Discussions about the metrics of engagement have sprung up in several places (including here at the Engagement Principles).

The gist? Business won’t take blogging (and engagement marketing) seriously until metrics - measuring ROI - are created.

Eventually, something will be cobbled together. But how much faith should business put in their current metrics?

A column from Communities Dominate Brands suggests today’s broadcasters can’t trust their impression metrics. The rise of DVRs and a multi-tasking audience have seen to that.

Their comment? A simple, clear:

“So- nice metrics, shame they don’t mean anything.”

Very true. My earlier article about The Bandwidth of Engagement suggests that the “receiving bandwidth” of an engaged mind is many times that of an unengaged, multi-tasking mind.

How trustworthy is any metric - aside from revenues derived from a direct sales effort - nowadays?

Media and viewer usage patterns have changed dramatically in the last five years. Indeed, the “me” of only three years ago wouldn’t recognize many of the ways I now interact with media.

Given that small and medium-sized companies don’t often track their online performance - and that many of the metrics considered trustworthy today are becoming “voodoo metrics” due to fast-changing usage patterns - it seems clear that case for engagement simply keeps picking up steam.

For small and medium sized businesses, it’s exceptionally affordable. (How much do blogs cost?)

And it leverages the one thing that’s gone missing all these years of marketing - a chance for an organization to truly connect with customers through their shared passions and values.

And that metric isn’t hard: compare the lifetime value of a customer - securely in your camp due to engagement - to that of a customer whose business you battle for every time they buy…

Technorati Tags: engagement, voodoo metrics, marketing