How can social media really be of benefit to businesses? Find out how to measure the success of your social media marketing campaigns. When it comes to social media, one key question is often left unanswered. How does social media marketing provide true ROI? From Twitter to Facebook and LinkedIn to Pinterest, it pays to understand why your business is embracing the social space.
When establishing your social media marketing plan, don’t overstate the benefits. Social media won’t necessarily transform your sales figures. While some contacts will go on to become customers, this cannot be guaranteed, and should not be used as a realistic measure of success. Here are some of the more reasonable expectations you should have of your social media strategy.
Increased brand awareness
The average person spends a great deal of time on social media sites. In fact, recent studies show that 27% of time spent online is on social networking. With so many people engaged in activity in one digital space, social media presents a prime opportunity to increase brand awareness. As a new business, social media offers a quick way to launch yourself to the online world. For established brands, it’s an opportunity to form meaningful and rewarding relationships with customers, resulting in greater brand loyalty. When it comes to metrics for assessing brand awareness, try looking at the following:
The interactions you have from other users on social media. Show how real people are engaging with your company; offering their opinion and insight, or even recommending your products or services to others. Meaningful interactions from potential customers can be a true measure of your influence as a brand. Data capture – include a ‘how did you find us?’ on your online forms. Add a drop-down option for every social media profile you have, so you can narrow down exactly where their custom or interest originated.
Website referrals: use Google Analytics or other tool to identify how much traffic you get from your social media profiles directly to your website.
An Efficient Approach
Social networks can help you to work more efficiently. If you provide customer support, try offering this via Twitter alongside more traditional methods. Your customer service team will be able to quickly resolve issues, all in real-time. With a little imagination, social media helps you reach your customer base much quicker than any other method.
A Chance to Research and Gain Feedback
If you regularly conduct market research, social media sites offer a brilliant platform to ask questions, run polls, and invite commentary on issues of interest. Likewise, you can research specific subjects and observe real-time conversations, learning about your customer base as you go along.
A Platform for Publicity
With the help of social media, your marketing campaigns have the chance to go ‘viral’ – meaning they’ll reach a wide demographic in lightning -quick speed. From a clever video to a special offer, social media marketing can extend the reach of your key messages, to the people who matter.
If you’re unsure about how social media marketing can provide genuine benefits for your business, it’s worth getting in touch with a digital marketing agency, and you have various agencies such as the one the other is based – Cayennered that will review your needs and provide an honest, expert opinion.
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Having established his career in digital sales and marketing, Duncan formed his own SEO in Berkshire agency, Cayenne Red. Along with the running of his business, Duncan spends time writing informative and helpful articles about the different areas of online marketing.
