THE ART AND SCIENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA ROI. By Justin Gray

Transcription

1 THE ART AND SCIENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA ROI By Justin Gray

2 to the pinnacle of the marketing universe. It seems like just yesterday Facebook was a social network for college students and not a globally recognized, household name. Then, people of all ages began joining. New platforms like Twitter and Pinterest sprang up, and soon, businesses caught onto the appeal and potential of social media marketing. In just a few short years, we ve arrived at a place where organizations are spending large portions of their marketing dollars on social initiatives, while new tools are released every day claiming to amplify and measure social media impact. Sequentially, the business pages are full of acquisitions involving social companies like Buddy Media, CrowdFactory, and GroSocial. Obviously, there s no longer a question about social media s role in marketing. Social is an essential long-term component for lead generation and brand engagement. Companies who ve decided not to board the social media train are now looking irrelevant and behind the times to both their competitors and customers. At the same time, social media s rapid trajectory has left many businesses confused on the last few years, but that fast growth has meant that most of us have had to jump in and learn what works and what doesn t through trial and error. That kind of experimental approach has delivered an abundance of good strategies, it s true. But the social landscape is still new enough that many marketers are operating on guesswork and assumptions, or listening to selfstyled gurus whose advice just doesn t deliver results. Even some of the new technologies those using them do not do so properly. As a result, there are still quite a few businesses not getting a return on their digital initiatives. The ArT And Science of SociAl MediA roi 2

3 By incorporating the right keywords, companies hope to rise in search engine results pages. Unlike other marketing channels, social media allows a two-way conversation, as opposed to the unsolicited, one-way blast marketers have grown accustomed to. It can offer a multitude of functions, including sales, brand awareness, education, customer service and lead generation. By engaging in meaningful conversations and providing high-value content, businesses can establish themselves as trusted industry leaders. Savvy marketers can create intelligent social campaigns and strategies that extend the reach and impact of their existing marketing initiatives. Social media also hasn t yet been overrun with spam, giving the outlet an immediacy and authenticity that goes far in winning customer trust. So given all of these potential rewards, why is social media marketing so confusing for some marketers? Why do so many smart businesses alienate more leads than they attract with their social campaigns? By now we ve all read enough articles and heard enough advice that most of us can recite social media basics like a mantra content, sharing, engagement, listening, measurement. But while most of us can articulate those goals, many marketers aren t using the right practices to attain them. Some businesses struggle with adopting the right mindset when it comes to social media. As marketers, we re often more comfortable with batch styles of communication and mechanistic tools for outreach. But that kind of automated approach tends to poison social media efforts, which require a defter touch one that partners the right techniques with a more personal and nuanced style. Let s revisit that social media mantra again: content, sharing, engagement, listening, measurement. As with any marketing sphere, there are best practices and bad practices in each area, and there are tools that can help you maximize your social ROI and those that can sabotage your efforts. The ArT And Science of SociAl MediA roi 3

4 We all know content is king, but social media has its own content rules. Start by mapping out a solid strategy built on business objectives, rather than publishing disjointed and random content. Plan out the types of content you want to promote, the buyer personas you re targeting and a content calendar that regulates the consistency and brand tone of your efforts. Remember that social media moves quickly and you must provide fresh, original content on a regular basis to keep listeners engaged. Also be sure to tailor your content for people at every stage of the funnel. A video might answer questions for leads still debating a purchase, while a special promotion might appeal to prospects further along in the buying process. Likewise, current customers could enjoy a behind- products in development. While linking to long content like white papers can be great, remember, only offering links is boring. So is publishing the same type of content over and over. Be sure to offer a variety of blog posts, videos, promotions, product tips, special deals and more. Also off-putting: automated messages, which create an impression that you have nothing of value to say. By offering organic, real-time messages, you re letting your customers know they re worth your time. The ArT And Science of SociAl MediA roi 4

5 sharing One of the reasons social media became popular so quickly is its ability to disseminate content. This is one way you can really get the most out of your efforts, by amplifying your more traditional campaigns. While sharing began with traditional icons or buttons that let readers tweet or like, the new technologies go deeper and allow more growth potential, like requesting a response to enter a promotion. Coupled with listening, this kind of sharing can set the stage for a meaningful conversation. By tracking all of your shares, you ll also gain insight into how your social efforts are impacting the funnel. The key is to use social to boost the campaigns you re already running, and not focus on standalone social campaigns. Once you make it easy to authentically share content, you ll enjoy a social lift from the campaigns you re already running. It s hard to believe that with all the easy-to-use content management systems out there, some businesses still aren t making their content shareable but it happens all the time. Publishing content socially without linking it to existing campaigns is leaving ROI on the table. Another common mistake: offering only long form content. Studies show that shorter content is more digestible in our world of the ever-diminishing attention span, and therefore, more likely to be shared. The ArT And Science of SociAl MediA roi 5

6 Engagement This is where the social part of social media comes into play. Your platforms offer you the opportunity to directly connect with prospects and customers on everything from product feedback, to challenges and advice. Remember, this isn t a one-way channel; follow people back, show interest in what they have to say and build relationships. conversation. To gain followers and fans, reach out to your connections with a solid social presence, or get an article featured on popular channels and encourage readers to follow you. Live-streamed meetings or Google Hangouts can be an effective way to humanize your business and establish deeper connections, while driving thought leadership. Be sure to respond to positive feedback; thank your community for sharing your content or recommending your products, and invite members to share their stories on your site. One of the most common mistakes businesses make is deleting negative feedback. The criticism may be constructive or totally baseless, but in every case, it s best to respond respectfully and resolve the complaint as quickly as possible. While many businesses fear bad reviews and negative comments will drive away leads, seeing prompt and considerate customer service responses will often elevate your standing in a prospect s eyes. Also important: avoid outsourcing your social media conversations. Your social interactions are the voice of your brand, so stay authentic and don t use consultants who promise to boost your social following. It won t lead to true engagement, only hollow numbers. The ArT And Science of SociAl MediA roi 6

7 Listening Marketers who pride themselves on their industry knowledge may feel they instinctively is so enormous that using your intuition to discover the right conversations is almost impossible. New platforms appear, others rise or fall in importance, and new business can emerge from surprising places. The solution? Listening tools, like [example of a listening tool], which can be positioned at the top of your funnel as a way to prompt participation and engage prospects at exactly the right moment. This is the key to making your social efforts count. By listening closely, you can start or join the right conversations, educate the right prospects, and integrate social where it actually makes an impact. Don t rely on guesswork when it comes to where and when to engage. You ll be pouring resources down the drain and missing out on potential business. With social media, immediacy is critical; if you discover an opportunity two days later, it s gone forever. Wait 24 hours to reply to a prospective buyer s tweet and that buyer has probably moved on. The ArT And Science of SociAl MediA roi 7

8 One of the more common arguments marketers used to make against social media was that engagement and response couldn t really be measured. Today, that simply isn t true. By integrating your social and marketing automation efforts, you can and should measure the impact of your social marketing dollars. The baseline metric for social reporting is lead acquisition; even though social leads are too high in the funnel to calculate direct ROI, they can still be measured. Track all leads added through social media and be sure to note their platform of origin. Then create a social media quota based on the number of new leads acquired and the alignment of those leads to your target personas. Your automated lead nurturing program will take care of the rest. While many marketers are beginning to measure their social success, they stop too soon by measuring lead volume alone. To derive real insight from your social programs, you must track the complete journey of those leads, from the channel source all the way to the sale. Additionally, marketers often fail to optimize their buyer personas before engaging in social, and miss out on the ability to align prospects with target personas. The ArT And Science of SociAl MediA roi 8

9 tools tools. This isn t a bad thing; many of these tools can be quite helpful. To grow a high- These will tell you who s engaging with your social messaging and who s consuming your promoted information. While some marketers do things the hard way because they re not aware of the worthwhile technologies on the market, others feel compelled to use every shiny away from tried and true programs like marketing. Those old standards might not be sexy or novel, but they still get the job done. The ArT And Science of SociAl MediA roi 9

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11 LEADMD 9383 E. Bahia Drive, Suite 225 Scottsdale, Arizona Fax: LeadMD combines the resources of a digital marketing agency with revenue focused sales and marketing alignment strategy, all through the use of on-demand cloud technology. Creating, managing and converting quality leads in higher numbers is how we enable our clients to out perform their competitors and out market their peers. The most effective way to engage more prospects and convert better leads is through Conversational Marketing. At LeadMD, we will help your team leverage and online channels to build buyer trust and engagement through cutting edge technology such as Marketing Automation. When your focus is on funnel. The ArT And Science of SociAl MediA roi 11