It is sometimes difficult to measure the value of a social media follower. Whether we are talking about a Facebook fan, a Twitter follower, or a member of one of your Google+ circles, how do you determine the fan’s value? Some businesses simply assign a base dollar amount to each fan or follower and let that represent their value. I don’t think this is a good approach.
Nor do I think you should divide the number of sales from your Facebook store by the number of your Facebook fans and let that represent the value of your fans. Some of those fans aren’t buying.
Instead, follow the advice of Ryan Rasmussen at All Facebook:
Instead of using an approximate static value of a fan (e.g., $10 per fan, on average, as SocialCode concluded in 2011), it proves the effective value of your program and the unique value of your particular customer segment in taking an action or adopting an attitude that can be tracked back to sales.
Unless you can track a fan to a specific sale, you don’t know his value. Those fans and followers who are sharing your content could be high value fans and followers – if their audience is buying from you. In some cases, they could be just as valuable as someone who buys a lot and never shares. They could be valued even more.
Social media metrics are difficult, but not impossible. Start by tracking your sales. From there you can get into the nitty-gritty.