Most businesses have accepted a social media presence is worthwhile, although many seem unable to back that feeling up with hard facts and figures. In a recent survey of 410 chief marketing officers almost half (49%) said they weren’t able to quantify whether social media has made a difference for their companies. 36% said they had a good sense of qualitative (though not quantitative) results, with only 15% reporting they had seen a proven quantitative impact. In traditional marketing terms return on investment (ROI) is relatively straightforward to work out. Put simply, ROI = (Return – Investment)/Investment So if you spend $1,000 and make a return of $10,000 as a direct result of this investment the ROI would be: (10,000 – 1,000)/1,000 = a return on investment of $9 for every $1 spent. Variables on both the return and investment side of the equation can make the calculations more complex of course, but the basics remain the same. The problem in applying this fo...