In recent years, the challenge of social media has been that every marketer knows it is necessary, but it is almost impossible to measure its worth. It is hard to gauge the return on the money and seemingly endless time that it requires to be invested. Even though the capabilities of data and analysis are increasing constantly, it is still hard to pinpoint just how much a company is getting in return on social ventures.
That might be changing. As Social Media Explorer recently explained, we are on the cusp of being able to pinpoint exactly what return a company is getting and what initiatives could be most profitable in light of that data. In fact, predictive analysis software able to do this already exists. The problem is that the price tag is high – probably in the six or seven figure range.
This raises an important question: just how much is predictive analysis worth? Imagine the things it could do for your company. With no guesswork involved, you would know whether to put more money into content marketing or more into online advertising. You would be able to project the differences in putting more money here and less money there. In other words, it could take the risk out of social marketing.
This question is up for debate. Is the certainty of ROI worth a six or seven figure investment?
(Image credit: Doug 88888)
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