ROI Measurement Tops the List of Social Media Objectives for 2011

As far as social media is concerned, measurement of ROI has always been a big problem. With most companies planning to increase their social media expenditure in 2011, finding a solution to this problem has become a priority for social strategists.

A survey conducted by the Altimeter Group collected information from 140 social strategists about their new year objectives. Reports indicate that a majority of companies would be increasing investment on brand monitoring as a part of their social media business programs. Brand monitoring took the top spot with 82% strategists planning to invest on it; the subsequent spots were occupied by increased investments on staff and training budgets with 77% and 78% respondents respectively in their favor. Overall, in 2011, most companies planned to increase investments on almost all areas of social media compared to last year.

For most companies, finding a solution to the issue of ROI measurement is presently the top priority as far as internal social strategy objectives are concerned. 48.3% respondents gave top priority to creating ROI measurements; this was followed by internal training at 37.3%. Determination of organizational model and application of social insights to product road map came third on the list with 34.7% respondents stating them among their top social media objectives.

Although the list of social media objectives is a long one, finding out ways to measure ROI will help achieve other objectives as well in addition to indicating how investment on social media marketing offers direct value for a business.