Simple Ways to Determine the Effectiveness of Your Social Media Marketing

by Robert Hoffman, Guest Contributor

Social media has become such a staple in our lives that it is impossible to now imagine a world without comments, shares or likes. Naturally it has made its way into our businesses and it would be unwise for any brand not to make use of this platform. There are billions of subscribers on Facebook and millions more on other social media platforms, so chances are getting consumers who resonate with your product or service are high. Social media is probably the only platforms where you will find a huge database of potential clients would are already set on looking, finding and probably purchasing your product with a little coercion on your part.

Data you can use to determine your Social Media ROI.

Getting your business online is one thing; the other part is gauging how well you are engaging with your audience and the success of your social media campaigns like a sort of social network checker. Below is a list of data you could use to determine your social media ROI.

Number of Likes and Shares
One for the simplest metrics you can use to assess how strong your social media and presence is by the number of likes and shares you get on your posts. Most platforms have a like feature to enable readers to express their interstitial or satisfaction in your content as well as a share button so they can share your content with friends and family. Many likes and shares mean that your audience is responding positively to your posts, and moreover enabling you to reach a much wider audience through their shares.

Growth in Your Followers
Another great metric is to assess the number of followers you have gained in a week, a month or in a year. Keeping track of your audience growth is important. If the number is increasing it means you are doing something right, but if the traffic is slow or your are losing followers, it might be time to re-evaluate your online marketing strategy. It could be you are not posting enough times such that your site looks dormant or your posts are not as interesting to capture your readers attention among other issues that you can probably easily fix.

While we are on the subject of followers, you should also try and follow other brands or people that share the same interests business-wise. However, it’s important to maintain a balance between the number of followers versus the number of people you are following.  Having a bigger number of people that you are following versus those that follow your page can often seem a bit desperate, so it’s important to bridge the gap.

Active Users
Amongst your followers, you will find out that not all of them are equal. Some are more active than others. These are some that are consistently commenting, liking or sharing your content on social media. Pay attention to the active users as they are probably more valuable than a reader who stumbles upon your page once before going about their business. Regularly add posts to your timeline to keep your active users engaged. With social media analytics tools, you can see whether the percentage of active readers is going up. In your interaction, remember to acknowledge your active fans, could be by leaving a comment simply saying thank you and answering any questions they may have. If you users feel appreciated they are likely to respond positively to your posts.

Audience Demographics
Regardless of the number of followers you have, you can use savvy social media analytics tools to create a general profile of the kind of followers your business attracts which should be your target audience. With the help of analytics tools you can gain insights into your followers including their age, location, gender, their interests and many more helping you paint a picture of the kind of user your campaign should be focused on.
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Author bio: 

Robert Hoffman is the content manager of Shared Count which is an online platform that provides social metrics of any website through its dashboard and API. His company helps people in getting the number of likes, shares, reactions and comments for Facebook as well as the number of pins on Pinterest, and stumbles on StumbleUpon.