In a recent discussion on Linkedin.com I mentioned ROI, and the need for Community Managers to prove ROI to their Executive team. In this discussion someone said that it may still be early for many who have not started thinking about ROI. I saw a link to this article on the Jive site and Tony the CEO of Jive Software made a very interesting observation in regards to ROI. (watch 1:19-1:44 if nothing else) See it here.
Advertisement
Hi again Andrew.
Tony gives a good example of how a community can take action that is directly linked to ROI – in this case increased revenue. My company is a Jive Partner and I have a lot of respect for them. I also lead the deployment of one of their most successful installs prior to starting up 6kites. I ended up being one a few people that Jive had Forrester interview for their commissioned ROI report. I hope to talk about that in a blog post on my site before long. Anyway…
The one thing I would add to the discussion here is that the only thing that drives community ROI is engagement. Engagement specifically being measured as actions by community members (posts, comments, likes, etc.). Some actions can be done by the community manager, but when the actions are taken by non-company personnel it is much better. As a CM you need to work to get the community to take the actions that drive the ROI.
So, just like you said: identify the ROI, but then use CM to steer the crowd’s engagement.
By: Herb Morreale on November 30, 2010
at 3:31 pm