Erik Florida

Converting Social Media Interactions Into Leads

Saturday, May 8th, 2010

Social media ROI (return on investment) is something that is talked about a lot these days. As social media tools are making the switch from personal use to business use, these business want to know that they serve a purpose, that they add value. The big picture idea for any new project in a business ultimately boils down to ROI. Generally, this term refers to monetary gains based off a given investment of time and resources. With social media, I think it is important to view ROI from the perspective of lead generation and customer relations, not sales dollars.

Social media is a long term investment centered around relationship building. Companies are increasingly being expected by consumers to be more human. This is a fundamental change in the way consumers interact with businesses online. Technology has been shrinking the world since boats began allowing people to travel the seas to far away lands. Now the Internet has moved us into a whole new level. In this smaller world, consumers are no longer satisfied with an undefined corporate entity that makes their own decisions about the products we buy.

Consumers want involvement. We want products our way, and we wont settle for less. Brands that are making strides to satisfy the customer, introducing new products, and getting direct feedback are showing consumers that they deserve this. Human interaction is also something consumers are growing to appreciate more and more. Not necessarily a face-to-face interaction, but a human interaction. The Internet put a separation between the consumer and the people behind the business. The only interaction was with a shopping cart graphic.

Companies like Best Buy are showing consumers that they are not just big box electronics stores that spin new technology out of a factory, but they are a company of people. They are passionate about their products, and they want consumers to be able to easily and enjoyably learn about them, and purchase the right item. The human experience at Best Buy starts when a consumer goes on twitter and asks what is the best laptop to buy their kid for art school in the Fall. The positive human interaction carries over to the in-store experience, and then beyond, when one of thousands of Best Buy employee’s who volunteer to help on Twitter, respond to a complaint about the laptop by teaching the user about a setting they could change.

Best Buy suddenly becomes a large group of caring people who know a lot about electronics. Not an electronics warehouse. This is the kind of human interaction consumers are looking for. When businesses begin to understand this and start using social media to create human interactions – trust, relationships, authority, authenticity – they will begin to see the ROI that comes from social media. In the end, it will always come down to dollars and cents. But a successful business must be able to see the benefit in long term goals that may not have an immediate impact on the bottom line. First you must build relationships.

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