It’s easier than ever to create a business page for your company on one of the various social media platforms that pervade our little black screens on a daily basis.
Anyone can become the owner and proprietor of a business page on Facebook. Every day, new business pages are created because someone heard someone else say that it’s important that they market their company on social media.
The caveat is that merely existing as a business on social media and effectively marketing your company on various social media platforms are two completely different kettles of fish.
Social media is analogous to an Olympic size swimming pool.
It’s not hard to get in that water – you just kind of, hop-on-in and voila, you’re in the pool. Anyone can do this.
However, merely doing so doesn’t make you an Olympic swimmer. Being in a pool that Michael Phelps has been in doesn’t make you his competitor. Theoretically, you can become his competitor through hard work, discipline and more importantly, lots and lots of failure.
Similarly, being an admin on a business’ Facebook page doesn’t make you a marketer. Just because you’ve created a business page for your new Etsy company that specializes in custom-embroidered scarfs doesn’t mean you’re in the arena with major clothing brands. You can become their competitor, with a lot of hard work, discipline and more importantly, lots and lots of failure.
Analysis – the performance enhancing drug of marketers everywhere
Psst…hey, you…YES – you. You wanna market with big boys? Try this.
Analysis is the only way you’re going to become a real marketer that is feared by competitors. The problem is, for your everyday business owner, it’s hard to find the hours and hours and even more hours of research you’ll need to conduct in order to get started.
But we believe in you, kid, and we want you to succeed. So, we’re going to provide you with some metrics that will enable you to transform from the kid wearing swimmies and dipping their big toe in the shallow end of the pool to the best, damn swimmer this side of Timbuctoo.
The list
Your objective on Social Media will dictate which metrics are important to you. As such, we’ve put together a list of common social media marketing goals and the metrics that can determine whether or not your strategy is effective:
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Goal: Sales. If your business’ social media pages are primarily existing to drive sales, here are some metrics that can guide you in analyzing your efforts.
- Online purchases – Measure how many users who make online purchases are ending-up on your website via social media.
- Engagement rate – This metric tells you how many people are liking, sharing and commenting on any product-related content you share on social media.
- Click through rate – This is the number of people that are clicking on your product related content.
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Goal: Awareness. This means that you simply want as many people as possible to know about your brand. If this is what you’re trying to achieve, pay attention to the following metrics:
- Shares/mentions – This number tells you how many people are talking about your brand and sharing your social media content with friends and family.
- Reach – Often measured as a percentage, this metric refers to the number of individuals your message has reached.
- Impressions – This basic metric tells you how many times your message is being showed to people.
- Frequency – How many times are the same people seeing your message multiple times. This metric can also allow you to determine how many times folks need to see your content before they take action.
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Goal: Customer Satisfaction. Social media is a useful tool to ensure your customers are satisfied with your company. Think about it – how often do you see people complaining about a rude waiter or their flight getting delayed on Facebook?
- Response rate – Percentage of inbound customer messages you’re answering.
- Response time – How quickly are you responding to inbound messages, on average?
- Message volume – Out of all inbound messages you receive, this will tell you which percentage of them are complaints, compliments or questions.
- Resolution rate – This metric can tell you how many resolutions were reached per complaint you’ve received via inbound messaging.
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Goal: Leads. If you’re attempting to find new customers and send them through your sales funnel, here are some important numbers you should keep an eye on:
- New views – This is the percentage of first-time visitors to your website from your social media page.
- Number of leads – This seems like kind of a redundant metric to include, however it’s the most cut and dry number for determining how many new leads your content is attracting. You should note that effectively applying this metric to your social media strategy is predicated on your commitment to asking new leads where they found your business.
- Number of leads – This seems like kind of a redundant metric to include, however it’s the most cut and dry number for determining how many new leads your content is attracting. You should note that effectively applying this metric to your social media strategy is predicated on your commitment to asking new leads where they found your business.
Marketing your business on social media can be extremely intimidating if you’re unfamiliar with the various interfaces and numbers that matter. And because social media is constantly changing, the level of frustration caused by constant trial and error can cause even the most motivated, hard-working people to give-up on social media marketing.
The key is to take baby steps – walk before you run (or doggy-paddle before you do the butterfly) by setting an easy, measurable goal and monitoring the metrics associated with it. You’ll be an Olympic social media marketer in no time.
Need help getting your strategy off the ground? Our team of social media experts are ready to help you reach your goals. Contact us today!
