Every organization and business has different criteria and ways to measure success, and this makes it very important to measure the results of your social media marketing campaign. As the trend and buzz with social media continues to grow, make sure that your social media analysis will provide you with a complete assessment of the impact and reach it is currently having on your business.
Since social media marketing became a hype a few years ago, many small business owners are recognizing the need to measure the effectiveness in marketing on the social web. If you are a small business owner, how are you going to measure the benefits of your social media campaign to make sure you are not wasting time and effort? Find below a couple of tips that can help you start measuring the return of your social media marketing campaign.
Don’t measure just the numbers
Many businesses understands the need to add interested people to their network, getting likes on their Facebook Fan page, followers on their Twitter profile, and targeted traffic for their website and blog. While the numbers are nice to have, are the number of likes, twitter followers, and targeted traffic a sign of a successful social media marketing campaign? When someone shares your content or message, you may be increasing the visibility of your business, but are you actually gaining new customers out of this process? Are you making any money from it?
Metrics to use
For small businesses that have limited resources, only focus on a couple of metrics that can help you measure the effectiveness of your social media campaign. It is really not as difficult as it sounds, and if you want to start with it, I suggest focusing your social media measurement efforts in two areas: Google Analytics, and Facebook Insights.
Using Google Analytics for measurement
If you are already using Google Analytics for your website or blog traffic stats, a very effective way to measure your social media marketing campaign is to dig deeper into your stats that only focusing on traffic. While knowing where your traffic is originating from, and how long they stay on your website is important, for many that are pressed for time, the most important area to track on Google Analytics are conversion rates. You can set up goals to monitor this, and then you will be able to track how many people complete an action tied to the goals you have set up. It is really good to have a steady stream of visitors to your website, but it is even better if that traffic converts into a measurable business metric.
Facebook insights for measurement
While your website and blog is most likely the starting point of promoting your business online, Facebook can help you carry your message further by interacting with your audience. Facebook insights can provide you with statistics such as the number of people currently talking about your fan page, and how many people your posts reach. The higher the number, the better chance you have at brand and marketing awareness. Facebook calls this algorithm “EdgeRank”.
EdgeRank is based on how often a fan (someone who liked your fan page) interacts and views your content. It will also determine whether or not a post displays on a users newsfeed. The higher you are engaging with your audience, regardless of how many “likes” or “fans” you have, the higher your visibility (EdgeRank) will be.
Social media dashboards
While there are many metrics and dashboards available to measure the success of your social media campaign, for small businesses, money and time are always of the essence. If you really need to limit your focus, Google Analytics, and Facebook Insights can be used to provide you with a really good idea of who you are reaching with your campaign, and if they are engaging with your content.