What is the ROI of social media?

That was the question on everyone’s lips at Social Media Week 2012…

A question that Brass decided to tackle head-on with our Social Media Week London session: Understanding your brand’s online eco-system and how to measure cross-channel ROI.

Aimed at senior client-side FMCG marketers, the session began by outlining the entire digital ecosystem around brands; examining the interconnectedness of search, website, CRM, social and media activity and their effect on the brand’s bottom line.

Paul Mallett, Strategy Director at Brass, advised that the model will be completely different for each target audience and brand and should start with an understanding of the consumer landscape, looking at where the target audience is online and identifying relevant opportunities to engage with them.

(This is a consumer landscape for mums 35-49 based on UKOM data)

Paul reiterated the importance of understanding the role of each channel within the mix, and what each can deliver. Facebook is great for engagement, new platforms are great for increasing reach into new audiences, and website and email are still strong for sales uplift.

Next was our model for calculating the contribution of each channel in bringing new consumers into the brand (if you’d like to see the full model, contact us hello@brassagency.com )

Once the model has been established, channel activity can be increased or decreased, depending on strategic objectives for that period.

Some great questions came from the audience: Estee Lauder’s question on how to plan activity on new platforms, citing Pinterest, led Paul to discuss the position of new technologies on Gartner’s Hype Cycle. Pinterest is still at the ‘Peak of Inflated Expectations’, and will be included in the digital channel mix once it has reached the ‘plateau of productivity’ when the channel has found its place and consistent user-base. (For brands seeking to capitalise on the innovative, the technology trigger is the point to jump on board, but can be a very risky strategy!)

So, to answer @jeremywaite’s question, what is the ROI of a dog?  We think Bingley Mallett has a great ROI!