Will 2010 be The Year for Social Media ROI?

About a year ago the big prediction was that mobile platforms were going to break out in 2009.  Their influence grew, but outside of Asia, the world is still way behind in utilizing the full potential of what’s available now for mobile computing much less what’s around the corner.

The latest 2010 breakthrough prediction is that next year is the year that social media ROI will finally be measurable.  This will be a great leap forward for advertisers if it comes true.  It will also solidify the shift from traditional media domination of ad buys over to a large increase in those funds moving to work with individual online influencers.

My company predicts that, based on our extensive research, 2011 will be the Year of The Influencer.  Therefore, it’s not a surprise that I agree that 2010 will be the year that social media ROI can finally be measured.  One reason why I expect that to happen is that we’re one of the companies working hard to build the structures to make it happen.

Aside from that, the biggest question about social media in 2009, especially from people new to the field, was “what’s the ROI on a social media marketing campaign?”  The analytical tools like Klout, Radian6, Twitter Grader and Filtrbox are getting sharper by the day in measuring online influence in ways that actually matter to answer that question.

Brands are just starting to seek out channel partnerships and influencers who can be brand advocates.  In the last six months this space has become white hot and is currently in it’s infancy.

Remember that ‘Twitter’ was declared the most used word in 2009 and ‘influencer’ may be on it’s heels for that title in 2010 or 2011.  When those two words create the return on investment everyone’s looking for, then the evolution of media power from traditional media to social media will begin it’s second phase fueled by multiple models of profitability.