Online Community and Social Media Budgets Grow While Metrics for ROI Continue to Evolve
Companies continue
to allocate large budgets to online community and social media efforts
as they redefine ROI from standard reports to measuring qualitative
metrics including: engagement, loyalty, idea creation and brand
awareness.
San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) -- Forum One Networks, a strategy and research group
specializing in online communities, found in a recent study, Online
Community ROI - Reports and Models, that 33% the respondents indicated
that their online community and social media budget, excluding
headcount, is $100K to over a million dollars. Of the 33%, a third
reported budgets of over a million dollars.
"Companies are allocating sizable budgets to online community and
social media efforts because they know there is value that may not be
measured by standard ROI metrics alone," stated Bill Johnston, chief
community officer of Forum One Networks. While 47% of the respondents
could tie at least some revenue to their online communities and social
media activities, many online community and social media people are
tasked with developing new metrics that are customized for social media
ROI.
In the study, 42% of the respondents indicated that they are getting
pressure to modify their data sets or to find new sources of value. One
respondent noted, "We are shifting from traditional metrics to metrics
more tailored to social media. We are less concerned about visits and
click-throughs and more interested in how content is generating
discussions on and off our site." Most companies utilize traditional
metrics, such as standard web metrics and default community platform
reports. While this information is useful as a basis, it doesn't
provide a complete picture of how online communities affect overall
company brand awareness, user engagement, loyalty and peer to peer
collaboration.
Companies that are moving beyond the standard metrics are using a blend
of quantitative and qualitative metrics when reporting value and ROI
back to their management. Using a variety of metrics allows companies
to establish an overall ROI strategy that might not be represented with
revenue alone, including: increased traffic, idea creation, lead
generation, customer loyalty, user skill building and growing
membership. A survey respondent noted that, "[Their community sites get
three times the engagement for solution, capabilities and use case than
their traditional sites." Providing a community where members may seek
resources and collaborate with others saves them time and builds their
skills, thus increasing their loyalty to the company and brand. Another
survey respondent noted, "Offering a community to your clients where
they can speak to you and each other significantly increases customer
loyalty."
The Online Community ROI - Models and Reports study was published by
Forum One Networks' Online Community Research Network. The study was
created to gain insight into specifically how organizations value and
report on their online communities' activities and to identify who the
stakeholders are for ROI metrics. For more information about the Online
Community Research Network, or to purchase a membership to view the
full report, please go to: www.forumonenetworks.com/ocrn
About Forum One Networks
Forum One Networks is a division of Forum One Communications, a web
strategy and development group based in Alexandria, Virginia, with
offices in the California Bay Area. Forum One Networks produces events,
conducts research, and provides networking and strategic consulting for
online community and social media professionals.
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