As we continuously pull our data for our client's program recaps, we are asked this often: How do you measure your ROI in social media? The answer: calculate it. There are a variety of analytics tools to use for almost every social media channel. And while it may be somewhat overwhelming to take in all the information, once you focus a bit, it's possible to create a social media analytics report demonstrating growth, engagement progress and value. So just how do you create a stellar social media analytics report showing ROI?
Here are five must-include steps:
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Set social media goals. ROI can be measured in a variety of ways: through customer acquisition, lead generation, clicks, revenue, contest entries, etc. It all depends on your goals. Before you can track and measure your ROI, you need to determine your goals so you know which factors you’re measuring and what success looks like.
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Measure your follower growth monthly. Whether you are using Facebook Insights, Twitter Analytics, or third party services like Sprout Social or Union Metrics you can track your follower growth easily. Be sure to include in the report all social channels and note which ones are growing faster than others.
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Track your most popular content. This is not always easy on every social media channel, but you can manually spend some time to look through the month’s trends. Did that photo you posted get more likes than you thought? Did a video get shared 50 more times than average? Take note of the top five most popular pieces of content that your fans loved and highlight them in your ROI report. This shows your client or supervisor what’s working and where your efforts should be focused.
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Evaluate social engagement. Just as posting key content is critical to social media, so is your engagement. Are your fans responding to your posts? Is there a channel with more chatter? What are they talking about and responding to? Highlight these conversations whether they are on Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn. And pay attention to what channel they are spending their time on.
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Find out who your top influencers are. Are there a few key fans or companies that will retweet or repin your content? Is there someone you count on to reply to your posts? Who are these top individuals? Take time to get to know them and engage. These people will be your top influencers and brand advocates, so treat them well. Be sure to feature them in your analytics report so your manager or client sees the online relationships you are cultivating that could potentially lead to new opportunities.
Finding how to accurately attribute credit to the myriad of social (and other) channels that prospects interact with is a moving target. But we have all learned that social media can be beneficial for every type of company if done correctly. In order to make sure you’re on the right path, calculating and measuring social media ROI is a must.