Most people believe that having a coherent social media marketing strategy means simply answering customer questions online and frequently updating your page to appear active on each channel.

This is NOT true! Successful social media marketing really means having a solid strategy, setting realistic goals, and measuring the ROI of your social media investment. Long gone are the days when having a social media presence for your business meant creating a Facebook page and posting memes periodically; now, social media is an essential tool in your marketing strategy toolkit.

It may not be easy for many businesses to identify, plan, and execute a successful social media campaign. But if your business is considering a social media campaign, then you should be measuring the results. So, how do you truly measure the success of a social campaign? 

Track your results

To ensure that your campaign is reaching the projected goals and meeting the desired outcomes, you need to track and measure your campaigns results. Many business owners overlook tracking their return on investment (ROI) from social media because they feel there is truly no way to track results. It doesn’t have to be complicated or cost an arm and a leg in tracking tools. Using a spreadsheet and the data you’ve collected from your social media analytics, you can easily analyze and track the impact of your social campaigns. 

To begin, open a document (using a spreadsheet creation program like Excel) and add the metrics you want to track. You can include all metrics that align with the goals you set during the first phase of your campaign.

Some metrics to track include:

• Overall reach
• Engagement
• Site traffic
• Leads generated
• Emails captured
• Link clicks
• Sign-ups and conversions

Optional metrics to include:

• Impressions
• Calls to action
• Video views
• PDF downloads
• Revenue generated

Depending on the analytic tool you have chosen, you can easily export the data and fill in your spreadsheet. One of the easiest and most accessible tools to use for accessing data is your Insights Panel on your Facebook Page. According to the duration of your campaign, you should be sure to export regularly to make sure your data is current.

Once you have your data documented, you can review the results of your campaign and calculate your ROI to see what worked and didn’t work. It is especially important to measure well when tracking paid advertising since it details a specific cost.

Redefine your strategy   

You’ve defined your goals, you’ve determined your metrics, you’ve pulled your data, and you’ve tracked your results. Now it’s time to identify what worked and what didn’t work for your brand on social. Reviewing and analyzing your spreadsheet will help you adjust or recreate your strategy. The key point of tracking your social ROI is to increase your brand’s social media campaign’s value over time. Successful social media marketers take the time to reexamine the goals of a campaign and how it relates to their brand’s overall goals.

One of the many great aspects of social media is that the lifecycle of a post or campaign is short; therefore, we get an ample opportunity to improve on failed or missed goals. To continue to meet your goals, you’ll need to constantly update and revamp your strategy taking into consideration your tracked data and goals. This process will constantly evolve as social media is ever-changing. Creating a successful campaign will require going back to the drawing board, measuring what matters and making the necessary adjustments. Rinse and repeat.

How do you determine ROI for your social campaigns? What tools do you find most useful? Share your experience or examples in the comments below!

By: Courtneika Hudson