I’m getting fed up with this ROI agenda, I really am! Its all a bit deja vue for me. If we had been sitting in that room at #likeminds on Friday 15 years ago, we’d have been discussing ROI on a web presence. Its about time we grew up, matured and got a sense of what is really happening, rather than trying to fit it into a old school business model box that doesn’t fit anymore.

Traditional marketing and I include public relations in that is, at best, (and I hope so) dead and, at worst, completely broken. We moved on some years ago, its just taking some others time to catch up. Social media is different and so is word of mouth too. If you want a good read and the impact of all of this look up ‘The Cathedral and the Bazaar” in your web browser. The industrial revolution is over and so is the way in which we behaved in that era.

The way in which we make profits and measure business success is changing radically. We no longer want spin, bloomin’ eck’ have we had enough of that? We despise any kind of interruption. Close our eyes and ears if we think we are being spun a yarn and recoil at people shouting at us how good they are. Like websites all those eons ago, its far too early to be able to look at return on investment in a scientific way. Life is not objective and it does depend.

I have stats coming out of my ears about how my ROI is stacking up in terms of my social media activity. And, surely ROI is not just about money and profitability? Hell, it’s so much more meaningful than that!  Here’s one stat, 50% of new visitors each month to my blog come from Twitter. When I invested my time in social media, I wanted an ROI, in financial terms, in five years, its only been 18 months. The non financial results we have strived for are starting to happen; followers, blog comments, connections and conversations with people I’ve not met before who are influencers etc etc. I could good go on, but I’m bored. Bored we are having this discussion too soon in the lifecycle of social media.

My experience, and I’ve talked to lots of people on this subject. Those that protest too much about its validity in the future, are the very ones really struggling to get to grips with the slippery pole that is social media. Get a grip, its here to stay. Tom Peters said way back in 1981 “we need to humanize the relationship we have with our customers.” Bang on and maybe, just maybe, social media will help us do that. Surely that will lead, at some point, to ROI for the traditionalist way of thinking. So come on relax and enjoy the ride. You’re involved in something new, fresh and inspiring, and of course, we’ve been here before.