Quality is more important than Quantity

Quantity/Quality lists shown above are from my social media presentation, which you can download by clicking on this link: Social Karma Presentation

Effectively using social media in a business context requires a significant commitment—mostly measured in time.

Since the “opportunity cost” of social media can be quite high, many understandably argue about how to effectively measure its return on investment (ROI), which can often feel like you are searching for the Sasquatch or the Loch Ness Monster.

No, social media ROI is not an urban myth.

However, the Albert Einstein quote “not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted” is relevant to social media ROI because quality is more important than quantity—and quality is also more difficult to measure.

Social media ROI is not measured in followers, fans, recommendations, subscribers, comments or other feedback. Although this quantitative analysis is useful and its metrics can be meaningful, it is important to realize that this only measures connection.

Qualitative analysis is more challenging because it attempts to measure your engagement with the online community.

Engagement is about going beyond establishing a presence and achieving active participation. Engagement is measured by the quality of the relationships you are able to form and maintain—not the quantity of connections you are able to collect and count.

Although both quantitative and qualitative analysis are essential to forming a complete measurement of your social media ROI, quality is more important than quantity, because engagement is more important than connection.

Engagement requires a long-term investment in the community, but if you’re not willing to make a long-term investment, then don’t expect any meaningful returns from your social media efforts.