5 Ways to Optimize Social Media ROI

2. Know your market segment, and understand your customers’ preferred social behaviors.

3. Commit to clear objectives in key areas:

• Listen: Use social technologies for research to better understand your customers.
• Talk: Use social technologies to join the conversation about your company and products.
• Support: Set up social tools such as forums and wikis to help your customers support each other.
• Energize: Use social technologies to supercharge customer word-of-mouth.
• Embrace: Integrate customers into the way your business works, including using their help to design products and improve your processes.

4. Create a road map for implementing social media based on customer needs, corporate objectives and return on investment. Start small with quick wins like product ratings and reviews, blogging, and “Share this” functionality throughout your site.