Quantifying an ROI from social media is only possible after you’ve developed a strategic plan that will make measurement both clear and easy. When it comes to social media “80% of marketers begin with tactics instead of goals” – eMarketer Report. Here’s how to build a strategic social media plan to ensure that you don’t waste time or money on tactics that might work. Why do you need to measure social media ROI? It will never be possible to measure all aspects of social media ROI. However, this is not a good enough reason not to measure social media ROI. Currently, only 20% of marketers actively measure ROI - eMarketer Report While it’s important to balance ROI with metrics that show more incremental value, if a business is to increase profitability, customers, and to grow, then ROI remains the critical metric and the single best measure of success over the longer term. Start by listening Many companies view social media as “build it and they will come”. They create channels on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and start broadcasting their message, expecting a mass of new fans and interaction. It doesn’t happen! Participation on social media first requires you to do research, observe and listen. Conversations are already taking place about your products, brand, competitors etc. Using a combination of both social and traditional tools, discover, listen, learn, and engage directly with customers. Allow this intelligence and insight to dictate your engagement strategies. Develop a strategic social media plan After you’ve taken time to discover how customers would like you to engage on social media, you now need to develop a social media strategy that will generate meaningful and real returns for the business. The 10 steps in developing a strategic social media are: Align with the business Discover opportunities Define goals Identify KPIs Assign values to KPIs Decide on channels Determine tactics Select analytics Roll out strategy Measure and refine