Yes – that is the Million Dollar question according not only to me, but to Ritz-Carlton's Chief Marketing Officer Chris Gabaldon. Check out his interview posted on Bloomberd website where he talks about the Value on Facebook Like.
The value is not measured currently with exact formula to calculate exact numbers. And if General Motors decided today that spending money on paid ads in Facebook is not bringing them enough ourchasing customers – here is what I think about this – People are on Facebook to engage and communicate with friends. Purchasing a car may not be the first thing on my mind when I log into the social network and same as joining offline fun network event I am not there that much for purchasing items – especially large ticket items such a new car, however more to socialize. Glad to hear in the above interview that Ritz-Carlton does it correct. The main point of a business to be present in those Social Media sites is to be engaged with their customers – to listen and respond. There are many people who do it right and as a result the profit big time as well.
Here is a great article on Forbes site explaining how Justin Bieber, Rihanna and Lady Gaga Turn Followers Into Fortunes. So well said from the author of the article Larissa Faw :
"Social media mastery is key to ranking among the most powerful celebrities. It’s not a coincidence that the ones with the most Twitter followers — Justin Bieber, Rihanna, and Lady Gaga — also top Forbes’ list. By comparison, when a journalist asked Johnny Depp (No. 56) if he uses Twitter, he didn’t even know what it was. Mr. Youth’s Britton adds, “The word ‘power’ is a subjective dynamic. Since these young stars have direct and complete control over their audience they no longer have to rely on intermediaries to reach their base. If [Justin] Bieber wanted 100,000 people in [New York City's] Central Park in two hours, he could probably accomplish that with a few tweets. The power is really indeed in their hands.” (read the full article on Forbes.com website - here ).
Perhabs no one explained better how this works than one of the visionaries when it comes to where Social Media is going – Gary Vaynerchuk in his book "The Thank You Economy" he is asking us all – "What is the ROI on your mother?" – how would you scale and price that one? And yes that is the person you has most influence on you especially in your early years. If you have not read this amazing book yet – "The Thank You Economy" is a MUST read and the sooner you do it the better:
