Today, it’s all about social media. If you aren’t on Facebook and Twitter at the least, you might want to start re-thinking your marketing strategy. You might be asking: “How do I know which Social Media works?”
The biggest questions marketers who are new to social media ask are:
- How do I reach target audience?
- How do I engage the right stakeholders?
- How do I drive value from programs?
- How do I measure business impact of social?
Hootsuite’s presentation on measuring social media from the Marketing Nation Webinar left us with some good thoughts.
Social Media is beyond likes, fans, and followers
& it’s overtaking the search engine in terms of traffic
Talk about crazy. So how do we keep up with which social media works for you?
Social Marketing in 3 phases
- Grow Your Channel. Start and build your social channels one by one.
- Drive Business Value. Begin to dictate your social content to address and move KPI’s.
- Constantly Change Your Social. Adjust them with new trends and new channels. They just keep on coming. Hint: Use an evolving score card.
Align Social with Your Goals
If you’re like any company, you’ve got business goals and you’ve got social goals. To see how they translate from one spectrum to another, Hootsuite outlined it like this:
BUSINESS GOALS
Brand awareness Thought Leadership Word-of-Mouth Leads Sales |
SOCIAL GOALS
Reach and Social Share Voice (SSOV) Visits Shares Actions Conversions |
There are two types of measures to see the impact of social programs: on network and off network
On Network vs. Off Network KPI’s
On Network is pretty much anything that has to do with online networks and communities, like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest.
While you go through the 3 phases of Social Marketing, think about how it translates into Off Networks, which are your websites, forums, downloads, and events.
“On Network” KPI’s
- Rank of your Channel – followers & TER (engagement rates)
- Conversation – mentions & replies, social share voice (SSOV)
- Amplification – shares & retweets
- Applause – likes, +1’s, favorites
Why do these metrics matter?
- Content: what type of content works for my audience?
- Audience: who am I reaching and how do they react?
- Activity: are my social activities impacting my goals?
“Off Network” KPI’s
- On your website – visits, engagement, depth, bounce rate
- In Marketing Automation – leads, campaigns, content
- In CRM – contacts, leads, opportunities
- In real life – sales & revenue
The important part is linking all of this together. Your social media platforms + analytics + CRM & marketing automation = Ultimate Social Marketing Package.
5 Things to Do Right Now
What are you waiting for? It’s time to get started! Here are 5 things you can do right now.
- Find your top 2 goals and align them with your social media strategy
- Build a framework for measurement
- Check your results and take action
- Test, test, and test
- Check out Hootsuite
Best Practices
Still wary? Here are some other tips and insights from the webinar.
- Measure activities across all the teams and departments
- Measure by volume, speed & cost, NPR (Net promoter score)
- Choose employees who are your brand advocates, not just your sales team
- Measure using the cycle of 1) Goals, 2) On Network, 3) Off Network, and repeat
Here is their approach on Day 1 of your Social Marketing Strategy:
- Determine your marketing goals & objectives
- Measure everything, but not so much you get lost in the data
- Track more than you need
- Focus on the impact your content has and determine the tools you need to track
I’m amazed, I must say. Rarely do I come across a blog that’s both equally educative and entertaining, and let me tell
you, you’ve hit the nail on the head. The issue is an issue that too few people are speaking intelligently about.
I am very happy I found this during my hunt for something regarding this.
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