Welcome—Did I ask you this already?

What did we get for it?

We spent all this money and what did we get for it?

So went the controlled rant of one client in the past 24 hours as we were reviewing last year’s activities.

This is a modest but consistent client for us and one of my colleagues last year encouraged more social media during our last 12 month campaign.

Not necessarily a component I would have pushed so aggressively, but it was part of the schedule nonetheless. Until the day of reckoning—yesterday—when the client asked, ‘We spent $24,000 on social media’ and what did we get?’

No appreciable or measurable increase in traffic to our site, or to our health clinic. We were ‘Liked’ apparently 20 to 30 times, but no like ever translated to someone walking in our door. There was no increase in the call to action on the website or 1-800# to schedule an appointment.

So what did we get for it?

Tough to answer when the media can’t defend itself and lip service of saying it’s raising awareness pales in the wake of Not Raising Sales.

To his credit, my digital colleague did tapdance to express that it was contributor to the overall effect of the campaign and it reached a new audience. Very true. But new or incumbent, if they ain’t buying, it doesn’t matter who likes you.

Happily, our newspaper banner ads, and magazine 1/3rd page ads pulled the trigger on sales more than any other media and the spikes in business were readily identifiable to when print media appeared.

We spoke to social media briefly in Media Spike #35, and again we do not want to trample this format but believe it needs to be used differently to deliver a desired return.

My clients’ $24,000 disappeared into the ether of online without a trace, and without a glimmer of return on investment.  But they are the lucky ones as I’m certain many clients have invested substantially more dollars to come away with the same perplexed feeling.

What did we get for our money?

Dear reader, you may remember that through this series, I have touched on, I think just about all forms of media, to varying degrees.

I believe they all need to continue to be a part of the fabric of communication. Newspaper, and radio, online and television, outdoor and magazines, and subsets of all of these are just more tools in our efforts to communicate.

However as more advertisers are becoming more market savvy, the demand for ROI is more and more critical.  If you can’t find a way to measure it, don’t use it.

Stay tuned.

Dennis Kelly
dennis@firstimpressionsmedia.ca

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