If you have a social media strategy, you’re probably wondering how to evaluate your efforts. What is the return on your investment and has it been worthwhile?
Good question.
The social media industry has matured over the last few years and instead of focusing on just being in the game, companies are starting to focus strategically on the end result. Drive traffic, build loyalty and get new business. That’s our end game.
So what should you evaluate and how should you do it?
Social media ROI is a bit like a cookbook, there are many chocolate cake recipes inside, but only one that works for you. Finding that right mixture of ingredients so it produces the kind of cake you’re looking for takes some patient experimentation. Don’t rush this process, and don’t be afraid to try new ingredients and new measurements.
Step #1- Determine your ingredients. Ask yourself this:
- What networks are we using?
- What are we offering our audience?
- How do we offer it?
- Who is a part of our network?
Let’s say you are a real estate agent. You post videos of your properties on YouTube, you blog about the real estate marketing in your area and you post Facebook pictures of your properties and closings. You offer your audience an experience inside the home (YouTube), expert insight (Blogging) and a personal connection to that feeling of getting the keys (Facebook). You are using a variety of mediums and networks and a variety of content. Your social network demographics show that most of your followers/connections are 45-65, married and live out-of-state. They tend to visit 5-7 times in a month. You post 35 Facebook updates in a month, 4 YouTube videos and 8 blog posts. You had 10 Facebook clicks, 2 views on YouTube and 100 unique visitors to your blog.
Step #2- Analyze the ingredients. Let’s say your overall social media strategy has been to attract young couples looking to buy their first home. Are you attracting them online? From the information we gathered in step #1, no you are not. Are they engaged with your content so that they are building a relationship with your company? Again, from the data it looks like you could be doing a better job. What type of content does engage them? What is it that they respond to?
Step #3- Look at the whole picture. It looks like from the information we gathered in #1, you aren’t attracting the right audience or building relationships with them. If you answer the final questions from step #2, you should have a good idea of what part of your social media strategy is working. Focus on increasing that type of content. Think about promotions, sponsored posts or other opportunities for increasing your exposure.
Social media metrics and evaluating social media ROI is a burgeoning field, but if you start tracking now, you’ll have an idea of how far you’ve come. Making an effort to track your social media efforts month to month will help you answer the bottom line and figure out what is working for you.
If you have more questions about social media ROI, give us a call. We specialize in providing analytic information that can help you show an impact on the bottom line.
