profit or surplus.

Attribution is not the same as additional impact. A purchase following a social contact might have happened without it. Tracking, surveys, experiments or models can investigate different parts of the question; their assumptions and limits remain visible. Multiple attributed contacts must also not add the same sale to total revenue more than once.

Assess qualitative and financial outcomes side by side. Resolving a problem may be helpful without directly attributed revenue. Freed service time initially represents capacity and becomes an avoided payment only through a traceable change. Advertising value equivalents or invented euro amounts per like do not replace evidence of impact.