No doubt about it — we live in a high-tech world. Marketing today is all about using social media – where your message can spread like wildfire. Or fall flat.
The trick is to understand what makes a comment, tweet or full-blown marketing campaign explode — or implode. And for that you need to find a way to measure your social media efforts. Are you saying the right thing? Reaching the right audience? Driving new business? So what are the numbers?
I can almost hear the groans right now. Social media is after all, well, social. Adding math to the equation is almost an oxymoron. Isn’t social media all about connecting and sharing and things gone viral? Well, yes. But that isn’t enough if you want your social media efforts to be successful. And you certainly do.
Social media can be a major asset to your company, but if you don’t measure your strategies and efforts, there’s little room to grow.
Your online message should be interesting, informative – and in sync with your company’s goals. And with a little planning and some online measurement and monitoring resources, it is possible to measure how well you’re doing. And once you know that, you can build on your successes – and learn from your failures.
The message is certainly important, but it’s the measuring and analyzing that will help you determine the next step. So how do you make your social media measurable? Well, let’s take a look. Here are some strategies recommended by Salesforce Canada. (https://www.salesforce.com/ca/blog/2015/09/make-social-measurable.html)
1. Determine the metrics that are most important to your campaign (before you even start).
- What do you want to achieve with your message?
- What do you want your reader (or viewer) to do or feel when they see your message?
- Make a list of measurable metrics. Here are some examples.
- How many impressions did your website get?
- Did it generate leads?
- Did those leads convert to sales?
- How much time was spent on your site?
- Did the reader engage with your content by commenting, sharing or taking action?
2. Define your goals.
Once you have those metrics in mind, it’s time to take a good look at your goals. What do you want to accomplish through social media? These goals generally relate back to the state and stage of your company.
- If your business is new or expanding or changing direction, you may want to increase awareness of the company.
- If you’ve had some problems in the past or are relatively unknown, your goal might be to enhance your reputation.
- You’ll want to retain existing customers — but how about asking them for recommendations or reviews?
- Maybe you want to use social media to generate leads or referrals.
3. Be SMART — and combine steps one and two!
If this sounds like a recipe, think of it as the recipe for success. It’s important that your goals and metrics are aligned — that’s what makes them measurable. Try the “SMART” methodology to get the job done.
- Specific
Be specific about your goals. For instance, instead of listing “increase product awareness” as your goal, expand that to “increase product awareness by 10% within the next six months.”
- Measurable
Using metrics will allow you to measure your results to see if those specific goals were met.
- Achievable
Make sure your goals are reasonable and achievable.
- Realistic
Arm yourself with the means to meet your objectives. How will you accomplish it?
- Timed
Give your goals a time frame. You may need to adjust these as you go along, but setting parameters is a good place to start and a guideline for measuring your results.
4. Track your results.
Whether your goal is to generate leads or increase sales, use tracking codes to track your social media success. One good – and free – tracker is the Google URL Builder (https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1033867).
5. Measure both cost and time savings that result from using social media.
Be sure to factor in such things as training, communications and customer service. Was social media an effective way to accomplish your objectives in these areas?
6. Define your Return on Investment (ROI).
What do you consider success? In order to measure your social media efforts, it helps to set up action steps and a method of tracking those steps before you even get started.
7. And finally, be flexible, adaptable and open to change
… after reviewing your metrics, that is.
- Review the results with your social media group.
- Be open to changes based on those results. Take a look at everything from what you’re saying to the placement of your message to whether these particular metrics are providing you with the measurements you need to determine success.
- Evaluate your data. Are your metrics measuring the right things? Are they telling you what you really need to know about your social media efforts? If not, it’s time to make some changes in the metrics.
Social media can be a dynamic and profitable way to reach your business goals — and writing that message is the fun part. But don’t stop there. Because without the tracking, you’ll never know if those messages are actually getting the job done.
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Via Salesforce