“Where’s the beef?” in social media marketing

I like clever commercials. Some of my favorites running on television today include the GEICO ‘little Piggy’ commercial, the Kia Soul series, and any of the E*TRADE babies. But, one from long ago that certainly has stood the test of time is Clara Peller (circa early 80s and the Wendy's fast food restaurant chain) looking at a giant burger bun with a tiny burger patty, little cheese square, and one pickle, and saying, "Where's The Beef?"

And so it is with me when it comes to discussions surrounding social media marketing; “Where’s The Beef?” Beyond the big question of value weighed against time spent, there is also the issue of where to invest and how to measure results. This came to light again this morning as I looked across my dashboard of Contacts within LinkedIn.

I use the “Blog Link powered by TypePad” to keep up with my Contacts’ postings and newsfeed. I also follow other postings in the Network Activity in LinkedIn. On my browser, I can look at various Feeds in my Favorites. But, from what I can see, these are all proactive steps on my part that puts social media in an otherwise passive state, i.e., unless I look for it, I don’t know it’s out there.

So, from a marketing success perspective, when it comes to social media marketing, which is built on the premise of social interaction and accessible technologies, how do you measure the size of the bun (social media marketing) when compared to the beef patty (sales results)?