Social Media and ROI

People often ask about the ROI of social media and blogging. Kyle Lacy likens many social media campaigns to brand awareness campaigns in traditional media like print and TV. While it may be difficult to track dollar for dollar ROI, social media is immensely valuable for brand development:

Social Media is amazing for brand development. Hands down one of the best tools you could use to further your name in a community.Kyle Lacy, Social Media – Indianapolis, Jan 2009

Kyle goes on to mention that companies like Compendium Blogware focus their initiatives on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and easily attributible ROI. In the end, you should focus on the social media initiatives that help you to achieve your organizational goals. If you’re looking for hard ROI numbers, there are efforts out there for you to participate in. If your goals are more focused on  brand awareness and mindshare, there are other initiatives to work on.