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Despite the cheesiness of this photo, we seriously would LOVE to see our clients do this… when we send them our monthly reports on how their social media marketing campaigns are doing and what kind of ROI they are getting from it.
Truth be told – social media is not an ordinary marketing tool, that can be easily quantified. However, that’s only if you have unrealistic goals and expectations from it. If you and your marketing agency are transparent with each other – one side in terms of what they are able to delver, and you, in a sense of “what would make you a happy camper.” If all the dots are covered above all “i”s, then you should be satisfied and, most importantly *clear* on what you can get from your hard-earned buck you put into your social media marketing bucket.
..so what kind of ROI will you get from social media?
Social media is such a vast term, and includes so many different platforms and tasks, that it would be a bit of ignorant of me to even begin to answer this question. In this attempt, I personally, strive to start this type of conversations with “what would you, as a business owner, like to achieve?”
Yes, all marketing tasks should be aiming towards the same goal – make more money for your organization. On the other hand, the actual fact of selling your product / services often does not equate the effort you put into the “selling process.” You sell your product because of the well-known 4 Ps of marketing – Product, Price, Place, Promotion. So, your social media marketing would fall under the “Promotion” part, and must be supplemented by the 3 other Ps. So, if you try to measure your social media ROI, as a standard – I buy this product for $5, I sell it for $9, my ROI is $4 – it’s not going to work that way.
You do have to see the benefit of every social media promo you do, but in a more of a compounded way. To keep our relationship transparent with our clients, during our initial meeting, when we build their social media strategy, we invite them to change their paradigm, and look at social media in a different light. First we focus on their goals.
Set your social media goals and expectations clear. What are you trying to achieve?
Is it more visibility online? Then your marketing agency will report on how many people were reached through your social media campaign.
Is it more engagement with your customers? Then your agency will report back exactly on that – how many shares, conversations or comments happened on your social media channels.
Is it brand reputation management? Then that would be the main focus of your marketing agency; to ensure all of the communication that goes out from your social media channels is strictly aligned with your brand promise – it’s consistent and accurate. Visually and otherwise.
To rephrase one of the most-used marketing phrases: “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it”:
[Tweet “If you don’t know what you are measuring, you will never be satisfied with the results. #FreshCoolGrow”]