Yes, there are many ways to measure social media and it's returns. The way I like to do it is use the insights provided by the website itself and then compare it to Google Analytics.

For example, on YouTube, I would check on how well (video views, shares, like and dislikes) my channel and videos are doing through YouTube itself. After assessing the channel, I would jump onto Google Analytics. In GA, there's an option  to choose from which is the traffic sources. Under that there is social and all the sub headings of social activity. Look into the source of YouTube and see how much traffic it has pulled to your website/destination you want your viewers to be at.
GA breaks down a lot of the information you get and of course before all of these you have to plug in all the required details in GA for it to be useful.

So, mainly I use GA but there are other tools out there like LuckyOrange and Google Webmaster.

I hope my answer helped! :)

There are two broad directions you can take to track social media ROI. A) You can get a general feel for the level of response your social media activity is creating by tracking the level of website traffic generated. StumbleUpon have an easy to use web link tracking service (www.su.pr). You can generate more comprehensive reports via Google Analytics but these require a level of technical expertise to set-up. Then, supplement this website traffic information by recording the originating source of each successful transaction (good business practise in any case). This type of solution is far from perfect and may be impractical for a business with a high number of transactions. But it is very low cost and could prove a adequete guide in some cases. B) If you want to take things more serioulsy, there are services available which allow you to track prospects from the first click on a social media update through to the completed sale. Providing detailed real-time and analytical reporting along the way. The online service provider Genius offers such a solution (http://www.genius.com/solutions/socialMediaSupport.php). Hope this is of assistance. Richard Carter

I agree with everything Richard said. There is one more option though: You can set up a store front on your social media, you will know exactly which posts are working and is it worth spending your time or not.. Disclaimer: I am partner of a company who provides this service.

Thanks guys for your answers. Natwar whats the store front application you are speaking of?

Hi Darryn, you might find this link useful. 46 social media monitoring and measurement tools http://ow.ly/kQQCd

I can just share my experience with my online store.

We have a Google +, Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr account.

For pure ease of use Twitter takes the cake, and it is one of the easiest for building up followers. https://twitter.com/bristolbrooks

Tumblr is great becasue you can stagger your posts, and re-blogging and like posts makes sure that your blog is always updated. http://best-corporate-gifts.tumblr.com/

Facebook of course is the power broker in the room, and is the main social network for actually affecting your sales. But it is also the most time intensive. https://www.facebook.com/BristolAndBrooks

We are only new on Google +, so I do not feel like I have freedom of speech to comment on it. We have only really started on Google + because we have heard that it can also be good for you SEO. https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/114906103532964404236/114906103532964404236/posts

The only key that I have found for getting followers is regular posting. If you add just a little bit of content everyday, and then say a decent piece once a week, then we have seen a spike in our followers. As to whether it pays off in the long run I think you would be mad not to try.

Hope that helps.

If you have a business goal, then you have a criteria to measure whether social media is actually worth the investment. If you think of social media as a tool, you need to understand why you are considering this tool to determine if it's good value.If you sell an "expensive" product or service which no-one is aware of, then you spend $50K on random activities but now people are aware of it, this may be a good return on investment. If you sell once off $5 widgets and lots of people around the world may buy one widget in their lifetime, then free social media is more likely the avenues you need to explore - and whether or not you have made any sales is a good indicator.If your customer can be found in one small geography, broadcasting messages to people who are not your target audience won't be a good investment. Posters, conversations or attending a local networking group will likely get better results.