Show Me The ROI. Your Guide To Boosting Performance On Social Media

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1 Show Me The ROI Your Guide To Boosting Performance On Social Media

2 IF YOU THINK SOCIAL MEDIA ISN T VITAL FOR SUCCESSFUL B2B MARKETING STRATEGIES, THINK AGAIN. 75 % of B2B buyers use social media to make purchasing decisions. International Data Corporation According to a study commissioned by the International Data Corporation, at least 75% of B2B buyers use social media to make purchasing decisions. To further cement this point, 72% of marketers claimed social content had been instrumental in helping them close deals. The truth is inescapable. In the ever-connected and busy digital world of today, social media channels have evolved from mere social sharing platforms for the young, to a place where target audiences for B2B companies congregate and interact. Despite this, many B2B companies still have no actionable social media strategy in place to get the ultimate ROI from their social platforms, and the likely culprit is that the question of what their social media goals

3 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING ROI // 3 should be continue to befuddle them. In fact, only one out of every three marketers measures social media ROI according to a survey conducted by Social Media Examiner. To set the right goals and create the right strategy, you must first be aware of the positive impact that can be reaped from successful social media marketing. Here are a few: Follower growth Engagement Visits acquired by social media platform Leads acquired by social media platform Clients acquired by social media platform With the right social media marketing goals set, you can create a powerful strategy that will ultimately help your bottomline. If you re looking to boost your social media ROI, here are a few important things you should pursue: SHARE THIS GUIDE

4 Know Your Audience Knowing your audience recognizing who they are, understanding their needs and speaking their language is the lifeblood of your business and the key to your enduring tweet this Show Me The MARKETING ROI

5 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING ROI KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE. This could not be more true when it comes to social media marketing. Half the battle is being in front of the right crowd, the other half is conveying the right message. Without knowing your audience, you simply cannot achieve this. To get in front of the right crowd, you must first delve into your brand s buyer personas. A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and real data about your existing customers. When creating your buyer persona(s), consider including customer demographics, behavior patterns, motivations, and goals. -HubSpot Exploring buyer personas are integral to the success of not only your social media marketing campaigns, but your entire branding and inbound marketing strategies as well. SHARE THIS GUIDE // 5

6 Understanding your buyer personas will enable you to hone in on what matters to each client-type, craft your messages accordingly, and execute the right marketing approach at the right time. If you don t already know your buyer personas, you should definitely invest some time uncovering them. To help you identify the characteristics that fall within each persona in detail and with more context, start by tuning in to your social media channels aka the free goldmine of information at your disposal. Here s what to look out for: 1) The Who Whether it s Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest you re perusing, your audience will likely have diligently filled-in bios that can give you important queues as to who they are. Analyzing their profiles is the first step to understanding the things that they value most about themselves and about their industry or profession.

7 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING ROI // 7 2) The What What sort of content are they reading on these various social media channels? What are they liking, commenting on, reacting to, or sharing? 80 % of business decision makers prefer to get an advertisement. company information in a series of articles versus Content Marketing Institute Knowing the answer to these questions will give you a better idea on what types of content and subject matter will get you the most attention, a deeper engagement, and loyal fans. Remember, compelling content improves time on site and promotes social sharing, and you can create exactly this when you re in tune with what matters to the audience you want to attract. SHARE THIS GUIDE

8 WEEKDAYS Study shows that B2B posts generally experience 14% more engagement during weekdays. Contently 3) The When As the old adage goes, timing is everything. Same is true for social media marketing - great content is one thing, capitalizing on the right moment to share is another. What time of the day are your audience most active on each social media channel? Knowing when the so-called iron is hot will let you know just when to strike. And strike you will. Facebook - Activity peaks at 1pm. Best time to post: Thursday 9am-7pm. Twitter - Activity peaks at 12pm. Best time to post: Weekdays 12pm-6pm. LinkedIn - Activity peaks at 10 am. Best time to post: Tuesday 10am-11am. Instagram - Activity peaks at 3pm. Best time to post: Monday 3-4pm Pinterest - Activity peaks at 9pm. Best time to post: Saturday 2-4am and 8-11am Source: Adweek

9 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING ROI // 9 Social Prospecting Beyond just being aware of your buyer personas, dip your foot on a little social prospecting. SOCIAL PROSPECTING: is the art of combing though your social media channels to directly identify potential prospects for your business, and targeting them through engagement to entice them back to your site and into your sales funnel. With the right social media marketing strategies in place, you can use your social media channels for beyond social sharing; you can use them to directly make a sale. Take the time to be where your customers and prospects are. Create an engaging and active presence on various social media platforms. Engage your audience through compelling content by starting the conversations, sharing valuable information to help them make the right decisions, responding to their questions or complaints, and yes, from time to time, you can pitch that product or service and make that sale. The most effective social media channels for social prospecting will vary according to your business and your buyer personas. In a study conducted by HubSpot, LinkedIn seemed to be the better social media channel for prospecting for most B2B companies. SHARE THIS GUIDE

10 Get In Front Of Your Audience Show Me The MARKETING ROI

11 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING ROI // 11 GET IN FRONT OF YOUR AUDIENCE. Once you have a pretty solid grasp on who your audience are on social media, the next step is getting in front of them. If you do not already have a active following on your social media channels, growing a following from scratch can be a challenge and will take some time. But don t worry! We all have to start somewhere. With the right messaging and the right audience in mind, it ll be up to a few maneuvers to get this to a level where you want it to be. A year or two ago this would ve been a lot more difficult to achieve but thanks to the social boosting capabilities in most of the social media channels these days, you can get in front of the right audience almost instantly. Social media marketing is by all means not a one and done proposition. It takes consistency and commitment to post and engage with your audience on a regular schedule. You have to captivate your audience and make them look forward to your social activities whether it s sharing valuable information, motivational pictures, inspirational quotes, funny memes, compelling videos and whatnot. SHARE THIS GUIDE

12 CONSISTENCY IS KEY If you stick to a regular engagement schedule, your audience will learn to expect it from you and that right there should be your goal. So don t just monitor and react, but be proactive. Start the conversation, create memorable hashtags that encourage them to participate in the conversation. If you blog constantly, preset your channels to distribute your content automatically when they are published. Observe calendar events, what s trending, or other relevant events you can chime in on ahead of time. Social Boosting Take advantage of social boosting or advertising on social media. Social platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn allow your messages to be seen by your exact target audience, making it easier to capture new prospects and get in front of your buyer persona. 70 % of marketers were looking to increase their spending on social media advertising. Salesforce

13 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING ROI // 13 Stretching beyond the usual general geographic and demographic data, social media boosting equips you with the right information to push targeting to the next level through behavioral and connection-based targeting. These advanced targeting options enable you to personalize ads further to really hit home for your buyer personas. Target audiences via: Custom Lists Have your own lists or information on prospects such as usernames, phone numbers or addresses? You can target them directly by creating custom social boosting campaigns on social media channels. Facebook calls this Custom Audiences targeting, in Twitter it s called Tailored Audiences. Simply upload your custom list and target them directly with your ad or content. By Interest Do you know what your buyer personas are interested in? Are there specific hobbies, skills, interests or activities they collectively enjoy? You can target them by interests through Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. SHARE THIS GUIDE

14 By Behavior Reach audiences based on their purchase behaviors or device usage. Social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter take past behavior of users into account to help you determine their intent and target them specifically. By Who They Are Similar To Capture new prospects that have similar preferences, tastes or demographics to your own existing audience. Facebook and LinkedIn allows you to target likeminded users. LET OUR SCIENTISTS GIVE YOU FEEDBACK Free Marketing Analysis, get valuable insight

15 Leverage SEO With Social Media Activities Show Me The MARKETING ROI

16 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING ROI // 16 LEVERAGE SEO WITH SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITIES. Social sharing has an important role to play when it comes to SEO. Two of the biggest search engines of today, namely, Google and Bing take social activities into account as a validation of your site s quality. Sufficed to say, you should never be discouraged to maintain an active social media presence for your business just because your social media channels aren t leading directly to sales. Leveraging SEO with an active social media presence will help you get the following results: Increased Traffic Google looks for positive social signals from your site to determine its credibility and authority, as well as traffic stemming from your site. Social signals let Google know your site is relevant, active and trusted by users. Social signals that do turn into links are a powerful force for your SEO. SHARE THIS GUIDE

17 Increased Domain Authority In the past, marketers resorted to guest postings and deliberate follow links to build links to their site for the purpose of increasing their domain authority and ranking high on search engine results page (SERP). These strategies, however, no longer work and can even land you some serious search engines penalties. As search engines fine-tuned their results page algorithms to focus on higher quality websites, natural link building became name of the game when it came to ramping up your site s authority. Natural links matter even more as they become more difficult to get, and earning them through trusted social links are your best bet. These links can be leveraged to drive traffic back to your site and improve your online visibility. As more traffic is directed to your site from trusted social media channels, your site s perceived value and authority are reinforced.

18 Build Relationships With Influencers Show Me The MARKETING ROI

19 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING ROI // 19 INFLUENCER OUTREACH. To maximize the SEO power of your social media channels, use them in tandem with your PR strategy. Position your company or those that work for you as industry thought leaders by creating compelling content and amplifying them through your social media channels. More than benefitting from the power of influence marketing, the approach affects your SEO in a positive way. Linked In - 63% Twitter - 55% YouTube - 48% Slideshare - 42% Vimeo - 40% Source: Marketing Land Facebook - 32% Pinterest - 25% Instagram - 24% Google+ - tweet this SHARE THIS GUIDE

20 Amplifying your content through social media channels allows relevant outlets, influencers and your target audience to be exposed to your content and interact with your brand by sharing, liking, or keeping tabs. Done right, these interactions can lead to your content getting picked up by what Google deems as credible outlets, consequently resulting in natural link building a major driver for SEO. To leverage social media for PR influence and SEO you must: Publish valuable content that is aligned with what your buyer persona finds important and encourage engagement by regular postings and proactive interactions. Reach out to your industry s top-influencers and have them host, be a part of, or share your valuable content. Encourage a two-way relationship on social media between your business and trustworthy industry-related outlets by regularly sharing or commenting on their posts.

21 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING ROI // 21 THE TAKEAWAY Like any other marketing strategy, be sure to measure the impact of your activities on each social media channel so you can make adjustments if need be. Don t just be on social media, dedicate time and attention to each campaign and to every audience. Make a plan and execute consistently. Doing so will definitely boost your social media marketing ROI. GET YOUR FREE MARKETING ANALYSIS Improve your marketing today SHARE THIS GUIDE