Copywriter Bob Bly has an interesting discussion on his blog ^[2]about a new social media report ^[3] by Michael Stelzner.

While Bob’s post focuses on how social media is time consuming and delivers little ROI with regard to the time spent on it, he also states in one of his comments that social media advocates refuse to measure social media ROI by “bottom line” results. 

It’s true. I cannot tell you in terms of hard numbers how social media has benefited my business — only that it has (tremendously).

However, I realized this morning that we do many things that have “zero bottom line results” but which impact our businesses in ways we can’t even imagine.

Take face-to-face networking, for example. About five or so years ago, I attended a Business Marketing Association meeting in the Boston area in order to hear my good friend Mac McIntosh ^[4] give a presentation.

At that meeting I met a MarCom Manager from a major tech company in the area. We kept in touch, connected on LinkedIn, and she signed up for my e-newsletter.

A year or so later, she moved to a new company and hired me for a project . . . and then another project . . . and then another. She was also instrumental in getting me into her company to give a presentation on B2B copywriting to her colleagues.

So this morning I’m sitting here doing a new proposal for another large tech company in the area, and as I was typing the person’s contact information into ACT!, and noting that she had been referred to me by this MarCom Manager I had met years ago, I had a real ephinany:

You simply cannot measure social media / social networking by traditional or “bottom line” measures.

Social media tools, such as Twitter, are similar to having a chat over a cup of coffee — or a first date. And as Mac is always saying, you can’t ask your customers to marry you on the first date because you’ll scare them away!

If I had asked the MarCom Manager if she was going to send me work while sitting at that BMA dinner meeting, do you think she would have hired me a year later? Hell no!

It’s the same for social media. You can’t expect people to send you “juicy fat contracts” simply because they’re following you on Twitter.

What happens with social media (and face-to-face networking) however, is that people get to know you. They learn how you think, how you present yourself, even a little of your values and business principles.

Over time, they connect more deeply with you and begin to either inquire about your services or refer others to you. And that is where the magic happens, as I realized this morning.

If you’re looking for social media to send you leads and contracts, you’ll be disappointed. If you use social media to connect with others and build new relationships, you’ll find results and success — plus a whole lot of satisfaction.