When does ROI work for social media? The type of use must be easily measurable within a quantified framework — in plain English: use must correspond to numbers, such as views or sales. Take a promotion or sales presence, such as http://twitter.com/delloutlet. The manager of the account would be able to link site sales directly through user activity. A telesales center would be another good candidate for such financial measures.

So what about other forms of use?

Measurement is indirect and based on “human capital;” if you’re looking for a definition, check out the work by Drs Kaplan and Norton at The Palladium Group. Social media is based on engagement — a measure that doesn’t lend itself well to measurement for either the employee or the audience. Engagement is also asynchronous – activity doesn’t always immediately result in a sale or greater satisfaction. This difficulty isn’t limited to social media: public relations is another profession that isn’t well suited for ROI. I don’t believe engagement can be measured adequately (why: take a look at chaos or complexity theories).

My suggestion: create a new class of measurements called strategic return on activities (SROA). Following the work of Kaplan and Norton, activity of staff would be measured in terms of alignment to strategic goals of the organization. Following the work in Strategy Maps, social media would be folded under the appropriate internal, customer and financial perspectives. The greater an employee (e.g. Web or community manager) is prepared and motivated to perform the job, the strong the impact on the organization and it’s customers.

Now I’m interested in numbers as well. Unless social media can directly impact revenue or costs, it’s a financial liability. To counter this, activity would be quantified in terms of time (as a percent of salary plus overhead), along with any investment in information technology. This is measured against the internal and customer perspectives: is better intel going to product development, or are customers indicating a greater satisfaction with social resources. Most importantly, does this change over time and correspond to investment in social media operations? 

Coming up next: what activities will yield the greatest results.

There were a number of countries and regions represented in this last group, including Australia, Austria, Canda, Ireland and Tibet. Over the next few days, there will be a minor reorganization of data, as well as new deep pages for several media properties.

What I need from you: The Index is starting to outgrow this format. I have an idea on how to expand the Index and make it more useful, but I’d like to get your suggestions. Post a comment or, if you’d like to keep it quiet, send me an email!

And for everyone that has followed me the past few days, I will follow back. My fingers need a break:-)

Case in point: Take John Culberson (@johnculberson), a Member of the House who is embroilled in a drama concerning Web communications. For more info, check out: http://culberson.house.gov/

“They are trying to ban my Twitters & every [web communication] from all Congressmen unless each communication has been preapproved/edited/censored.”

I have to ask, is this serious? Are there lawyers running wild in the House of Representatives? Isn’t it time to examine what direction we are taking both as a nation and as individuals? Let’s debate rules for proper exchange of information instead of actually listening to each other.

It’s time we start to think for ourselves and shake up the status quo. Many will be threatened, but what are the alternatives? Look down the road: climate change and competition over shrinking resources will put immense pressure on our society. It’s sink or swim time.

In designing for all users, take into consideration that not everyone is in their twenties and has perfect eyesight. It isn’t enough to put a type-size changing gadget on a site. Sure, this helps the viewing of text-based copy, but images and flash components are still fixed. Advice: Get to know what older users like and dislike in Web sites. Otherwise, your senior executive might have a bone to pick with a recent design.

Twitter’s user base includes those holding office or seeking election and government offices from every level. Prime examples include the LAFD (http://twitter.com/lafd), Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D-MI)(http://twitter.com/govgranholm) and Jim Inhofe (R-OK) (http://twitter.com/jiminhofe).

Social applications hold tremendous opportunity for government officials and administrators. Blogs & twitter, in particular, offer tools to connect with constiuents in a meaningful manner. How should this be used? In the same way as a commercial organization, as I described in a previous post.

• Emergency services, such as the LAFD, can communicate problems and dangerous situations to subscribers. New York City is testing a system using SMS… why not deploy the swam information over twitter?
• Constiuents write letters and make phone calls, not knowing what happens to the request once it’s been logged. Now, if the same complaint were made on a blog or twitter, the process would be visible and immediate. Evolve beyond PR and spin as tools to address a poor approval rating
• I’ll go a bit out on a limb with this idea: how much money do tourism boards spend on media campaigns to attract visitors? What if a twitter account engaged in promotion campaigns, much like the Zappos CEO?

With next to no cost, I challenge officials to make use of this space. Connect, discover, lead.

Check out the index (look for the tab at the top of my blog) and send me new entries!

The guerilla comment rubbed me the wrong way, so in this post I want to examine blogging in context of marketing as well as warfare.

From Wikipedia:

Asymmetric warfare originally referred to war between two or more actors or groups whose relative military power differs significantly.

Writers and analysts may use the words unconventional, guerilla and fourth-generation to describe asymmetric warfare. Fighting head on is never a smart move. One of my favorite twitter quotes comes from @brysonHolland: Always remember: if you find yourself in a fair fight your tactics suck.

In business, the struggle between companies and with customers is certainly competitive. While I wouldn’t use the word “war,” the field is dense with terms like tactics, strategy, analysis, intelligence, SWOT, personnel and heirarchies. Let’s look at guerilla warfare.

Again, from wikipedia:

Guerilla Warface: an unconventional system of promotions on a very low budget, by relying on time, energy and imagination instead of big marketing budgets.

Could this be used to describe blogging?

Levinson, who coined the term in 1984, describes several relationship elements in guerrilla marketing, including relationship building. However, his focus on “time, energy and imagination” seemingly goes in a different direction. The mention of the 2006 Aqua Teen Hunger Force blitz in Boston, where an electronic sign (of a character flipping people off) prompted a security response. Let’s remember in any conflict, including business, energy and time are typically in high demand. Are there efficient tactics that can be employed to generate relationships and increased profit? Yes: blogs.

There are many great blogs and articles that discuss the values of blogs, but the following summary works: blogging is about defining value for your customers while respecting their time and intelligence.

The asymmetric aspect of blogging involves the relationship between the author and the audience. Instead of sending glossy cards, posting video or flooding properties with banner ads, the blogger uses his or her voice and reason to share concepts and experience. It’s amazing that the use of authenticity should be considered unconventional. Can a blog be used in “guerrilla” fashion? Yes, I’m sure it can be to a certain extent, but unless I’m mistaken, it would miss the point.

Is the efficiency there? I believe so. My own time is limited and yet I still managed to throw down a few posts every week. While my blog is informational, there are many who blog in an effort to promote their practice or businesses. In reading Kevin O’Keefe’s blogand having a chance to talk to other legal bloggers, it’s clear that the time spent is not monumental, yet the results are impressive.

Is blogging limited to small businesses? No way! Let me toss out an example: Direct2Dell.com. As a massive retailer of computers and electronics, Dell has used a blog to better focus on the customer and improve operations. Within the legal industry, many large firms have setup blogs to better promote their practices and connect with clients.

Can a small, unknown author have an impact? Yes. As of early 2007, J. Robert Brown of The University of Denver indicated in Blogs, Law School Rankings, and TheRacetotheBottom.org the ability to generate influence outside of traditional channels. There is also great opportunity for organizations to leverage blogs to compete with larger, more powerful organizations.

So why the delay? I think organizations can’t quite fathom that people would read blogs, notably their customers. As evidence to the contrary, check out the technographics tool at groundswell (a free tool).

So what’s coming on the work front? Several great projects! While most are for semi-private consumption, I should be able to blog about one public site in particular in a few weeks. What makes this so innovative? Several interactive elements, new sources of content and a design that was hacked out with my boss. In the meantime, I need to stay focued. Posts for the next few week may be sporadic, but as with any major projects, this is crunch time.

I’ll do my best to keep on posting. The second half of  my prereq program is pretty good: marketing & finance. I’m eager to get through this material and start strategic resource management this June.