What is the ROI for social media? Wrong question!

Charlie Southwell ‏ (@charliesaidthat) tweeted a link to an insightful article about the return on investment for social media. Social Media and ROI: Some clarity. (Again.) by Oliver Blanchard points out that the question, “What is the ROI for social media” is the wrong one:

The question is too broad. Too general. It is like asking what the ROI of email is. Or the ROI of digital marketing. What is the ROI of social media? I don’t know… what is the ROI of television?

So what is the right question? Blanchard nails it with:

The question, then, is not what is the ROI of social media, but rather what is the ROI of [insert activity here] in social media?

Check out the rest of the article for some other excellent points.