Within the social media world, return on investment (better known as ROI) is a raging conversation, probably because more people are starting to take a pragmatic look at how their social media programs are performing.

One of the challenges in measuring ROI is that social media offers two kinds of metrics: hard, which includes metrics such as Web site traffic, click-throughs and sales; and soft, which takes into account a stronger brand, better customer service, and happier customers, partners and employees.

Given the focus on social media ROI, it will be interesting to see the reception for a new and innovative service from Sysomos (Note: I’m the company’s director of communications) called Audience, which measures social media ROI and provides a value to potential customers.

In many ways, Audience is a game-changer because it gives marketers a new way to see whether their social media and online campaigns are working. What makes Audience so disruptive is that it delivers intelligence about what your potential customers are doing online, and the Web sites and blogs influencing them the most.

Here are the benefits for different people:

- Sales managers can identify and follow up on the most valuable leads. With Audience prospective customers and media sources are scored (using a virtual currency figure or dollar value) so their potential value can be understood and outreach can be prioritized.

- Community managers can focus on the most important relationships. Audience associates each blog and social site within the ecosystem with detailed statistics about its impact based on business objectives.

- Marketing managers can see how their campaigns are performing and the new leads being generated. As a result, they can finally measure ROI and attribute value to their social marketing campaigns.

For more on Audience, visit the launch page, or check out this video: