Recently a big debate has emerged around measuring Social Media ROI. Business and marketing departments are wondering if their time and efforts spend on networks like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are even worth it. I can tell you, social media is absolutely worth it.
In order to effectively measure your ROI with social media you must set goals or milestones. For instance you can measure:
- A percentage increase in followers (i.e. 20% increase of Twitter Followers by June 30)
- A certain number of views on your YouTube videos (750 vies in the first week)
- A milestone of 1,000 followers by a certain date (1,000 Fans on Facebook by May 1)
- An increased interaction rate (5% of our fans “Like” our status, 12 retweets on a particular Tweet, 100 comments on our photos, etc.)
Social media is not only about the numbers. Instead, social media is a great place that can help build brand equity and increase brand awareness. The impact social media has on your audience is unmeasurable, but that’s okay. Below are some intangible ways social media can have an impact on your business:
- Create a Buzz: Social media is a great way to engage your audience. Start conversations and distribute valuable content that is worth reading. One of the biggest benefits of social media is the ease of creating a buzz. Get your brand talked about and noticed.
- Interact: Create ways in which your social media fans, friends and followers can get actively involved. Engage your users. Make your fans want to come back again and again. You can easily measure your ROI with simple milestones.
- Generate Leads: Use social media to drive people to your website and generate leads. In this it is easy to measure your ROI with numbers by the number of leads you are able to generate.
So, if you’re looking for numbers to analyze, look at those first set of points. If you’re content in knowing that social media is having a bigger impact than numbers, keep plugging away. In either case, it never hurts to set-up those milestones. They give a good indicator of where you’re going and what you should aim for! Best of luck in measuring your social media ROI!