Ways to Gauge Social Media Success
Categorized in: Social Media
There is often a struggle between the marketing department and the finance department. The marketing department knows the importance of long term efforts like SEO and social media marketing, both of which require some of the budget in order to execute the strategies efficiently. However, those responsible for the finances of the business are mostly just concerned with the numbers. They want to know what the ROI will be and they wanted the figures yesterday. While it can be challenging to measure exact social media ROI, there are certain ways to gauge social media success that can be reported back to management.
Here are 4 items to monitor to gauge the effects of your social media campaign:
Website visitor growth
The goal of a social media page is to get a follower to click over to your main website to learn more, fill out a lead form, buy a product, etc. A social page shouldn’t be treated as a final destination. Content that is shared in social media should include calls to action that encourage people to visit your website. Check the analytics that you have set up on the site (Google Analytics is recommended) and see how many new visitors are coming to the site via social media. As your social media presence grows, this number should also grow along with it.
New followers
Perhaps one of the hardest things about getting started with social media for business is getting people to actually follow your business and click the “Like” or “Follow” button on your page. Without social followers, it’s hard for your social accounts to really make a difference. Of course, you want the right kind of social followers. It’s pretty pointless to buy followers that could care less about what you have to say. This is why it’s so important to give target audience members a reason to follow you by sharing great content that will keep people interested.
Engagement
A sign as to whether your social media strategy is working is if people are actually taking the time to take some sort of action on your page. Are they commenting? Liking? Sharing? Etc. Over time, as your social media presence and follower count grows you should also see an improvement in engagement levels. Of course, not every follower is going to be actively engaged. In order to keep engagement levels up, be sure to use social media properly and interact with followers. If someone leaves a comment or shares your content, be sure to respond or thank them for sharing. It’s this kind of response that will keep the relationship positive. If you never take the time to respond, they won’t be as likely to continue to comment or share.
More networking opportunities
A social media presence is a great way to make connections with others in the industry or in related industries. It’s a way to get noticed by those that are interested in similar things. You never know when a social connection could become an important business connection that opens the door to a new opportunity.
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