Beth Kanter was writing about measuring engagement and return on relationships recently and there was a line that struck me. It was as simple as it was complex for a lot of people to understand and it’s this:

Money was the only one metric for success…

But as I read further, I couldn’t help but nod my head at this sentence:

Whatever the tool we’re using, the right metrics are those that can help us understand engagement and relationships.

So yea, for social media marketers and companies alike, if it makes money, or saves money or builds equity, that’s a good thing. But we can still and should measure engagement and its positive or negative impact as well, which can and will affect the bottom line.