What’s the return on investment of social media?

What’s the return on investment of social media?

 

When a business decides to focus a part of their budget on something new one of their first questions has to do with the return on investment. They want to know what to expect and how it is measured. This question is one that can make some social media companies quiver – because there’s so much about social media that is unknown even to those who know how to use it.

 

It’s a question we’ve been answering to clients and one that we discuss regularly within our Go Be Social Media team. We know the landscape is constantly evolving and we like to stay ahead of the game.

 

When it comes to defining return on investment in terms of using social media for marketing it’s important to first determine your objective.  Most companies look in to social media to drive sales – they see the return on investment in direct dollar signs. The problem with this is that social media is a marathon, not a sprint. And in order to reach the “finish line” it’s important to take all the steps to get there. That means that our job is to help you navigate your way through how your business establishes itself online, how we create the voice for your brand, and how we increase brand awareness so that when your audience is looking you are who they think of.  That’s when social media efforts translate in to sales.

 

Studies have shown that it takes a consumer six times of seeing a brand before they begin to have recognition of the brand. When it comes to return on investment what you should be aiming for is that your brand has the exposure it needs to be the brand someone thinks of when they’re out shopping in a store or online. You want the efforts of your social media marketing to be what keeps a current customer coming back and brings in the exposure to gain new clients. That’s your return on investment – it’s not in direct dollar signs – but in your influence and place in the market being solidified with a great marketing plan that effortless gives a voice to your brand while building a reputation in line with your company ideals.

 

You’re probably wanting to know how this is measured – because CEO’s think in terms of bottom lines. The great thing about social media is that we have the tools to give a regular report measuring our efforts and we have the abilities and expertise to help reach your goals and discuss expectations. We work with you to set realistic goals so that you can see your return on investment month by month – as well as give you updated metrics so you can see the progress we’re making as part of your team. This report will highlight your engagement, changes in community size, reach, and we can even help you understand how we target the ideal demographic to help your brand continue to grow.

 

Typically our goal is to cultivate a fan base of fans that turn into or remain customers – and not just fans for the sake of having fans.  Because of the algorithm changes to the different social media platforms we are intentional about how we target and grow your audience. Many companies see ads for “buying followers” – and it seems like a good deal if your objective is to have fans over engagement and sales. But in reality bought fans can do real damage to your reach and engagement on social media.  Our philosophy is to slowly grow your platforms and fan bases organically so that each like is someone with an interest in what you have to offer. Those people are more likely to engage with your page, click over to your website, or attend your event.

 

We have honed our skills in to how to run the best ads targeted to your demographic so that you can trust that each like and each person that follows you is someone with genuine interest in your company. Our targeted ads on Facebook provide the best return on investment over all three platforms. We partner with you to not just have your pages grow, but have your company grow as well – it’s part of why we’re the best social media company in Los Angeles, for us it’s not about our success but your success as well.