#DevelopStrategy - Return on Investment in Social Media

As part of our series on Developing Your Marketing Strategy (#DevelopStrategy), we’re covering how to receive a Return on Investment (ROI) in social media.

Unlike a cost-benefit analysis, an ROI cannot be estimated beforehand. This is extremely important to understand when you develop your strategy. Also, ROI is difficult to measure without an investment in advertising since paid ads usually give a considerable amount of analytics, but don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

The first step in developing your ROI marketing strategy involves setting goals for your social media. These goals will need to align with your mission statement. The primary goal needs to state what you hope to accomplish. Beneath that is a set of smaller goals that align with the primary.

Let’s say your primary goal is to build your mailing list full of loyal fans who are excited about your products/services.

Your smaller goals must be S.M.A.R.T. goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time Bound. I like to keep the scope to no more than three smaller goals since your marketing strategy will develop from this. For this article, we’ll create one example: increase social media conversion by 10% in the third quarter.

Note: You can give specific numbers. Gain 10k followers by x date, for instance. These goals are unique to your business model. 

It’s time to develop your strategy. For our 10% social media conversion increase example, we’re going to have a three-pronged attack. 

1. Create a lead magnet. This can be as simple as a discount coupon or as complicated as generating a comprehensive ebook to help your potential clients/customers deal with a real-world problem. 

2. Create buzz using a hashtag campaign that our influencers will be willing to share and participate in. 

3. Share theme-related content on all social media channels that generates buzz for new product or service.

Keep in mind that your strategy may need to be adjusted based on your business and goals.

Now that you have a primary goal, a set of smaller S.M.A.R.T goals and a marketing strategy in place, you’ll need to track your conversions (ROI). You do this through Reach, Traffic, Leads, Customers, and Conversion Rates. Reach includes fans, likes, followers, etc. that you have. The more reach you have, the greater your conversion rates, and is usually trackable inside the social media platform.

Traffic to your site or other URL mentioned in your campaign is another great way to measure ROI. Leads are the number of sign ups you gain through this campaign. Customers are the number of individuals who actually convert from potential to become paying clients. Conversion rates involve tracking the percentage of visitors based on social media platform or promotion campaigns. This tells you which part of your campaign is working and which isn’t.

It’s true that it can be difficult to track ROI when it comes to social media but not impossible. Most of the social media platforms have their own analytics tracking system that will deliver valuable information on what is and isn’t working for you with social.

Take time to develop a winning strategy, keep track of your metrics, and be willing to adapt. These are the keystones to a quality ROI. If you need help working on your social media marketing strategy, the team here at The Social Media Advisor is here for you. Our goal, as always, is to help you #BeAwesome as a business.

Be sure to Follow us and Let's Engage!

Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media, Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+,YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

Click here for her Social Media Workshops, Classes and Seminars

#DevelopStrategy – Planning for Engagement

All the work put into your social media marketing strategy this month will be in vain if you forget to incorporate the last essential element of the plan. Many small businesses and entrepreneurs end up failing to get any ROI on their social media because they are missing the most vital aspect of their strategy – social engagement.

Sure, investing in boosting and creating ads will help get more followers or viewers, but once you have their attention – how are you planning to keep it? The creation or curation of consistent content is appealing, and even necessary, but it’s not the answer either.

The whole purpose of social media is to be… social.

Followers are not ignorant. They can spot a sales page from miles away. If you are scheduling content and not checking your social platforms for engagement, it will be readily apparent to anyone paying attention.

Twitter is all about the conversation and no one wants to have a conversation with themselves. If you do not have a plan in place to monitor and respond to messages and comments, you are missing valuable opportunities to develop a connection and build a business relationship with your audience. 

Sharing posts on Facebook means little if there is no one around to see it. In fact, if you aren’t actively engaging on the pages of your partners and clients – they won’t even see the Facebook posts you are working so hard to create and schedule. They will simply be a wasted effort.

To grow a following on Instagram, you need to be actively in there commenting on and liking the posts you are tagged in and following the people who have taken the time to follow you.

LinkedIn is a networking site. What is the point of connecting with hundreds of people if you have no plan in place to communicate with them?

Now that you can see the need for engagement, what should your social media engagement plan entail?

Monitoring

Be certain that on whatever platforms you are using that you have notifications set up, both on your computer and on your smartphone. That way you are sent information when your audience is attempting to engage you.

Don’t assume that people will tag you. Google Alerts are handy for rooting out your brand mentions and notifying you. Set up alerts for your company name, your personal name, and the names of your major branded products.

Response Speed

Not only does the public pay attention to how quickly you respond, the platforms will often track and display your response rate and time.  75% of social media users are expecting companies to respond in an hour or less. This could mean the need to be constantly connected unless a plan is developed.

Not a Solo Effort

Keeping up with everything happening online can be daunting task. You don’t have to do it alone. Get your team involved. Make social media a group function.  If you don’t have team, it might be time to hire a social media manager to assist you with engagement.

Many companies understand the importance of social media marketing but neglect the essential nature of engagement. Having a plan in place for this is just another element of developing your social media marketing strategy. Need help or advice? That’s what we specialize in here at The Social Media Advisor. Let us help you #BeAwesome with your engagement!

~ Social Media is changing the way people do business.  Don't get left behind ~ 

Be sure to Follow us and Let's Engage!

Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+,YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

Click here for her Social Media Workshops, Classes and Seminars.

#DevelopStrategy - Relationship Life Cycle

This month we covered the differences in both relationship marketing and lead generation. While both of these have a place in your marketing strategy, in this article I want to focus more on relationship marketing and what I like to call the Relationship Life Cycle.

As a refresher, relationship marketing is essentially fancy terminology for the practice of developing a long-term connection with your customers, clients, vendors and power partners. Instead of focusing on gathering a lead or closing a sale, the aim is to provide a bond with the people you work with. The long-term benefits of relationship marketing tend to be more referrals, client enthusiasm and the development of brand advocates.

The course of the relationship life cycle is closely tied to the ole marketing adage of Know, Like, Trust.  If the new way to market a company is backed by the idea that people do business with other people (instead of companies) then the know, like, trust concept is absolutely essential. Here is how the relationship life cycle would apply to your marketing strategy using social media:

Know

The first step in any relationship is getting to know the other person. You simply can’t make a connection with someone you’ve never met and know nothing about. Think of it like dating – once you start to know a potential suitor then your curiosity will lead you to finding out as much about them as possible.

Whether it be an introduction at a networking event, a discovery call, or a visit to your website – getting to the Know step involves getting to know each other. When it comes to social media, this appears in the form and following your various social media channels. People can also get to know you by hearing about you from others, meeting you at events, reading your online content, or viewing any media you’ve been featured in. Once someone starts to know you, and gets a sample of what you are about, then they are more likely to sign-up for your newsletters, like you on Facebook or follow you on YouTube.

Like

Well, now that you’ve gotten a chance to spend some time with the individual – you have to decide whether or not you like them. In our dating scenario, are they worth going out on a date or two with to see what develops? Do you like them enough to begin to participate in their life?

Those who are paying attention to what you are doing will either begin to like you or they won’t. However, once you hit the Like stage you will find that they begin to initiate some true social media engagement with you. They like your posts, comment in your group, or participate in your polls.  This phase of the relationship life cycle involves interaction so be sure to participate in return!

Trust

Now you’ve gone on many dates and have been seeing each other for a while. At this point, they are becoming a partner and you have developed trust in them. You like them so much, that you want your friends and family to like them too! At this point, you are sharing their content.

This is the end game for the relationship life cycle…you want all the people you do business with to know, like and trust you. The goal should be that they trust you so much that they freely, and happily, share your content and business with the other people in their circles.

When you compare the relationship life cycle to how we operate with our personal relationships, the success behind relationship marketing becomes much more apparent. Our clients become more than an invoice. If you want loyal clients that will regularly provide free marketing for you, this level of connection is the way to go. Just another tool to add to your marketing strategy toolbox because everyone here at The Social Media Advisor wants you to #BeAwesome at what you do!

~ Social Media is changing the way people do business.  Don't get left behind ~ 

Be sure to Follow us and Let's Engage!

Hollie Clere of The Social Media Advisor is a “#BeAwesome” Developer, Social Media Brand Builder, Content Manager, Trainer and Author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+,YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and the tools to manage them.

Click here for her Social Media Workshops, Classes and Seminars.