Digital Return Optimization. In a nutshell, it’s what I do.

Every team/project is different. Some are focused on fan engagement, some on driving ticket sales, others on sponsor activations. Either way – DRO is a methodology of determining what kind of “return” is desired from digital efforts and investments.

When ever I start a new project, I am often asked, “How are we doing?“. My response is always the same… “I don’t know, what are you trying to do?“

That kind of dialogue usually is in reference to a teams’ social media activities. But a lot applies to web sites as well. It comes down to a Content Management Strategy (or lack there of). It’s no longer ok to simply participate in the social space and have a 3rd party validate your efforts. Goals for social are as important as any other facet of marketing, and the plan of “social too” just doesn’t cut it anymore.

If this has been your process, don’t sweat it. You can change this. Deciding to change it is the easy part – how to change it and what it should look like is another story. That’s usually where I come in…

Teams have been working with social/digital for long enough now to have some things to measure. Start by looking back at your digital returns – the numbers and the dollars.

• Do you like what you see?
• How did you get those returns?
• What’s missing?
• What is a priority?

Those are the questions I’d start asking you. Then we start writing the story – last page first. Identify what we want to get out of this and then find ways to make it happen.

Have a look… And happy 2011!

1. Grow your Fan and Follower populations – more eyeballs, more traffic to drive back to your website
   • Bigger pops allows you to sell the social space itself too (see #2)
2. Custom tabs on Facebook: You can build and sell these spaces to sponsors
3. Sponsored contests for engagement
   • Don’t just drop sponsored links, give fans a reason to click
4. Sell your Twitter background space
5. Get a sponsor for your Facebook page
   
6. Engage with sponsors on Facebook and Twitter
   • As part of a marketing strategy, brand synergy is important
7. Sponsored player Twitter account

7 tips to get your social media strategy integrated into your marketing mix and draw an ROI as well.

Have you tried any of these?

More on that at the Sportsin140 blog .

And you can follow the LA Kings on Twitter here.

Another Twitter first for an NHL club – it will be interesting to see how this plays out from a fan engagement perspective. Here again – some significant attention is being paid to the Kings Twitter feed and there is no apparent sponsorship. Some people will criticize me for my attempts  to  monetize social media – and some people will hire me for it. I believe  it’s naive to think that ROI just doesn’t need to apply – “adding value” doesn’t add up at the end of the day (as this article attempts to counter).

My point here – and a big part of the reason I am interested in sports marketing and social media – is that sponsorship is 100% plain as day, in your face, front and centre ROI. I recall some radio broadcasts of games in Toronto with the “Home Hardware out-of-town scoreboard” (Blue Jays, I think). There weren’t too many people complaining that sponsorship was ruining the free medium of radio. Social Media is still just media.

Tweeting from the draft floor is an innovative move on the part of the Kings – but now it’s time to take that innovation a step further into revenue.

After some time of rampant evangelicalism, there is a sober reality taking root as more and more organizations embrace what these new(ish) platforms of engagement can do for them.

I really liked this post from Zygote. It talks about ROI, and campaign measurement, and it is visually great as well.

Like anything new, there needs to be some demystification surrounding social media – and I think the easiest way to describe this, or focus this point is that – All social media really is… is us.

Using the tools available to access, introduce and collaborate with us is the trick – this is where the how’s and what’s are applied. But the why seems quite simple – because social media is where your market already is.

And we’re not so bad are we?