Here’s an interesting concept:  using traditional measurement tactics to determine the success of non-traditional (social media) marketing.

At first, it sounds as though this goes against my persistent encouragement for companies to measure the Return on Relationship rather than just the standard Return on Investment, but actually it doesn’t.

In his July 19 blog post entitled “The ROI of Social Media Marketing: More Than Dollars and Cents,”  Forrester blogger Augie Ray introduces the Social Media Marketing Balanced Scoreboard.  The key word here is balanced.  Although he still uses the phrase “Return on Investment,” what he’s writing is actually about much more than the standard notion of return on financial investment only.

Ray writes, “Facebook fans, retweets, site visits, video views, positive ratings and vibrant communities are not financial assets—they aren’t reflected on the balance sheet and can’t be counted on an income statement—but that doesn’t mean they are valueless.  Instead, these are leading indicators that the brand is doing something to create value that can lead to financial results in the future.”  In other words, ROR – Return on Relationship!

This Social Media Marketing Balanced Scorecard encourages “interactive marketers” to measure success across four areas:

– Financial

– Brand

– Risk Management

– Digital

Notice that the scorecard doesn’t measure only financial success – nor does it measure only brand success.  Both are included here.

Bottom line?  While we social media marketers tend to be all about innovation, there is still room for some things traditional – when used deliberately and wisely!