How do you measure Social Media ROI?
It’s a tale as old as time, well since about 2007 when Twitter burst onto the scene, followed by Facebook etc. How do you measure the return on the investment (mostly time) you inject into your social media activity.
For the Small to Medium Enterprise and the solopreneur, time is a precious commodity with every second accounted for and now somehow we have find time to build, create and edit content that we can post, tweet, share and pin.
So IS Social Media worth it? Can businesses afford to do WITHOUT Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest?
Have we all been brainwashed into thinking, believing that this IS the future, this IS how businesses operate? That email marketing is the new cold calling? That social media engagement is the new networking? Writing for The Huffington Post (or Medium) is the new PR?
What if we all stopped for a second and measured exactly what monetary value it was adding to our businesses – mostly for those going it alone, entrepreneurs, SME’s.

Does the ROI always have to be financial? Of course we all want to make thousands of GBP, dollars whatever. But what if the start-up business wanted to raise their profile? Reach a new audience? Where is that done exactly these days? Taking an advert out in an industry relevant magazine is costly, and does anyone really read magazines anymore? Same can be said for newspapers. And even if they are being read, how can you translate that advert back into cold, hard cash for your business?
With a bit of plan, 20 minutes a day and a clear understanding of the target market I have seen a relatively new business (12 months old) take their visibility from zero to over 5 million eyeballs in the space of 4 weeks.
Did that translate into sales? No, not immediately but it did trigger online conversations, increased website traffic and they saw a growth in their email list all without spending a dime on online advertising.
So is that the new ‘column inches’? Is that ROI? Would you be happy to say “I’ve had no sales but I have had 5 million people looking at my ‘stuff’”
Not really, you won’t stay in business long if that’s where your head is at! It’s what you then do with those 5 million eyeballs. How do you keep them coming back for more?
I remember the first boss I had when I became a Sales Rep. He would bang on about how he worked for Heinz when they first launched their Cup A Soup range, and it was such a strange concept that he would make up flasks of the soup and go door to door selling his product (this was back in the 60’s when that was allowed!). There was a whole team but he was the only one selling it this way. He was top sales man month after month and no one knew why.
Can you see why he was successful? He was giving his customers a taste, making a physical connection, putting emotion into his product; look, touch, feel, smell, taste. He was building a relationship.
Translate that into todays world and we’re doing the same. We’re posting, tweeting and creating conversations around our products and services. We’re generating a buzz through pictures and video, just as Ian did with his soup.
We’re giving prospects a taste of our goods by giving them free downloads, money off, free samples; try before you buy. We’re building trust and letting them get to know us through email and social updates. We’re virtually knocking on their door every day by staying visible.
Done often enough, consistently enough and strategically enough this WILL translate into sales, and that is the real ROI with social media.

Still here?..
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Awesome, that means we’re entrepreneurs, go-getters, ground breakers and game changers and we’re in this together. I would love for you to join my Facebook Group ‘Digital Marketing Made Easy’
In the group I interview successful online entrepreneurs who have built their business from the ground up, made mistakes and learnt the lessons. They share their stories, tips and advice to make sure the same doesn’t happen to you.
We talk all things digital and share tips and advice on how you can make Digital Marketing Easy — without the BS.
Keep it easy,
Cat.
