Are you winning on social media, or just wasting time posting content that isn’t persuading anyone to work with you?
This isn’t always an easy question to answer. For one thing, the metrics associated with social media marketing are a lot harder to pin down than they would be for a pay-per-click advertising campaign (as an example). And for another thing, a lot of business owners never really define social media marketing success. They don’t know what they’re aiming at, so they can’t tell if they’ve hit the target.
No two online marketing situations are ever exactly the same, but we generally break “success” in social media for business uses down into four categories…
#1 Audience Size
Imagine for a moment that you were about to send out a postcard mailing to a number of targeted potential customers. If cost weren’t a factor, would you rather send 1,000 pieces or 100,000?
It goes without saying that the bigger campaign would likely yield stronger results, and the same holds true on social media. When you have just a few fans and followers it’s hard to make a sales impact with your posting content. Once you have a large following, though, you can move the needle in terms of sales growth.
#2 Social Engagement
Having a big platform to promote your content and ideas is a great thing, but that doesn’t mean much unless customers and prospects are actually paying attention. The way we measure their interest is through social engagement.
Simply put, the more likes, shares, and responses you get to your updates, the easier it is to tell that your audience is tuned in. Plus, all the major social platforms use engagement as a quality signal, meaning that higher levels of feedback can help you attract even more views.
#3 Direct Conversions
At some point you want to see a hard dollars-and-cents payoff for your social media campaigns. That’s where direct conversions – usually in the form of online sales or leads – come into play.
Assuming you are tracking the sources of new accounts and inquiries, it should be easy to tell whether you are getting business from your social profiles. At the very least, you’ll want to be able to see that your customers and clients are at least partially influenced by what they see you posting online.
#4 Carryover Effects
In some cases there are soft, difficult to measure benefits associated with social media marketing. These could include better brand awareness, more respect for your products and services, increased customer loyalty, or stronger recruiting efforts.
These benefits could be easy to miss, but if you have a healthy social following with lots of engagement they are likely to be there. The trick to spotting them is to study your web analytics and take a holistic approach to business improvement.
Want to Get More From Your Marketing Efforts?
If you feel like you aren’t getting the kinds of results or returns you expected from your online or off-line marketing efforts we can help. Contact the business growth experts at Biondo Creative in Philadelphia today so we can schedule a consultation and website review. We’ll help you to make sense of your resources, opportunities, and challenges in a way that leads to measurable results.