Pic via filmingilman
So we spoke on why Social Media campaigns fail but you’re over that (pat yourself on the back a few times) so what’s next?
What usually happens next is you ask yourself this question “How do you know whether your social media marketing is paying off?”
First of all, the most valuable metrics won’t be the same for every social media marketing campaign. Goals, experience, and focus may vary from company to company. Keep in mind that no one metric is proof of social media success and failure – but taken as a whole, there are some fairly good indicators of how your efforts are faring. So lets say your business is off to a great start. You know your market, you’ve developed a great presence, and you’re keeping your audience engaged and you know your social media efforts are playing a significant role. Naturally, some are more effective than others—but how do you really know what’s working or what’s not really working?
Here are some metrics and metric ideas on how you can measure your success.
1. Number and growth rate of followers
The number of followers you have on your social media accounts can reflect the amount of success your campaigns are having. Of course, there is not a single, definite number that defines success; what might be considered a paltry number for a large corporation with an extensive and long-running social media campaign may be an excellent showing for a smaller business just getting started in social media. Some industries also lend themselves to naturally attract more followers than others. When in doubt, try comparing yourself to competitors or other companies in your industry to get an idea of a good benchmark.
Many times, monitoring the growth rate of followers is just as important – if not more so – than simply the number of followers. This can be especially true for companies in the earlier stages of social media marketing. A steady rate of growth can be a sign that your campaigns are succeeding, while stagnation or loss of followers can signal that it’s time to take another look at your efforts.
2. Follower Interaction/ Content Sharing
You may be posting content on your social media accounts and gathering followers, but are they interacting? Fan engagement and interaction – such as “likes” and comments on Facebook and Pinterest and mentions on Twitter – can indicate that not only are your followers receiving your message, but they’re also absorbing it and interested enough to respond to it. Follower interactions show that they care about what you and your company have to say and have moved from passive listeners to active participants who are more tuned in.
When you post on social media accounts, you are sending messages that reach your immediate fans and followers. When they share this content, however, not only is it a sign that they think that what you post is interesting and valuable, but they are also helping to spread the word about your company to others, helping you reach a whole new group of potential followers – and potential customers. Keep track of your social media analytics, such as those provided by Facebook and Twitter, to get an idea of what your fans are sharing.
4. Traffic Driven To Your Web Site
Your social media efforts should ultimately be driving customers to your website, and your site’s analytics will be able to tell you if they are. Keep an eye on the traffic on your Web site that is referred from social media sites, and note the change over time. It’s also important to track other metrics such as bounce rate – the amount of time a customer stays on your Web site – and which pages your social media followers visit on your site.
5. Customer Conversion
While increased social media visitors and activity are a great sign, they don’t necessarily give you the information that major decision-makers in your company may want to see: the impact on the bottom line. Simply tracking any growth in sales as you increase your social media efforts is one effective way of showing a correlation. For more detailed and concrete numbers, you can also turn to your site’s analytics to track social media visitors’ traffic on your checkout pages.
Brick-and-mortar stores will also care about traffic driven directly into stores. This can be gauged by simply having cashiers ask customers at the registers about where they learned about the store, or by tracking the redemption of coupons offered exclusively on social media accounts.
Hopefully some of these help you in measuring your success of your social media campaign. Got some other tips share them below.
