Because it is undeniably hard to quantify social efforts, your social media agencymay have already asked you this question: Should we measure your social media return on investment (ROI)?
Your answer should be: Of course!
We always say that social media is about relationships and effective communication. And that’s still true. But at the end of the day, you have a business to run and businesses run on ROI.
Not convinced? Here are some insights from the expert folks at Social Media Examinerto motivate you and your social media agency.
1. ROI is a must. Like we said earlier, the success or failure of a business is measured based on ROI. Don’t be afraid to find out what social media is actually doing (or not doing) for you. Measuring your returns will help you make more guided decisions. With social media, you or your social media agency will have to learn how to balance the ROI with other metrics so you can have a complete picture.
2. The higher ups will want it. This is something that you can easily understand if you are working for someone. If you are the boss of your own business, then good for you but you still need to measure ROI so that when you solicit support or sponsorship from third parties, you have hard facts and figures to back you up. Despite the “popularity” of social media, believe it or not, a lot of executives (especially the old-school types) are still not impressed and the only way to convince them is to show them the financial return based on the social media strategy. Ask your social media agency to come up with reports that show these kinds of data. Google Analytics is a good place to start.
3. Social media takes a lot of time and effort. While signing up for a social media account is free, maintaining it is definitely not. Whether you hire your own social media agency or outsource the services that you need, the fact is that social media costs time, money and effort. If you are spending for social media, then it only makes sense to calculate what you are getting out of it.
4. Optimizing is the way to go. To achieve social media success, you and your social media agency need to know what works and what doesn’t. And the clearest way to do it is to measure your ROI. As the Social Media Examiner article puts it, “optimize until you can’t optimize anymore.”