Want to Unlock the Key to Social Media Return on Investment?
Make Sure You have These Elements in Place!
1. Audience/Content Balance
If you’re just starting out, we suggest establishing goals that will build your audience. This means increasing your number of fans and followers. We're not saying this alone will increase your social media ROI. But this is foundational. Too many times we see people get hung up on the number of fans they have and miss the big picture of consistently providing compelling and engaging content. At the same time, we often see people who spend hours writing compelling content when they only have five Facebook fans. It’s important to strike a balance with this, but as general rule, building your audience must be considered when starting out.
2. Clear Goals
You may want track the number of hits to your website from social media sites, foot traffic to your location, your number of fans and followers, and audience interaction. For those who have a foundational following, you may want to forecast what you would like to see happen in six months or a year, and work backward with specific steps toward achieving these goals.
3. Listen
This is part of the relationship-building mindset. It’s important to be studying your audience, listening to your customers, and monitoring your prospects’ needs and wants. The more you listen, the better equipped you’ll be to both communicate and provide solutions to their challenges.
4. Differentiation
Each business should have a point of differentiation. What makes your product or service stand out from the competition? Each business should also be able to communicate this in a way that’s relevant to their customers and prospects – this is ‘voice.’ Simply answer the question, “what makes your business rock?”
5. Compelling Content
Content takes many forms – writing, audio, video, etc. Even a photo is worth a 1,000 words. Be sure the content you’re communicating does two things: 1) provides answers/solutions/responses to the needs of your audience and potential customers and 2) is compelling enough to attract new followers and prospects.