In backrooms and boardrooms across the country, businesses are discussing the ROI of social media. Where should I put my marketing dollars? What about my time? Why do I care about what Twitter says about my brand?
Sometimes you can measure social media ROI by tracking traffic and sentiment and reach. Other times, the ROI is immeasurable and extraordinary.
This morning, people across the nation woke up to an email stating that their Amazon Prime membership was going to increase from $79 a year to $99 a year. And Twitter went crazy…but it wasn’t all bad news.
Its fans came out in force. Amazon wasn’t defending it’s decision on Twitter, but it’s fans were.
Amazon gave me free shipping on 26 orders in the year since I joined Prime. Another $20 is still a deal. #AmazonPrime
— Patty Bodanza (@PattyBodanza) March 13, 2014
There seems to be some negative chatter about @amazon upping the cost of #AmazonPrime to $99. Still a good deal w/free shipping & streaming
— Gil Gonzalez (@danaCreative) March 13, 2014
My first reaction to fhe @amazon prime price increase is to be frustrated… but they have proven time and again that they are worth my $.
— Jennifer Kaufman (@jnkaufman) March 13, 2014
@astariaxv Worth it. Soooo worth it. You’ll be back.
— Robbie C (@bnceo) March 13, 2014
Your job as a business is to build the best business that you can. You do this by selling the right products or services, pricing them appropriately and always focusing on your customers needs. If you do these things, you will grow an army of supporters who will go to battle for you without you even asking them to.
I received my email this morning and it told me that my rate wouldn’t increase until 2015. They gave me an entire year to prepare for the price hike. They were very open about what they were doing and gave me time to make the choice to stay or go. They treated me with respect by not just dropping a bomb on me.
If you can turn your customers into advocates, you will have an army of marketers who will promote your brand simply because they want to.
You can’t measure the ROI of that, can you?
