Social Media ROI: Return On Intimacy
Posted by: mariamz on: July 2, 2010
Reading up on the Nonprofit 2.0 Unconference I came across this very simple breakdown of ROI for social media. The magnificent Beth Kanter said, “when it comes to social media, ROI stands for more than just return on investment, it’s…
- Return On Insight,
- Return On Interaction,
- Return On Impact,
- and, yes, finally, Return On Investment.”
This encourages us to think of what we put in and get out of social media in qualitative as well as quantitative terms. Perhaps we can add one more, Return On Intimacy.
There may be no possible scale for love, friendship, loyalty – but it’s worth collecting snapshots that demonstrate these softer elements. For example, in a previous life I included quotes from various conversations in every community report for the board. These demonstrated the value our community was bringing to one another, thus strengthening our own offer.
Numbers matter, but with social media these are underpinned by relationships and conversations, which cannot be quantified by numbers alone. Therefore a good social media report should include examples of insights, interaction and intimacy from the community around a brand, product or service.
(If, however, the figures are what you’re missing, try my post on winning the numbers game).
holding hands picture by Juliana Coutinho
4 Responses to "Social Media ROI: Return On Intimacy"
July 2, 2010 at 10:14 pm
I like your framing of the “I” words! Thanks for writing about it.
July 28, 2010 at 5:12 am
Great way to put it, Mariam. I actually just wrote a post on ROI, and I decided to use your post as a link.
Hope you enjoy the traffic! 
July 28, 2010 at 5:16 am
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July 2, 2010 at 1:53 pm
Thanks for the link! Intimacy is perhaps the most important “I” as that level of engagement will drive the others. Good post!