Here’s what they found:

1. 49% feel that social media has a future for generating ROI.  Additionally, they feel that conservative budget increases are warranted to achieve desired ROI
2. 27% feel that the value of social media is unknown; therefore, only done if time permits.
3. 17% feel that “why pay for the milk if I can get the cow for free”
4. 7% feel that social media is delivering measurable ROI and have desire to increase budgets liberally for a more refined execution [read: increased ROI and brand positioning]

They seem straight forward, but the two that truly jump out are numbers 3 and 4.  They represent the opposite sides of the spectrum. 

“Why pay for the milk if I can get the cow for free?”

There are two ways to look at this group.  On one hand, this mindset limits their ability to think creatively on ways to generate more top-of-mind-awareness and ROI.  This puts them “behind the eight ball”.  While their competitors are actively testing and generating positive results through their social media strategy, this group is too busy conducting their marketing through traditional- sometimes stale- methods.  

On the other hand, they may be like my parents were in the early 80s when the VCR was introduced to consumers.  Why pay full price for a product/service that will drop in price, solidify its best practices and be easier to leverage?  They may be lying in wait for the social media frenzy dust to settle.  This could ultimately position this group to hit the ground running without being limited by early stage social media limiting beliefs.

Early adopters writing the rules

The 7% of responders that feel that social media does nothing but add brand and bottom line value have a lot going for them.  They affect more change in the evolution that can ultimately, directly benefit how their business and/or vertical benefit from taking these new strategies seriously.  Somebody has to do it.  These early adopters are the trailblazers in marketing, corporate strategy and brand management.  

Social media early adopters take the calculated risk and reap all of the rewards.  Not only do they realize increased ROI and elevated top-of-mind-awareness, they can easily find themselves included in case studies that document the A players in specific verticals that are shaping how social media is successfully leveraged.  The Kogi Truck is a great illustration of this.

I’ll be keeping my ear to the ground on the evolution of these sorts of numbers.  In what category do you fall?

Dell recently announced that they have generated $6.5 million in sales from interactions originating from their 12 Twitter profiles, including their ever-powerful @DellOutlet profile that boasts 1.4 million followers.  Though nobody is sure when they began tracking these figures, it has definitely grabbed my attention.  Even if this figure accounts for a minuscule fraction of their overall annual sales ($60 billion, last I heard), it brings to the surface the discussion of social media ROI.

Any manager will want to know what to know ROI for their social media expenditure.  This is where it gets sticky.  Most social media experts will tell you that social media serves more as a branding function.  More specifically, social media serves as a listening post for brands so that they can course-correct their marketing and customer service strategies.  Dell, however, has turned that notion on its ear by delivering these new sales figures to the public.  This is a little dicey.

Are small businesses, Dell’s competitors and other verticals to believe that social media is now a sales pipeline?  Dell would have you believe that to be so.  Dell has the resources, products/services, infrastructure and support that enable their leveraging of a social media channel like Twitter.  But, can Kenny’s Curry House in Anytown, USA expect to realize any sort of major sales by simply creating a Twitter account?  The answer is “no”.

The truth is that Dell employs 100 people  across 30+ Twitter profiles to send out tweets.  This compared to a small business that leaves their social media strategy and execution to a college-aged intern illustrates the chasm separating big business and small business strategy and implementation.

While I don’t fault Dell for releasing these impressive numbers, I do caution business owners and marketers.  What happens in the rarefied air of major global brands may not be sustainable at sea level marketing and sales.