--- title: How to Measure the ROI on Social Selling | The Sales Blog description: Maybe you’re having trouble proving the return on your investment of time and energy in social selling. Let’s see how social stacks up. Your ROI on Activities What is your return on investment for sending a thank you card to a prospect that took your call or connected you with the right person? (old school […] image: https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_128658902.jpg --- ### [Now booking SKO meetings for 2026/27! 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Let’s see how social stacks up. **Your ROI on Activities** What is your return on investment for sending [a thank you card](http://thesalesblog.com/blog/2010/12/15/a-thank-you-card-business-card-enclosed/) to a prospect that took your call or connected you with the right person? (old school social) What is your return on the time and energy you invest in reading business journals or newspapers, copying an article that might be important to your prospective client, and mailing it to them with a handwritten note? (old school social) What is your return on attending networking events and engaging in conversations with your dream clients around [the value](http://thesalesblog.com/blog/2013/08/06/little-hinges-dont-swing-big-doors/) that they need and that you deliver? (old school social, IRL) How do you calculate the return on promoting your customer’s work to the people in your community who might benefit from it? What’s your return on helping them gain new clients, referring them new business? (old school social) “I get it,” you say. But there’s more. What is your return on investment for all of the calls that you made that weren’t answered and all of the unreturned voice mails? (Maybe you shouldn’t expect your prospects to beat a path to your door because you tweet well) What is your return on the four-color, glossy direct mail brochure you mailed and your prospective client filed–unopened–in their round, plastic-lined filing cabinet? (Maybe you shouldn’t expect your dream clients to beg for your time because you have a nice blog). **The Straw That Broke the Camel’s Back** What is that opens relationships and allows you to create opportunities? Is it the thank you card? Is it the continued calls? Is it the white paper with the personal note? Is it your engagement on LinkedIn? Is it your answer to a challenging question in a blog post you shared? Prospecting isn’t an event. Prospecting isn’t a tool kit (it’s neither the phone, the mail, the social tools, the marketing, or the events). [Prospecting is a campaign](http://thesalesblog.com/blog/2013/05/09/prospecting-is-a-campaign/). It’s everything. Combined. [Social](http://thesalesblog.com/blog/2013/03/06/youre-doing-social-media-wrong/) isn’t an event; it’s a toolkit. Social is one channel that allows the accumulation of touches, the opening of relationships, and the building of trust and [mind share](http://thesalesblog.com/blog/2013/05/26/difficult-to-measure-and-important/) over some period of time. It isn’t the only tool kit. And it’s more powerful when used with the old school tool kits. It’s the building of relationships over time that allows you to create opportunities. Social selling isn’t anything new. We’ve been “social” for a long time. Only the tool kit has changed. Calculate the ROI the same way you calculate all of the other activities that make up prospecting. ###### Tags: [Sales](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/sales) [2013](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/2013) Post by [Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/author/anthony-iannarino) on October 3, 2013 Written and edited by human brains and human hands. ![Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/ai-blog-profile-crop.jpg) Anthony Iannarino is an American writer. He has published daily at [thesalesblog.com](https://www.thesalesblog.com) for more than 14 years, amassing over 5,300 articles and making this platform a destination for salespeople and sales leaders. Anthony is also the author of four best-selling books documenting modern sales methodologies and a fifth book for sales leaders seeking revenue growth. His latest book for an even wider audience is titled, The Negativity Fast: Proven Techniques to Increase Positivity, Reduce Fear, and Boost Success. Anthony speaks to sales organizations worldwide, delivering cutting-edge sales strategies and tactics that work in this ever-evolving B2B landscape. He also provides workshops and seminars. Connect with Anthony on LinkedIn, X or Youtube. 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What we’re doing right now **is working**, even in this challenging economy. **Would you like some help?** [![Solve for Sales](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2922376/d3a4938b-2008-4a27-8b44-7b2223f6d035.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2922376/d3a4938b-2008-4a27-8b44-7b2223f6d035) ### Join my Weekly Newsletter for Sales Tips Join 100,000+ sales professionals in my weekly newsletter and get my *Guide to Becoming a Sales Hustler* eBook for FREE! --- ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org/", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Anthony Iannarino" }, "dateModified" : "2022-06-16T3:27:55 PM", "datePublished" : "2013-10-03 23:35:28", "description" : "Maybe you’re having trouble proving the return on your investment of time and energy in social selling. Let’s see how social stacks up. 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