Ahh, so how do you get a return on your social media efforts?

One of the most frequently asked questions I hear, well is actually a statement….”I spend so much time on social media and never get any return.” Also known as your social media ROI.

This comes from the frustration of the pressure we feel from the social world in which we live coupled with the pressure we put on ourselves to participate and with social media. I say whoa baby! It’s time to regroup.

Social Media Tips

Social media needs a plan

Just like all other processes we do in our business, social media is a marketing tool and this needs to be included in your marketing plan. Here are a few tips that will help stop the overwhelm and get a plan.

1.) First, only choose one or two social media platforms that you can get proficient at using. The two platforms you choose should be social media platforms that you know your target audience is also using. This way your efforts are immediately being targeted to those who you want to connect with – it is more focused.

2.) Begin your strategy with goals. So let’s assume your goal is to gain more exposure for a new product you have just released and you want to gain 100 new followers on Facebook and add 25 new connections on LinkedIn. You then measure your goal two ways, by engagement with your posts and if you actually met gained the new followers. You are showing your knowledge and credibility through the content you post on your new social media accounts such as a blog post or other information on your website.

3.) Content creation – you need content to share via your social channels right? Decide if the content you promote is your original content or perhaps you share articles from other experts in your niche. Many people do a combination of both.

TIP: only 10-20% of your social posts should be promoting sales of your product or service. {TWEET THIS}

Organize your efforts with an editorial or marketing calendar

1.) Create a simple spread sheet to organize your efforts, this will ultimately save lots of time.

Measure your progress

How will you know if your efforts are working? There are many ways to measure success. Organically you can see who is engaging or commenting on your posts and did you reach your goal of 100 new “Likes” on Facebook and did 25 people on LinkedIn join your network? Facebook has free measurement tools call “Insights” where you can see everything from the most popular post to the age of the people on your page.

There are other paid tools that go deeper into metrics, but I will save that for another post.