According to the Social Media Marketing Report 2015, 92% of marketers said that social media was important to their businesses. However, only 42% agreed that they were able to measure the return on interest (ROI) of this activity.
For businesses, the benefits of using social media are numerous. Whether you want to build your brand, create an online community or target a specific market, social media can help you get your business noticed and drive sales.
If calculating ROI is new to you and you don’t know where to get started, this blog is for you. Take a look at a few of the simple suggestions below and get to grips with your social media ROI today!
Calculate your investment
A good idea is to start by calculating your cash investment in social media. Think about the following:
– Have you invested in copywriters to produce content for your social media platforms?
– How much time do or your team spend, per week, on managing your social media accounts?
– How much monetary value does that time have?
Calculate your conversion goals
What are you hoping to achieve through your use of social media?
Whether you’re eager to generate new leads by getting more people to sign up to your newsletter, trying to increase the amount of social interaction around your brand, or hoping to drive people towards a specific offer – once you have an idea of what it is you want social to do for you, you’ll be one step closer to working out your ROI.
Assign value to your goals
Dashboard Junkie recommends you ask yourself the following questions if you’re stuck trying to assign a value to your social media conversion goals:
– A trustworthy person promises you 10 filled out contact forms from potential customers of average quality. How much are you willing to pay per filled out form?
– A trustworthy person promises you 1,000 sign-ups – of average quality/relevance – to your company newsletter. How much are you willing to pay per sign-up?
Measure and track
Google Analytics remains a safe bet for those new to social media analytics dashboards. It can be used to measure a whole host of information relating to your website and social media activities. Here’s a list of a few things it could help you measure and track:
– User flow: Where on your site users are going from your landing page and how they arrived at your site in the first place.
Handy when: You need to discover how your users are finding you and what they are most interested in.
– The social media pages that send the most traffic your way – and the ones that send very little.
Handy when: You need to know whether a particular social media campaign – on Facebook, for example – resulted in an increase in traffic.
– Trackbacks: Gives you an idea of which sites are linking to your content.
Handy when: A social media campaign has been successful and you want to recreate it.
Once you have a better understanding of which social media activities are working well at helping you achieve your goals, you’ll be able to work out how the time you are investing in social media is benefiting your business in a monetary sense. However, It’s worth noting that some marketing goals just can’t be monetised – the value of increased brand loyalty, for example, is priceless.
Start measuring ROI today!
Calculating ROI can be a complicated process, but don’t let that put you off. Let the tips above help you get started. Remember: know your goals, assign value to them and ensure you monitor and track them. Good luck!
Get in touch
If you need help with your social media strategy, why not try Fluid Digital? Let our team of experts take your business to the next level. If you’d like to find out more, take a look at our digital marketing services or give us a call on 0161-0762-4920!
Image Credit: Martin Vorel via stocksnap.io
