Marketing investments should always be measurable, not just in down times.

The conversation recently on how to measure and justify investments in social computing feels like groundhog day.

During the heyday of dot com, companies were making all sorts of investments in new technologies. Very few considered how to quantify the investment; the sales pitches must have been that good.

The market slowed, and these companies began to rationalize their choices, and a wave of consolidation across these vendors took place. Still, the customer was left with a considerable capital investment that most likely did not deliver.

Over the last few years, with the explosion in social networking, it seems as if we made some of the same mistakes. Many new “web 2.0” popped up with unique applications that drove high participation levels from its user base.

You can guess what happens next. Everyone wants the bright shiny object, whether it is a blog, community, or a Facebook application. Many did not understand the medium well enough to communicate its value to get funding approval. Bravo to the companies who have a budget for emerging technologies; most are not that lucky.

A down market does not make social media tools any less relevant; I would argue just the opposite. I don’t subscribe to the school of thought that social media cannot be measured and monetized. Currently, I am knee-deep in designing a measurement plan to align metrics from user-generated content and other forms of social media to show positive returns across several business goals. I plan on posting this for everyone’s feedback soon.

The challenge companies will face this year when making social computing technology investments is how do they quantify how these solutions in terms that will secure budget.

As a person working for a software vendor, it is our role to understand more than just the features we can deliver and how they differentiate against the competition. We need to truly understand our customer’s goals, develop, and take responsibility for a measurable plan that demonstrates how our solutions will drive positive returns.