Beyond Vanity Metrics: What’s Your Return from Social Media?

It’s time to reimagine your investment in social media.

Amassing likes, hearts and followers may be good for the ego. But when it comes to measuring your ROI from all that time and effort posting, pinning and Tweeting, it feels like a crapshoot.

It feels like a crapshoot … because it IS a crapshoot.

How do you even know if your Twitter followers are your customers? How do you know if your posts are reaching your target markets? And if you’ve invested time and money recruiting influencers, how do you know they are influencing the right people?

At Verifeed we know from listening to millions of social conversations that companies and causes that communicate with authenticity – that is, genuinely listen to and connect personally with their customers and ‘walk their talk’ by acting consistently with their values – outperform those that do not.

It’s pretty simple really. The social data tells the story.

Every day millions of people are sharing valuable insights about their hopes and dreams, challenges and needs, and topics directly or indirectly relevant to any business. To listen is to seize opportunity, and to act authentically on what you’ve learned … is profitable impact.

That’s why Verifeed believes its time to measure and generate a Return on Authenticity^TM.

Our new ROA^TM methodology ensures our client companies attract, engage and retain loyal customers for a powerful multiplier effect on the bottom line.

Our competitive analyses of companies across a number of verticals shows that those who take the time to get to know their customers on social media – by interacting with them personally and genuinely – outperform their rivals.

It’s obvious really: People value being valued.

If you make your customers feel special – thanking them, asking them about their needs or interests, helping them, rewarding them – they will return (and multiply) the favor. They are more likely to stay loyal to your brand, and better yet, tell all their friends (and their friends, and their friends) on social media how awesome you are.

This is the viral multiplier effect that can provide an exponential lift to your traffic, conversions and sales. But it really has to be genuine.

Consumers have developed a sixth sense for detecting even the faintest whiff of bullshit.

They’re looking at whether you walk your talk on mission, whether you speak like a human being or a faceless corporation, whether you are interested in them or view them as just one more number for the quarter.

Over the coming weeks and months, Verifeed will be publishing a series of case studies on ROA^TM best practice as our clients realize the earning power of authenticity. We’ll also be debuting a series of products to help you measure your own ROA^TM virtually instantaneously!

Watch this space.