using Social Media to generate ROI

If you know the equation, all I need to know from you is: how did you get it?

My definition of Social Media: If you are reading this then you are living in the 21st century & therefore should know a little bit about it. If you never heard about social media, then I'm sorry but you might need to read :
"Social Media 101 for dummies"
It is forgiven if you don't have time or just lack the resources to learn about social media. There is no reason why there shouldn't be special programs designed to educate managers and CEO's on social media tools.

It is very important to learn about social media. Especially today for two main reasons:

1- There are always newer tools being launched.

2- Promising returns on Social Media.

Don't waste your time exploring every tool but rather find the one's that are relevant to you and your business.

Here is how to work social media:

Companies should launch a blog/twitter/forum/etc. separate or on the same website and allow comments. Customers can express them selves. Sure you will have negative comments which is why you need to add this:

Have PR to respond to customers and moderate the integrity of the posts.

By using social media, companies are not just creating wealth. More importantly and ethically, the company remains connected and maintains a relationship with its customers.

Now, the tricky part about all of this is how to measure ROI of social media. The short answer to this is: you can't.

Return On Investment ROI can be found on the financial statements of Accountants to measure success or failure. In the case of social media ROI does not have to carry a numeric value.
When you have a conversation, you can not give it a numeric value. Different ratings can be interpreted differently by different people.

Social Media Social media is a golden opportunity for businesses to get involved with customers rather than just creating more wealth. Even if the case was to measure the ROI on social media, it is still difficult to establish a correlation between social media and the end results using current measures.

As always, your comments are welcome