Dive Brief:

• eMarketer reports that Simply Measured research on 350 social media marketers found 61.1% said measuring ROI was their top challenge, with securing budget and resoures coming in a distant second at 38.2%.

• Rounding out the top five, other challenges include tying social to business goals (33.6%), tracking results via a dashboard (27.6%), and understanding performance across social channels (25.2%).

• Separate research from Social Flash found Facebook led the pack in social ROI at 95.8%, followed by Twitter at 63.5% and Instagram at 40.1%.

Dive Insight:

Measuring ROI is an ongoing challenge across all digital marketing, but it's a particular concern for social media marketers. Truly understanding the bang brands get for their buck when spending on social media has been notoriously difficult, as underscored by Simply Measured’s findings. A recent survey by WPP’s Millward Brown Digital found that 74% of marketing executives would increase social media budgets with better results metrics and ROI tracking.

However, it should come as no surprise that marketers found Facebook to be the leader in social ROI, as the platform was the first push marketers away from organic social activity and into an advertising model where performance metrics were readily available. Facebook-owned Instagram is quickly catching up with its parent company in that regard. Even upstart Snapchat, which has been a notoriously difficult plaftorm for marketers due to a lack of targeting and measurement in its ad program, has been improving in that area after adding measurement partners and bringing in execs to boost its capabilities.