The Social Media Marketing ROI Challenge

It’s no longer enough to know in your gut that a marketing tactic works. Today, most businesses have tight marketing budgets and a plethora of marketing options. When it comes to social media marketing, you’re bound to run into skeptics who view social media as a waste of time. Therefore, the ability to measure results to improve your marketing campaigns is one of the most significant benefits of online marketing. Unfortunately, many find determining a quantitative return on investment (ROI) for your social media marketing efforts is easier said than done.

A report by Social Media Examiner found that only 10% of respondents strongly agree that they can measure ROI on social media and 56% are either uncertain or disagree entirely with the assertion. The 2018 Sprout Social Index: Realign and Redefine report found similar results with 55% of social marketers citing the measurement of ROI as their biggest challenge and 60% reporting that they are not discussing social media ROI with their colleagues and bosses. Any way you cut it, those statistics are proof that ROI measurement is a significant problem. Here are 2 Reasons Why:

According to Sprout Social, 80% of marketers are focused primarily on brand awareness, and 65% are focused on increasing community engagement. Social Media Examiner reports that 87% of marketers say the top benefit of social media is increased business exposure and 53% mentioned sales as a measured benefit. Unlike sales, it’s nearly impossible to quantify brand awareness and community engagement. Instead, marketers need to establish Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that can be measured.

Although every audience is unique, it’s generally safe to say that if you want to remain on your prospects’ radars and take them through the sales funnel to become a paying customer, you can’t focus exclusively on trying to sell them something. Most consumers are fed up with being sold to. Instead, today’s consumers want content that educates and helps them. Unlike sales pitches, which can be easily measured, the amount of sales indirectly produced from educational and helpful content isn’t easy to measure. Sprout Social reports that 60% of consumers want posts with information about new products or services, 59% want educational content, and 56% want posts that entertain. As far as content type on social media, Sprout Social reports that 30% of consumers want links to more information, 18% want graphics/images, 17% want produced video, and 11% want text/conversations. Marketers need to understand what their prospects and current customers want from their brand on social media, where they are in the sales funnel , and the types of content – videos, info graphs, etc. – they prefer. The only way to do this is by asking (surveys and polls) and analyzing social media data and then continually fine-tuning social media posts.

First, consider goals that may not be directly related to sales. This is an extreme shift from traditional marketing. Typical goals can include email sign-ups, contact form inquiries, trials, and downloads.

Next, determine the measurable actions you can track to determine if your social media campaign is achieving those goals. That might mean tracking video views, impressions, reach, engagement, and audience growth. This re-alignment of ROI measurement isn’t easy, but it’s essential if you want to determine the true value of your social media marketing efforts.

Successful social media marketing campaigns can be very time consuming, even downright exhausting! We can help by setting up your social media platform (blog, Facebook page, Twitter account, etc.), helping create, distribute and repurpose your content, and by educating and training your employees. To learn more about our Social Media Marketing Services, including our Social Media Dashboard system, give PMI a call at 484-297-6395 or contact us online .

This post is adapted from Social Media Examiner’s “ New Research: Social Marketers Still Can’t Prove ROI. ”