We recently talked about how, in 2011, the most important priority for brand-side marketers and agencies will be squeezing an identifiable ROI out of their social media efforts. That drive may partly explain the influx of community manager jobs popping up over the course of last year, as well as other efforts to formalize social media marketing in the enterprise. The race is on!

Happily, eMarketer has issued a whitepaper (free download!) detailing seven guidelines for achieving ROI from social media:

1. Establish clear goals for your product or brand, then identify social measurements that support those objectives.
   
2. Organize your measurements and metrics in a logical framework.
3. Apply a long-term outlook to social media interactions and measurements. It's a commitment, not a campaign.
   
4. If hard ROI metrics are difficult to track, consider a range of softer metrics that link back to desired business outcomes.
   
5. Determine a dollar value for customers that opt in and engage your brand via social networks.
   
6. In your ROI calculations, don't overlook the value of cost savings that result from ongoing social listening and tracking.
   
7. Build technological capabilities to measure your customers' complete digital footprint—in real time.

Consider implementing these ideas in your daily executions, and be as empirical as you can without forsaking the qualitative benefits of social media. It's possible! And your company will thank you for it! (Eventually.)

The Po!nt: Don't sail off on the seas of user opinion without a compass and a clear destination. Take charge of your efforts by understanding the key factors that go into effectively building social media ROI.

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