Do you believe that social media will impact marketing ROI in a positive way? If yes or no, how, when, where and why!

It is and has been impacting for a number of years now.

I believe that GOOD social media, engaged in the right way will always have a positive effect on ROI however depending on the industry this can vary greatly. The biggest challenge facing companies however is it is not always possible to track the impact on ROI as so many other tangible factors are involved and it often cannot be directly related to other KPIs such as sales

At the same time bad social media can also have a reverse effect and often a more severe effect as things get shared and spread quickly. mistakes/bad service etc are promoted much more than positive experiences.

Good question Mr. Connoly! I will try to incorporate answers to the sub question: why, when & where in my answer below.

Social Media Marketing campaigns can have a very positive & business life changing impact, if the following preceded the launch/execution:

1. Thorough research & analysis of objective, market, target audience, matching social media platform(s)
2. Set up of a robust water-proof Social Media Marketing Plan including a clear definition of objectives, expected or desired ROI (brand awareness, sales, web traffic driving, product launch, customer service).
3. Determine ROI measurement metric (they vary per objective, social media platform, audience demographics etc.)
4. The right people are hired to steer the social media ship in a stormy environment that can either push you ahead of others or sink down your ship (brand). Not every Social Media enthusiast qualifies for leading Social Media activities.
5. Bear in mind that what goes online mostly stays online & with Social Media it gets even riskier since what goes online, goes VIRAL too! Be very careful with what you communicate. Study social media & community interaction rules to avoid attracting bad publicity or negative engagement (social media offers anonymity & relative freedom for negative posters & reputation damage techniques).

USING BEST SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS = SUPPORT IN CREATING/ IMPLEMENTING BEST SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIES

SUPPORT IN CREATING/ IMPLEMENTING BEST SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIES = HIGHER NUMBER OF SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT

HIGHER NUMBER OF SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT = GENERATING RIGHT KING OF TRAFFIC ON WEBSITE

GENERATING RIGHT KING OF TRAFFIC ON WEBSITE = HIGHER CHANCES OF BUSINESS CONVERSION THROUGH WEBSITE PRODUCTS/ SERVICES PLATFORM

HIGHER CHANCES OF BUSINESS CONVERSION THROUGH WEBSITE PRODUCTS/ SERVICES PLATFORM = DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO INCREASE IN BUSINESS ROI

Syed Waqas SaghirInternet Marketing Expert, SEO & SMO Consultant, IT Trainer

In calculating social media ROI, most marketers start by measuring the cost of launching a blog, for example, and then seek to calculate the return on sales, say, from that social media investment. But a company could also start by thinking about what marketing objectives such a blog might satisfy (e.g., brand engagement), why its customers would visit the blog (e.g., to learn about new products) and what behaviors they might engage in once they got there (e.g., post a comment about a recent consumption experience) that could be linked to the company’s marketing objectives.

These behaviors then can be considered (and measured) as customer investments in the marketer’s social media efforts. This suggests that returns from social media investments will not always be measured in dollars, but also in customer behaviors (consumer investments) tied to particular social media applications. Consumer investments include obvious measures such as the number of visits and time spent with the application (the blog in this case) as well as more active investments, such as the valence of blog comments and the number of Facebook updates and Twitter pages about the brand. These investments can then be used to measure key marketing outcomes such as changes in awareness levels or word-of-mouth increases over time.

ROI can be measured in a variety of ways: through customer acquisition, lead generation, clicks, revenue, contest entries, etc. It all depends on your goals. Before you can track and measure your ROI, you need to determine your goals so you know which factors you’re measuring and what success looks like.

Wow !!! That's a lot of questions to be answered.

My answer is not YES or NO its DEPENDS. And it really depends on what your outlook is, how you engage, what your goals are, how to you measure ROI, how  you market, do you have your own voice in social media or are your engagements a run of the mill one.

Social media is a powerful medium which can make or break a brand. The trick is to really study your target audience's psychographics and device your campaigns to capture their attention and address their appetite.