Social Media Marketing: Importance of Measuring Your ROI

Health care, meet social. Social, meet health care. 

By now, most members of the health care community understand that a social media component is essential to a broader marketing effort. But before one simply “dives in,” one needs a defined strategy and a means of measuring ROI (Return on Investment). An effective social campaign is not simply about communicating or getting an organization’s name out there (although that is a component). It’s about knowing who we want to reach, what we want to tell them and what we want them to do with that information. Then, just as importantly, it’s about tracking your effectiveness. Did you reach the right audience? Did they hear your message? Did they act on it? In essence: “Are we using the channel to help match an important resource with a market need?”

Measuring social media ROI (Return on Investment) in health care is not always a straight line between dollars (and/or time) spent and a result. It can often be tricky to track and quantify. But this should not that stop us from trying. We need to verify that the strategy is actually working. 

Data can answer some of those questions. But a complete picture of social media ROI requires more than a simple monthly click report. It takes an astute business mind, capable of sourcing and synthesizing multiple data sets. Most importantly, it requires a targeted strategy that evolves over time, based on the feedback we get from the market.