How To Measure The ROI Of Your Intranet (Without Feeling Like You’re Stuck In A Finance Class)

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Measuring intranet ROI is critical to know if and how well it works and to address any gaps. Follow this guide to measure it and iterate best comms outcomes. 

Thinking about measuring your intranet ROI? We know - it can sound tricky at first 

You’re not alone in feeling that way. Most of us would rather avoid it and secretly hope this whole ROI thing is just for finance teams to geek out over. 

A survey from Prescient Digital Media  found that:

  •  less than 20% of organizations have measured specific benefits  of their intranet
  • the average annual ROI of respondent intranets falls just shy of $1 million
  • fewer than 6% of more than 240 companies surveyed actually measure specific dollar and cent benefits derived from the intranet
  • yet being able to measure & show intranet ROI is a priority for 76% of the respondents

Measuring your intranet ROI is actually super important. How else do you figure out if your intranet is another expensive tool collecting dust or if it’s actually making life easier for your team and enhancing collaboration? But how to measure whether your social intranet software is effective?

In this blog, we’re going to break down why measuring your intranet’s ROI matters and - more importantly - how to do it without pulling your hair out. Spoiler: it’s easier than you think.

Why should you care about measuring your intranet ROI?

Look, we get it—anything that involves measuring can feel like a chore. But trust us, this is the kind of stuff that actually makes you feel smart (and helps justify your comms budget 💰). According to the META Group, more than 85% of Global 2000 companies have implemented or are developing intranets.

Your social intranet software can be a powerhouse of productivity, communication, and collaboration. If it’s not, it’s time to look into it and intervene, and for that, you need to measure intranet ROI. 

Alright, you’re convinced. So how do you measure your intranet ROI?

Step 1: Define your goals

What were the problems you wanted to fix before the intranet entered the picture? Were people missing out on key info? Were too many tools causing confusion? Or was it something else?

Put together all the stuff you wanted to improve upon—we mean your listing your "why" for getting the intranet in the first place. 

Step 2. Choose the right KPIs

Next, decide what you’re going to measure. While relevant KPIs for evaluating your intranet will depend on your goals, here are some ideas of what you can measure:

  • User adoption rates to find out how many people are using or ignoring it.  
  • Time saved on tasks to pin down if implementing the intranet makes tasks efficient or life easier or is the fancy addition that’s only good on paper.
  • Employee engagement levels to find out if people are actually collaborating better or are still stuck in silos?

Step 3. Establish the benchmarks

Once you know what you will measure, you need to have your groundwork in place for a meaningful comparison. For this, firstly, collect and compile all the data for your KPIs before implementing the intranet.

For example, before it launched, how long were people taking to get stuff done? How many miscommunications were happening? Based on this, you can set goals for improvement.

Step 4. Run a cost-benefit analysis

Next, throw in the numbers to the mix.

Calculate how many dollars, euros, pounds (or any other currency) you’ve invested in the intranet. Make this a comprehensive calculation.

Add up everything, right from licenses, implementation, training, and maintenance fees. 

Once you do that, stack the costs against any productivity boost and operational efficiency gains you’re seeing. With that, systematically calculate time savings and cost reductions. This is what will reveal the real value!

Step 5. Track usage & engagement

While numbers and maths is one aspect, for a holistic analysis you also need to see how much it’s being used and how well people are engaging with it. So, make sure you also track metrics like active users, page views, and time spent on the platform. If engagement is low, this is the time to ask why. For example, is it because people need more training? Is there another roadblock?

Step 6. Ask for feedback

Next, get to the ground (not literally) to gather real, unfiltered employee feedback. Be real, and ask the people who use it every day for their thoughts on aspects like ease of use, satisfaction or challenges.

You can send out a quick survey or even a poll asking how it’s working if it’s easy is it to use. If it’s working well, you can dig deeper to ask what’s good and what could be better. The truth may surprise you (in a good way).

Step 7. Measure productivity gains

This is where you measure if any magic and how much magic is happening. You’ll agree, time saved = money saved. So, if employees are spending less time hunting down info or hopping between apps, you’re winning. Get down and quantify that time saved by employees and translate it into financial value. That’s what’s going to demonstrate your ROI.

Step 8. Evaluate cost savings 

Finally, make it a full circle by evaluating cost-saving opportunities.  Identify areas where the intranet has done the heavy lifting to bring you cost savings. This can be vast, for example, reduced paper and printing costs. It can come from lower travel expenses from hosting meetings on your employee app.  Add them all up to quantify the glory of a job well done.

Measuring intranet ROI is easier than you think

Figuring out whether your intranet is worth the investment doesn’t have to be rocket science. By following these steps, you’ll know exactly where things stand and how to make improvements. When your intranet is firing on all cylinders, everyone wins—your team saves time, frontline employees are happier, and your business gets a productivity boost.

Want to implement an intranet that can take things to the next level and also make it super easy to assess performance with its analytics features? Check out how Speakap’s social intranet platform—known for an astounding 80% adoption rate within the initial fortnight.