--- title: Social Media ROI Hypocrisy --- [Skip to main content](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/2011/12/social-media-roi.html#maincontent) [ «  View All Posts ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog) # Social Media ROI Hypocrisy December 5th, 2011 1 min read By [David Meerman Scott](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott) **New research - published here for the first time - proves that executives who demand that Social Media ROI be calculated are hypocrites.** **HYPOCRISY** It's ridiculous that executives require marketers to calculate ROI (Return on Investment) on one form of real-time communications: Social media like Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube. Yet they happily pay for other real-time communications devices for employees like Blackberrys, iPhones, and iPads without a proven ROI. Often, the first question I am asked at my talks is about ROI. So I turn the question back to the audience as you will see in this very short video shot on location at [recent gigs](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/engagements.htm) in Amsterdam, Bahrain, Baltimore, Barcelona, Boston, Buffalo, Cleveland, Istanbul, Miami, Rotterdam, Stockholm, and Washington DC. Direct link to [Social Media ROI Hypocrisy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APGS2ER7cQo) on YouTube. My recommendation to you when faced with executives who demand that you prove social media ROI is to point out the hypocrisy by asking them to show you the ROI of their Blackberry. I conceived of this video and shot the location scenes myself at my gigs. The final video was produced and edited by my friends at [Rewatchable](http://www.rewatchable.com). Please share. Especially with those in your company who demand that ROI calculation. [ David Meerman Scott ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott) David Meerman Scott is a business growth strategist, advisor to clever entrepreneurs who are building emerging companies, and the international bestselling author of a dozen books published in 30 languages. David’s high-energy keynote presentations, masterclasses, and virtual events educate, energize, and inspire. Connect: [mailto:david@freshspot.com](mailto:david@freshspot.com) Topics: [ Social Media ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/social-media) [ Worst Practices ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/worst-practices) [ Real-Time Marketing & PR ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/real-time-marketing-pr) [ Research and Analysis ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/research-and-analysis) Don't forget to share this post: ## Related Articles [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Artemis%20earthset.jpg?width=5568&height=3712&name=Artemis%20earthset.jpg) ### Nasa’s Artemis II Lunar Mission: A PR Triumph for the USA April 11th, 2026|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/nasas-artemis-ii-lunar-mission-a-pr-triumph-for-the-usa) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Moltbook.jpg?width=1536&height=1024&name=Moltbook.jpg) ### Moltbook: A Social Network for AI Agents Where Humans Can Only Watch February 3rd, 2026|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/moltbook-a-social-network-for-ai-agents-where-humans-can-only-watch) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202025-10-29%20at%2010.27.19%20AM.png?width=835&height=466&name=Screenshot%202025-10-29%20at%2010.27.19%20AM.png) ### Don’t Fly Wizzness Class Video from Dave Carroll October 29th, 2025|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/dont-fly-wizzness-class-video-from-dave-carroll) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Chef%20Todd%20Edwards.jpg?width=1500&height=1010&name=Chef%20Todd%20Edwards.jpg) ### Pulling Back the Curtain to Show What Happens Behind-the-Scenes October 15th, 2025|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/pulling-back-the-curtain-to-show-what-happens-behind-the-scenes) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/DMS%20BM%20hybrid%202004.jpg?width=1432&height=966&name=DMS%20BM%20hybrid%202004.jpg) ### The Fandom Playbook: My New Book and Companion AI Chatbot September 24th, 2025|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/the-fandom-playbook-my-new-book-and-companion-ai-chatbot) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Stefano%20Paciotti.jpg?width=1500&height=1084&name=Stefano%20Paciotti.jpg) ### The Ham Whisperer of Rome: How Stefano’s Honest Videos Won the World’s Heart June 24th, 2025|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/the-ham-whisperer-of-rome-how-stefanos-honest-videos-won-the-worlds-heart) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/LinkedIn%20comments.jpg?width=1114&height=737&name=LinkedIn%20comments.jpg) ### Comments Are the Key to LinkedIn Engagement January 29th, 2025|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/comments-are-the-key-to-linkedin-engagement) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Kolkata%20Chai%20Ani%20and%20Ayan.jpg?width=1236&height=858&name=Kolkata%20Chai%20Ani%20and%20Ayan.jpg) ### Brewing Authenticity: How Kolkata Chai Co. Uses Instagram to Reach Interested Buyers November 21st, 2024|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/brewing-authenticity-how-kolkata-chai-co.-uses-instagram-to-reach-interested-buyers) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/boring%20robots.png?width=1432&height=899&name=boring%20robots.png) ### Your Original Content Plus AI Equals Sparkle-Darkle August 13th, 2024|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/your-original-content-plus-ai-equals-sparkle-darkle) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Jesse%20at%20Fenway.jpg?width=1256&height=843&name=Jesse%20at%20Fenway.jpg) ### Fans First Banana Ball Delights at Sold Out Fenway Park Game June 10th, 2024|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/fans-first-banana-ball-delights-at-sold-out-fenway-park) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog.jpg?width=1193&height=792&name=blog.jpg) ### Why You Need a Blog in the Age of AI and Social Networking September 5th, 2023|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/why-you-need-a-blog-in-the-age-of-ai-and-social-networking) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Threads.jpg?width=2350&height=1574&name=Threads.jpg) ### Meta's Threads Social Text App Unlikely to Topple Twitter's Dominance July 14th, 2023|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/metas-threads-social-text-app-unlikely-to-topple-twitters-dominance) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/DMS%20and%20YWS%20in%20Scotland.jpg?width=1500&height=1125&name=DMS%20and%20YWS%20in%20Scotland.jpg) ### How Instagram Got Us to the Castles of Scotland May 24th, 2023|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/how-instagram-got-us-to-the-castles-of-scotland) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Stoned%20Immaculate.jpg?width=1259&height=827&name=Stoned%20Immaculate.jpg) ### Modern-Day Hippies! Meet Stoned Immaculate’s Unique Buyer Persona March 14th, 2023|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/modern-day-hippies-meet-stoned-immaculates-unique-buyer-persona) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Scotus.jpg?width=1070&height=715&name=Scotus.jpg) ### Important Artificial Intelligence Case to be Argued in the US Supreme Court Today February 21st, 2023|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/important-artificial-intelligence-case-to-be-argued-in-the-us-supreme-court-today) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/man%20with%20typewriter.jpg?width=1189&height=788&name=man%20with%20typewriter.jpg) ### Unlocking the Potential of AI for Use with Your Own Content February 8th, 2023|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/unlocking-the-potential-of-ai-for-use-with-your-own-content) [![Aaron Silidker showing people how to use ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/RoamRig%20van%20conversions.jpg?width=2566&height=1556&name=RoamRig%20van%20conversions.jpg) ### How RoamRig Built A Successful Business With Facebook Groups January 10th, 2023|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/how-roamrig-built-a-successful-business-with-facebook-groups) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/free%20speech.jpg?width=2210&height=1404&name=free%20speech.jpg) ### Free Speech November 29th, 2022|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/free-speech) [![Twitter and Mastodon logos](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Mastodon%20will%20not%20replace%20Twitter.jpg?width=1002&height=520&name=Mastodon%20will%20not%20replace%20Twitter.jpg) ### No Way Mastodon Will Kill Twitter November 10th, 2022|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/no-way-mastodon-will-kill-twitter) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/dance.png?width=2048&height=1366&name=dance.png) ### Baseball That Puts Fans First! Banana Ball from The Savannah Bananas August 31st, 2022|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/baseball-that-puts-fans-first-banana-ball-from-the-savanah-bananas) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Twitter%20Blue.jpg?width=2160&height=1301&name=Twitter%20Blue.jpg) ### Twitter Blue Subscription Service June 29th, 2022|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/twitter-blue-subscription-service-now-available-in-usa) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/DMS%20metaverse%202.jpg?width=1500&height=1009&name=DMS%20metaverse%202.jpg) ### What the Heck is the Metaverse? And Should You Care? June 1st, 2022|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/what-is-the-metaverse) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/2017-Silver-Oak-Napa-Valley-Cabernet-72.jpg?width=2160&height=1440&name=2017-Silver-Oak-Napa-Valley-Cabernet-72.jpg) ### How Silver Oak Cellars Created Passionate Fans Over Fifty Years May 18th, 2022|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/how-silver-oak-cellars-created-passionate-fans-over-fifty-years) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/SCOTT_pb_3D_rev.png?width=1293&height=2430&name=SCOTT_pb_3D_rev.png) ### 8th Edition of The New Rules of Marketing & PR Publishes Today May 3rd, 2022|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/8th-edition-of-the-new-rules-of-marketing-pr-publishes-today) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "David Meerman Scott", "url" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott" }, "datePublished" : "2011-12-05T13:47:22.000Z", "headline" : "Social Media ROI Hypocrisy", "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/2011/12/social-media-roi.html", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hubfs/_Assets/Logo/david-meerman-scott.png" }, "name" : "David Meerman Scott" } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/#person", "@type" : "Person", "description" : "Marketing and sales visionary, international bestselling author of 12 books, keynote speaker in 47 countries, and advisor to emerging companies.", "email" : "mailto:David@DavidMeermanScott.com", "image" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hubfs/DMS-Homepage-Featured.jpg", "jobTitle" : [ "Keynote Speaker", "Author", "Business Growth Strategist", "Marketing Advisor" ], "knowsAbout" : [ "Content Marketing", "Fandom Marketing", "Newsjacking", "Real-Time Marketing", "Public Relations", "Sales Strategy", "Business Growth" ], "name" : "David Meerman Scott", "sameAs" : [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Meerman_Scott", "https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmeermanscott", "https://x.com/dmscott", "https://www.instagram.com/dmscott/" ], "url" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com" } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/#website", "@type" : "WebSite", "author" : { "@id" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/#person" }, "name" : "David Meerman Scott", "potentialAction" : { "@type" : "SearchAction", "query-input" : "required name=search_term_string", "target" : { "@type" : "EntryPoint", "urlTemplate" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/search?q={search_term_string}" } }, "url" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com" } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "David Meerman Scott", "url" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott" }, "dateCreated" : "2014-09-10T23:41:57", "datePublished" : "2011-12-05T08:47:22-0500", "description" : "", "headline" : "Social Media ROI Hypocrisy", "image" : [ "" ], "inLanguage" : "en-us", "keywords" : [ "Social Media", "Worst Practices", "Real-Time Marketing & PR", "Research and Analysis" ], "learningResourceType" : "article", "name" : "Social Media ROI Hypocrisy", "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://413105.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/413105/_Assets/Logo/david-meerman-scott.png" }, "name" : "Freshspot Marketing LLC" }, "timeRequired" : "1 minutes", "url" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/2011/12/social-media-roi.html" } ```