Barack Obama raised $500 million from his online campaign, garnering a total of 5 million fans on social media sites. Dell used Twitter to sell $3 million worth of computers with over 600,000 followers. Clearly, these are some extreme examples of hard return on investment.

Social media ROI has been largely overlooked by businesses, as a study by Mzina and Babson Executive Education revealed. Eighty-four percent of professionals worldwide don’t measure the ROI of their social media programs, while 40 percent weren’t even sure if they could track ROI with their social media tools.

Strategize!

If your company jumps on Twitter or Facebook, looking to turn a noticeable profit, the first step should be getting known. You’ll want to start a conversation with followers, ease them into even wanting to hear what you have to say about your work.

How do you measure something as lofty as brand recognition or your online image perception? Try these methods:

• Use SplitTweet to monitor when your company name is used online – track what people are saying about your product and services.
• Sign up for GoogleAlerts to get links sent straight to your inbox whenever your company’s name is used.
• Address client complaints or questions directly – full transparency and taking responsibility is always a good PR practice.

Perhaps you’re measuring an objective of direct-engagement. Try these statistics:

• Comments, feedback, video views and content downloads
• Amount of people sharing your company’s posts

Don’t launch a social media campaign without paying attention to the measures of success – these strategies will only help you get ahead, even with social media in its developmental stages.

Want more? Check out these resources and related social media ROI links:

Social Media ROI Examples & Video – Hard statistics and numerous corporate success examples.
Social Media Metrics Superlist: Measurement, ROI & Key Statistics Resources – Just what it says – a true superlist of social media ROI resources.