The concern of marketers about the effectiveness and real value of all the money and energy spent on advertising has been going on for centuries. The earliest of purveyors of commerce wrung their hands over what portion of advertising spend was being unheard. Little in the way of easy and accurate measurement existed and the most predominate metrics were based on speculation that advertising effectiveness was clearly tied to business outcomes. With new advances in technology and the myriad of burgeoning marketing channels, the warm fuzzy feeling that advertising is working and producing a return on our investment remains elusive.
Studies indicate that 46 percent of business to business (B2B) marketers are unsure that any social media channels are producing positive impacts on the bottom line. An answer to the question is critical given that 2017 was the first year that digital marketing outpaced TV ad spend. Today’s technology allows for easy identity of marketing efforts right down to the individual consumer. We can customize our message and aim it at a specific individual or small market segment and measure accurately the message’s operational impact utilizing the same intelligent, extremely cost effective digital techniques.
So why do 60% of marketers see ‘measuring ROI’ and linking social media activities to business outcomes as one of the top three social media marketing challenges in the coming year? The reason may be simple rather than complex. Like everything else, it boils down to strategy. What are your key performance indicators (KPIs)? Is it revenue, promoting brand awareness, website visitation, number of followers, customer service metrics or direct sales to efforts? The most difficult aspect of calculating social media ROI may be that there is no common denominator to measuring dollar value.
Social media goals must be aligned to business objectives if the campaign is to be meaningful and the goals must be quantified. Establish analytical tools to track performance. Virtually everything is quantifiable but for those that are not, Oliver Blanchard, author of “Managing and Measuring Social Media Efforts in Your Organization,” explains that non-financial outcomes can “tell the story by capturing changes in human behavior.”
Successfully calculating and tracking ROI provides for more time and resources to be focused on what’s working and will help identify those that are not. Jay Baer says bluntly, “Here’s the deal. If you want to measure social media ROI, stop wasting your time doing software demos and attending webinars. Just figure out what you want to track, where you can track it, think about both current customers and new customers, and go do it.”
With 70% of the U.S. population having a profile on at least one social networking site and the average Internet user maintaining 7.6 different social media accounts, the opportunity to connect with consumers through digital media channels is huge. Social media spend is likely to continue to grow at an accelerated pace with marketing spend on social media predicted to double over the next five years. Calculating social media ROI effectively will provide valuable insight into the success of your campaigns.
Research also indicates that 22 percent of organizations utilize outside expertise to develop and assess social media efforts. To learn how Junction Creative Solutions (Junction) can partner with you to engage a successful social media marketing campaign, call 678.686.1125.