Unless you're living under a rock, you know that social media plays a monumental role in both the corporate and federal world of business. It seems as though Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Foursquare have become primary sources of information and invaluable modes of communication on both internal and external levels.
There are probably a number of “old-school” non-believers out there who are asking – what is the real return on investment for social media? Is the time and effort allotted into this practice worthwhile?
The answer is – Yes.
You'll be surprised by how much qualitative data can be derived from social media venues.
Check out what these three reputable sources have to say about the topic:
“More important than the number of followers, “Likes” +1s, repins, ReTweets or views, is the ability of government agencies to provide qualitative data related to their social media efforts. In these fiscal times, social media performance metrics allow us assess what works and what doesn't work. Social media affords us [the Army's social media team] a unique opportunity to hear directly from our audiences about things such as the negative impacts of cutting Tuition Assistance or the usefulness of a newly fielded piece of equipment. The qualitative, social data we can collect social media posts asking for feedback is priceless; something that we surely wouldn't be able to collect from our workstations at the Pentagon. As communicators, it's our job to encourage two-way conversation while also using metrics and social data to illustrate the effectiveness of our social media tactics” Brittany Brown, U.S. Army Social Media Manager
“Measuring "countables" like likes, followers and RTs is a good start. But government agencies are asking more and more about real world impact. As printing costs and travel budgets are being slashed, strategic and meaningful digital content distribution gains a critical level of importance” added Mike Schaffer, Director, Digital Strategy, Hager Sharp
“Measuring your social media is crucial to government agencies and how much time you invest in social media. We are often reviewed by federal agencies on how we are engaging the public and our measurements enable us to show them the direct effect our social media. I love being able to take our results and surprise them with the positive impact it is making” says Josh Suiter, Community Outreach Specialist, Kentuckiana Regional Planning and Development Agency
Social Media has become a primary component of the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) communications program. FHWA uses Social Media to keep stakeholders and the traveling public informed on issues related to the Nation's mobility and safety. FHWA also uses Social Media to engage stakeholders and the public to seek input and feedback on a variety of emerging issues. As such, we monitor our Social Media accounts regularly to make sure we are using the right Social Media tools to effectively reach the right audiences. Each of the four tools we use—Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube—has its unique advantages; and we track activity to make sure we are connecting with the targeted audiences using the right channels” Tom White, Social Media/Web Content Coordinator, Federal Highway Administration
Bottom Line: Not only is social media valuable in its ability to relay information and provide formal and informal modes of communication, it is indeed measurable and quantifiable. So - for those who were concerned -- the return on investment should compute favorably.
