Christina Warren has an excellent article over on Mashable entitled "HOW TO: Measure Social Media ROI."  It's a great roundup of the tools available today and chock full of content.  Including Oliver Blanchard's Social Media ROI presentation.

It's simply astounding how many social media marketing practitioners take the stance that you can not measure the ROI of social media.  It's even more astounding that 84% of social media programs are not measured.  I honestly do not think that I have ever undertaken a marketing program that did not have ROI metrics attached.  Never, ever.  It's appalling.

Why are so many social media consultants/companies/experts so averse to measuring the impact that social media has on business results?  Perhaps they don't know how.  Perhaps they don't like the results.  I really don't know.  A notable exception is Chris Brogan.  He says something to the effect of "sure I measure ROI, that's why they give me money."  Good for him.

The position of most social media types reminds of the time when I did an agency review and the astonishment displayed upon learning that customer revenue generated was the end game measurement of any marketing effort.  The agency folks were aghast.  Measure sales.  As a results of marketing efforts.  Good god man what is wrong with you!

Folks if it is marketing, and that's the general classification of many social media programs, you can measure it.  Measure it all the way to ROI.