The ROI of Social Media Marketing #semrushchat It is clear that businesses need to actively create a community with social media engagement in order to build solid relationships with customers and expand their reach. That much we know without a doubt, but how exactly do you measure the ROI of your social media marketing? In some cases, it is easy; we can track the sales that come from people who watched our product videos, getting a definite monetary value from that content. But what about the ROI of everything else i.e., the followers, the likes, the comments,and shares? Last week, Michelle Held, owner of the digital marketing firm MetroNY-- joined us for our #SEMrushchat to weigh in on how to measure and improve the ROI of Social Media Marketing. With great insights from both Michelle and our chat participants, we have a greatrecap in store for you today. Q1. How do you measure social media ROI? This is an exceptionally important question to answer. If you are unable to accurately measure the results and impact of your marketing campaigns, after all, youll have no idea how well they are working or how to improve them. There are several different ways you can measure social media ROI, but the method you choose will depend on the goals you have set and what types of posts they are. Because of this, it is important to have a clear understanding of what you want each individual post to accomplish. Once you figure out what you are trying to achieve, you will you be able to measure the ROI. A1: Social ROI can be measured multiple ways. It really depends on the goal you have for your social media content. Different pieces of content should be measured differently. #semrushchat Netvantage Marketing (@netvantage) December 13, 2017 A1. For me ROI comes later... you need to know your goals and aims. Unless you plan for social to bring you $ it can be hard to measure direct ROI. BUT... if you have goals around engagement; comments; shares; click-throughs etc. But need those set *first*. #semrushchat (@Optimisey) December 13, 2017 A1. It depends on your goals - Are you primarily trying to drive conversions or generate brand awareness? What level of the funnel are you targeting? Define this first to determine the right KPIs. K #semrushchat CallRail (@CallRail) December 13, 2017 A1: You need to set goals for your social media campaigns. Once you figure out what you're trying to achieve, you'll know what to track. You might look at things such as web traffic, leads, and conversions. #semrushchat Express Writers (@ExpWriters) December 13, 2017
Some posts, for example, will be entirely focused on driving traffic to lead magnets. Others will be focused on promoting products in anattempt to drive sales. And,many more will likely be focused on building brand awareness and developing stronger customer relations. A1: ROI can vary based on campaign objectives. A majority of my clients run lead gen ads, so our return varies per case type. #semrushchat Danny Ray Lima (@dannyraylima) December 13, 2017 A1: Conversions, supporting KPI...just as with any other online marketing campaign :) Know what you want to achieve from your efforts, lay out the goals, then monitor & measure to see how it's all working.#semrushchat https://t.co/6QfjULtuGn ThinkSEM (@ThinkSEM) December 13, 2017 So first, you will need to ask yourself what a certain post is aiming to do. Does this post move the needle on sales, leads, traffic, or something else? After you do this, check the reach of your content to see how many people saw the content. Business profiles and pages have access to this information through their on-platform insights, and you can also use third-party tools like SEMrushs social tracker to get this data. You will also be able tomonitor information like how many clicks your posts received, how long your videos were watched, how many views they got, and more. A1) With difficulty if youre going to try to tie it directly to conversions / sales but assisted conversions, increased direct traffic, NPS (sentiment) averages you could calculate impact roughly #SEMrushchat Dawn Anderson (@dawnieando) December 13, 2017 A1: Primarily by impact on business, a.k.a does it move the needle on sales or leads? Secondarily, by reach, a.k.a. how many people were reached by the campaign. #semrushchat Kevin_Indig (@Kevin_Indig) December 13, 2017 Dont forget to set up UTM tracking codes, which are small tracking codes you can attach to URLs to track sources of traffic, and Google Analytics goals to monitor progress. You need to make sure that you have Google Analytics and Facebooks conversion tracking pixel installed correctly on your site. These tools will make it easier to track not only clicksbut also conversions. With these codes in place, you will be able to look at traffic coming from social media and check how that traffic is helping to complete your goals. A1: First you need goals and then you need to measure them. Google Analytics and a tool like @SproutSocial can help you measure the effectiveness or ROI #semrushchat Rachel Howe (@R8chel_Marie) December 13, 2017 A1: Don't forget to setup UTM tracking codes so that you can track clicks and conversions #semrushchat Andy Drinkwater (@iqseo) December 13, 2017
What if you just want to measure brand awareness? Bill Slawski -@bill_slawskisays that "measuring the ROI of social media can often be based on how many influencers share your message and spread their influence." While reach and engagement are goodmetrics to watch, it is a good idea to keep an eye on your mentions to watch for influencers talking about you. This is more difficult to calculate in concrete numbers, but it is still useful.
Q2 . Which mistakes have wreaked the most havoc when measuring ROI from your social media marketing? Since measuring ROI from social media isnt always cut and dry, there is always room for mistakes while figuring out your strategy. Unfortunately, some of these mistakes can wreak havoc on your analytic evaluation, which can makeit difficult to assess ROI accurately. This is why we asked our industry experts and chat participants some of the biggest mistakes they have seen when it comes to social ROI: Not having well-thought-out content.This could meancreating content without any goals on each of your posts. If you want to measure social ROI, this can wreak all kinds of havoc on your strategy.How can you accurately measureit if you dont even know what you are trying to measure? A2) Event marketing we have found for clients is the most effective driver of engagement and community via social. Builds huge community #SEMrushchat Dawn Anderson (@dawnieando) December 13, 2017 Using social media incorrectly.Doug R. Thomas - @ferkungamaboobosays thatyou should treatorganic social media as a website direct response platform, rather than a more holistic platform with internal and real-world metrics. It is important to focus on relationship building and to make sure you are not just using social media as a one-way channel to communicate, insteadof using it as a channelto promote discussion. Not setting up analytics and measuring tools correctly.If you want to measure your ROI, you need to
focus not only on the strategybut also the analytical and technical side of things. If you don't have your analytics and tracking tags set up or used properly, you run into the chance of working off of faulty or incomplete data. A2 setting up your analytics incorrectly - and missing the whole campaigns data. Always a great moment of realisation.#SEMRushChat Simon Cox (@simoncox) December 13, 2017 Not understanding what you are measuring and why. This cantake the form of measuring vanity metrics such as likes, instead of evaluating mentions, reach, or clicks. A2. Focusing too much on the numbers to drive everything in the campaign. Just because someone didn't "like" or RT your post doesn't mean they didn't see it! Impressions are a better measure, but not always accurate. #semrushchat Netsertive (@Netsertive) December 13, 2017 Not understanding a platform's conversion metrics or understanding a traffic attribution model ahead of time. It is important to remember that Facebook Ads and Google Analytics both have different attribution models, which helps you to see which sales and leads actually come from which traffic sources. Ideally,you should avoid last-click attribution methods, which only give attribution to the traffic source that sent the user to your site immediately before a conversion, as there is a good chance that there were many touch points the user interacted with before it should be evaluated. Make sure to clear all of this up and get your team on the same page. 2) the biggest issue has been not agreeing on the traffic attribution model ahead of time #SEMrushchat Michelle Held (@metrony) December 13, 2017 2) havoc sets in when the team disagrees mid-campaign which click from whatever source brought the sale or lead #SEMRushChat Michelle Held (@metrony) December 13, 2017 A2: Last click attribution is probably the biggest mistake you can make when measuring social media. People discover on social media but then use search to find the product and buy it. Businesses assume that Google is the revenue source. #semrushchat https://t.co/9okPH0Nqyp Tadeusz Szewczyk (Tad Chef) (@onreact_com) December 13, 2017
Q3. Which exceptional social media marketing strategies have you invested in and why? Some social media marketing strategies will help send your ROI skyrocketing, giving you the most results (and ROI) for your financial and time investments, one of the best is video.Video is dominating the world of marketing; it is interesting, it is engaging, and more users would rather watch a video on a subject than read about it (which even includes high-level executives, for our B2B readers following along!). Platforms like Facebook are also prioritizing native videos, giving you a much-needed boost in users newsfeeds. In order to get the best success with your video strategy, you need to treat it like you would a blog and SEO campaign. This means posting on a regular basisand optimizing every single video for SEO with tags, data, SRT caption files (which are searchable by both Facebook and Google, helping you show up in more searches), and keyword-heavy descriptions. A3 Treat video like you would a blog and SEO campaign - post on a regular basis, fill out all the data, tags and description on @YouTube #SEMRushChat Michelle Held (@metrony) December 13, 2017 A3 We've seen that collab videos with another well known guest can be very helpful for views #SEMRushChat Michelle Held (@metrony) December 13, 2017 On that note, your social media and SEO teams should be working closely together. Both will have their own research and marketing preparation, and even though there will be some overlap, having the two teams working in unison could provide you with more opportunities for brand building, link building, relationship building, and influencer marketing. A3: I think having your social media & SEO teams work together is sort of an unusual combo. But both have similar research and prep, and they can benefit each other (brand building + link building +building relationships + influencer marketing). #semrushchat pic.twitter.com/M1DidnyHUx
Carolyn Lyden (@Carolyn_Lyden) December 13, 2017 Investing in PPC campaigns is also a good option. It can help you to spread your message more quickly, connect with new and interested audiences, and re-engage with current audiences. A3) Using more social media ads with the landing pages enlisting them to sign up for our emails. This makes sure that they will see all of our deals rather than just hoping they will see it on social media with the algorithm being where it is at today. #semrushchat https://t.co/Ss5dzI3UEf Tri-County Young Professionals Network (@tricountyypn) December 13, 2017 A3: Facebook lead gen ads have been highly effective for B2B (as well as B2C). People may not associate FB with B2B, but businesses are run by real humans who use Facebook. #SEMRushChat Laura Ferruggia (@lauregg) December 13, 2017 There are also some best practices that are dependent on who your customers are. For example, B2B businesses can developTwitter chats (like #semrushchat) and seedit with influencers as a solid strategy. This builds crucial relationships with influencers and can attract theirfollowers to your page. A3. B2B: developing twitter chats (& seeding with influencers) B2C: Invite-only groups, starting with clients/customers but then moving out to prospects#semrushchat https://t.co/B5H0wI2R5B . , . (@ferkungamaboobo) December 13, 2017 For B2C businesses, invite-only groups are a good way to go. Start out by only offering exclusive access to current clients and customers. You can eventually consider inviting prospects and leads to the groups. Share high-valuable, actionable information and insider knowledge in these groups; provide value by being available to answer questions, and soon, people could potentiallybe willing to pay just for access to the group. This is a great way to show your customers that you value them and care about them, which is always a strategy worth investing in. A3: Using social media to help users not hype branded content always pays off well - answering questions about your industry through social listening is a great strategy to follow #SEMRushChat Simon Swan (@Swanny_s) December 13, 2017 Dont be afraid to get creative with it. There are a lot of diverse, creative strategies out there: A3 combined platforms so tag on LinkedIn through bait content. Then fire the tags for your other (cheaper) platforms and voila.... #SEMrushchat Arnout Hellemans (@hellemans) December 13, 2017 A3: #1: Treat each channel as an individual entity. #2: Go above & beyond in customer service.
#3: Track & Talk #SEMRushChat Saad AK (@SaadAlikhan1994) December 13, 2017 A3 Creating Product Catalogs on Facebook and Instagram. The path to purchase being shorter has greatly improved both my paid and organic purchases significantly. #semrushchat Tim Welsh (@Twel5) December 13, 2017 A3 we've had success being a community member at Reddit, and having people pick up on things they found interesting that we've shared. #SEMRushChat Bill Slawski (@bill_slawski) December 13, 2017
Q4. Is it possible to have a successful social media marketing strategy organically (not paid)? If no, why? It is absolutely possible to have a successful social media marketing strategy that is purely organic, without any paid advertising. Engaged audiences will be happy to see, engage with, and share your content. A4 Im a believer! You can still have successes with the right content, using multiple channels #SEMrushchat Michelle Held (@metrony) December 13, 2017 On the other hand, social media algorithms have made it increasingly difficult to stand out and even show up in users newsfeeds. Facebooks algorithm just became even more competitive for pages, sending organic reach plunging a little further. Because of this, many companiesadd paid ad
campaigns to their strategy. A4: anything organic will require time. So, if you are investing time; it will work. If time isn't what you have, then be ready to spend money. #semrushchat Youness Bermime (@YounessBermime) December 13, 2017 A4: It's possible to have a successful, organic social media strategy. However, algorithms have made it harder to stand out, which is why so many resort to ads. #semrushchat Express Writers (@ExpWriters) December 13, 2017 Without paid campaigns, you will naturally get significantly fewer impressions, and growth will take a lot more time. Only a small portion of your audiences will likely see any given post. Because of this, if you want to skip the paid ad campaigns, you have to use the right tools and strategies to create social content that will have a strong enough impact. A4. I'm gonna say "maybe" on this one. On some platforms and in some niches it seems easier/more achievable than others. For me Twitter has worked well; LinkedIn to an extent too; Facebook I'm finding *much* harder to gain any traction in - without paying. #semrushchat (@Optimisey) December 13, 2017 One of the best ways to do this is video. Video is an incredible medium for brand storytelling and establishing emotional connections with your audience, so take advantage of that. Live video takes it a step further, showing the ultimate in authenticity and transparency when you have to engage with your audience in real-time and dont even have a chance to edit the content before it is public. If you create content tailored to certain audiencesand then use organic targeting to make sure they see it, this is even better. A3. Social lead generation and video views are probably the best unexpected (most exceptional) social media marketing strategies to invested in because the medium is visual and with the right message, it works! #semrushchat AccuraCast (@AccuraCast) December 13, 2017 A4. To build a successful organic #socialmedia strategy, focus on persona-driven high quality content and prioritize community. Hang out in groups/forums where your audience spends time, talk to them, & share content where it solves a problem. -K #semrushchat CallRail (@CallRail) December 13, 2017 Influencer marketing is also a great option to help you to improve the reach and impact of your organic content. Choose influencers who are knowledgeable and prominent in the niches that most appeal to your target audience. Create content that they are most interested in seeing, and you will be golden. A4: All social media marketing is paid in some way. You pay for creating content e.g. Can you succeed on social media without buying ads? Yes, of course. Going viral is still the holy grail.
#semrushchat https://t.co/7pzJxkVY8S Tadeusz Szewczyk (Tad Chef) (@onreact_com) December 13, 2017 Of course, theres always the argument that no social media content is ever truly free; you are still investing time and money into it, even if it isnt through the official ad system.
Q5. How can you effectively measure a social media strategy that isnt designed to generate leads? As we discussed briefly before, measuring your social media ROI becomes a lot trickier when you aren't measuring clear-cut results such as leads and sales, which have a direct monetary value placed on them and are exceptionally easy to track when you have the right tracking in place. A5 We can talk about SM that's intended to drive online sales or brand awareness. For online sales its going to be about tagging and tracking For brand awareness Id' look for overall increase in traffic to the website, set up landing pages #semrushchat Michelle Held (@metrony) December 13, 2017 A5: If the campaign is not designed to generate leads, you should have an objective to measure the success. That could be measured by impressions, pages viewed and interactions. #semrushchat Danny Ray Lima (@dannyraylima) December 13, 2017 Here is the tricky part: just because you can measure something,doesnt necessarily mean that it is meaningful. Likes, for example, are a good metric to evaluate on-site engagement, but arent helpful when youre evaluating brand awareness. To effectively measure a social media strategy that isnt designed to generate leads or sales you have to start looking at engagement metrics - clicks to site
- clicks on media - media consumption - likes - shares - follows - and ad / brand recall A5. #semrushchat AccuraCast (@AccuraCast) December 13, 2017 When measuring brand awareness, look at metrics like reach, and the increase in traffic to your website. Look at how many people are coming to your landing pages or other pages on your site from social media, especially the number of new visitors (which you can gauge with Google Analytics). You can also watch for genuine on-platform engagement, like comments from real people and shares with commentary. This means that you are building customer loyalty, and they are happy to share your message with their friends. A5 can also set up $1 (dummy value) goals in google analytics on certain user behaviors and measure the increase in those #semrushchat Michelle Held (@metrony) December 13, 2017 A5. Back to goals/KPIs again from A1. What's the aim of your social channels? Perhaps it's not $$$ - maybe newsletter sign-ups? Or engagement? Or reach? Or awareness? Or reducing calls to your help desk? All those things can be measured. Measure them. #semrushchat (@Optimisey) December 13, 2017 A5) Clearly define SMART objectives beforehand. Be firm with KPI milestones and then use analytics tools from all campaign touchpoint platforms as well as NPS / on-site surveys to map to goals #semrushchat Dawn Anderson (@dawnieando) December 13, 2017 Likes and shares can be great, but they can easily be happening as the result of bots, so shoot for real life interaction and actual discussions, which will benefit you in the long run. A5: Make sure you tag social shares - always! Also: use cohort analysis to correlate the time the social strategy started with any rise is search performance. This is especially true around reddit and twitter shares. #semrushchat Thom Craver (@thomcraver) December 13, 2017
That's all for today! Special thanks to Michelle Held for all of her great tips! Make sure to join us this week on #SEMrushchat we do a Live Content Audit! https://www.semrush.com/blog/the-roi-of-social-media-marketing-semrushchat/