Not knowing the answer to the below dreaded question of the client is a common concern for Social Media companies for their efforts – “How do I know that our social media marketing strategies are delivering the expected outcomes?” If you are scratching your head at this question then worry not. I will share some of my real-world experiences in how I managed to determine the RoI for social media efforts for many of our clients, to help convince them that their social media outreach campaign with Techies is actually bearing fruit.

First off… Why is it needed? RoI on social media programs provides clear and tangible evidence that our Internet marketing efforts are showing the desired results. It encourages client to continue with continued engagement with the experts. It also becomes important to track RoI correctly in face of ever changing Google algorithm updates, and evolution to tools to measure efficacy of social media programs. Here are some steps, tips, tools and tricks to get an answer to the above question

1. Set concrete social outreach goals – Before setting a RoI measurement strategy, know the objective behind the same. This will help you choose from various social media RoI measures such as

1. Lead generation
2. Conversion rate
3. Click ratio
4. Revenue generated
5. Contest and promotional outcomes

Once you are sure of what you are running after then devise measures to effectively monitor the situation and assess correctly when your efforts are successful.

2. Which platform will you target – Every business has a target audience and every segment spends a majority of their time in one or the other social media platform. The obvious favorites remain Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

But what if your client is a photographer and most of his target audience are on Pinterest? Any effort put on other platform will not bear the same splendid results as targeting Pinterest will. So choose your target platform based on where you can maximum from target segment.

3. Monitor your social media campaigns – I believe that the below tools are best to show you how your campaigns are performing –

1. Google Analytics – Is the perennial favorite amongst free yet immensely powerful analytics tools.
2. Simply Measured – Provides a very elaborate social media reporting platform, with competitive analysis and benchmarking
3. Rival IQ – Is the best for gaining critical competitive intelligence. You can suggest a list of competitors and it tracks their social media performance.
4. Zuum – Helps to find what competitors are up to, obtain engaging content and ascertain chief influencers

4. Reporting the numbers – It isn’t sufficient to track numbers if you cannot report it into easy to understand and quick to comprehend format. Check out Convince & Convert if you need to report on your Google Analytics numbers. If you need something more comprehensive then it’s worth looking at UberVu reporting template.
5. Review efficacy and re-calibrate – Now that you have the numbers with you, it can be used to check desired vs actual outcomes on all points in marketing efforts, including paid advertising. If the campaign is consistently showing negative then it’s time to re-calibrate expectations or bring in better approaches or systems to meet the desired level of performance.

To wrap up While initially it will look a bit overwhelming to create an RoI measurement strategy for social media, in the long run, it does serve your business needs of showcasing your talent and gaining more business from referrals or repeat business. Do write in to us and let us know your views of these tips to design the right social media RoI measurement tactics.