The social media world went spinning the other day with a report from ForeSee Results, claiming that traditional marketing provides a better ROI than social media. Given the potential free-ness of social media opportunities, this was hard for me to accept.
Here are the facts. Social media interactions can only attribute for 5% of retail traffic. Whereas traditional marketing tactics had higher traffic attributions, including e-mails (19%), search engine results (8%) and Internet advertising (7%).
But A) social media never claimed to dismiss traditional online marketing tactics. B) Higher traffic alone doesn’t mean better ROI.
In order to make sure you’re getting the most out of your marketing investment, do your own investigation. But determine the cost of obtaining each prospect through each marketing method. Not just traffic referral numbers alone.