Jul 9, 2020
3 times you should NOT worry about ROI for social media
How important is ROI for social media?
Social media ROI. We’re all obsessed with it. We blog about it constantly. In our last post, we showed you how to calculate real using actual math.
But maybe we should be a little less obsessed.
Here’s why:
First, if you’re treating ROI as a goal, stop it now. It is not a goal. It is a measure of efficiency. A tool. It is a great tool to use when you have a limited budget and want to cut anything not efficient. But sometimes being the most efficient is not the most important thing. Here are just three examples of times you should NOT be worried about social media for ROI:
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When Testing
When you’re experimenting with A/B testing, expect zero return. The goal of A/B testing is to learn something. If you’re worried too much about ROI, you may be limiting yourself in exploration, and stifling creative thinking. When testing, choose a budget you’re comfortable with and let it go. Focus on what you want to learn from your test.
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When you want Growth
Remember when we said ROI is not a goal? Well, growth is a goal! If you want to build audiences or create large amounts of lead generation, it’s not the time to be conservative. That’s not to say you should be wasteful, but you’re better off adopting the “go big or go home” attitude. If you want growth, but are focusing on ROI, you will likely fail at meeting your growth goals. Growth > Efficiency.
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When there is no financial objective
Not only should you not try to use ROI when there is no financial objective, but you also can’t. It is impossible. Let me say that again: You cannot calculate ROI when there is no financial outcome. If your social media campaign is not, or cannot be, tied to sales, ROI cannot be figured.
Her’s an example. If your goal is to cultivate volunteers through a social media campaign, there is an outcome (did you get people to volunteer or not?), but not a financial outcome, meaning you’re unable to measurable ROI because there is no financial objective.
But if you DO have a financial objective, you’re going to wanna read one of our most recent blogs: How to find social media ROI with ACTUAL MATH.
If you’d like to learn more about ROI for social media, please reach out to the NewPoint team. Are you interested in more food marketing topics? Visit our Food for Thought page or check out NewPoint’s Patrick Nycz’s book: Moving Your Brand Up the Food Chain.
