Lately, I’ve been getting lots of questions about the ROI (return on investment) for social media. The video below does a nice job answering that question and then some.

People, especially those not keen on change, often need solid evidence that something works before they buy in. Much of the time, these late/unwilling individuals wait too long and then get trounced by their competition. It’s fairly difficult to prove ROI for most forms of advertising. Measurable results aren’t always easy to see and social media is no different. As advertisers, our message doesn’t necessarily change, but the method must. If sales are down, do we blame the economy or something we’ve failed to do? If business is up, do we attribute it to a holiday shopping season or the fact we rocked Twitter and Facebook? It’s really hard to say, but by using social media well, I believe the results will be positive. It certainly can’t hurt anything (if you do it well).