When it comes to social media, all the hype is in the likes, comments, and shares. Social media platforms capture and display this information differently to provide platform users with feedback as to what topics are interesting. However, they’re also using these metrics to determine what posts they show to users and how they display and bill for paid advertisements.
When it comes to promoting your services and solutions on social media, the content you’re posting will help you learn more about:
- Topics your customers are interested in- How many social views turn into website traffic
- How engaged your customers are with your posts
In the system integration space, it’s important to understand how your business is different from an online retailer.
Measuring social media ad budget and post success based on sales numbers is rather simple when it comes to online retailers. Dollars can easily be related to specific posts when the customer ends up at a shopping cart.
However, with system integration, the results of ad spend are much harder to determine. Systems aren’t generally purchased based on a social media post. Rather, social media posts lead your clients and prospects toward using your firm as a resource for future projects. Consider your posts a gentle reminder that you are a trusted resource. If the ads are educational and part of a structured campaign, they should draw viewers closer to your website and sales team.
When it comes to metrics, here are a few things you should be looking at to measure your success:
1. Referrals
Most social media platforms, like Facebook, use a “pixel” or other tracking technology to monitor which social media posts lead to website visits. This coding is setup by your website and social media management team. Once in place, reports can be generated that show the amount of traffic on your website that is coming from various social media platforms. The caution here is that depending on the content you post; you may not actually need to generate traffic to your website.
For example, if you’re posting about a social event, there’s likely no additional education available on your website about that topic. Whereas if your post is about determining what camera lens is best for observing a stairwell, you may have all sorts of resources on a website or blog landing page that will be of interest. That type of information is worth a trip to your website.
2. Follower Growth
An increase in social channel followers is another important metric to monitor. If your content is resonating with clients and prospects, your follower count should rise over time. This helps you determine whether your team is posting helpful and interesting information regularly enough to grow your audience. This growth is also increased as your existing followers share and comment on your posts, causing their colleagues to take notice as well.
3. Engagement
When it comes to content, engagement by your audience tells a story about which topics and types of content resonate. Your team may post once with a simple image and text about a topic, then, a week later, post on the same topic with a downloadable resource and get a completely different level of engagement. Your team should be providing a variety of resources, videos, and images for each topic to ensure that your audience learns about the topic in a way that works for them. Don’t fall prey to a one and done practice philosophy where one post with one piece of content determines the fate of that topic forever.
Remember, it’s important to look beyond basic metrics (views, impressions, likes) to uncover the real return on your marketing investments.
