How to Measure the Effectiveness of Your Social Media Campaign

photo credit: MrTopf via Flickr

Guest Post by John Smith @ NursingUniforms.net

And that’s all good and well, but one thing I don’t hear much about is actual results. Social media evangelists talk in generalities and non-specifics, but there just isn’t enough focus on measuring the effectiveness of social media campaigns. As a result, most companies out there are probably wasting time, causing their social media use to be a costly distraction.

So, that brings up an important question: How can you measure the effectiveness of your social media campaign.

Keep reading to find out.

Start by setting your goals

First, you need something to measure against. A benchmark that lets you know if your social media efforts are moving your company in the desired direction. That’s where goal setting comes in. By setting specific goals for your social media campaign, you can better target your campaign and more accurately measure your results.

What are some of the most common social media goals?

· Drive traffic to your website

· Increase brand mentions

· Improve public perception of your company

· Get more inbound links pointed at your website

· Resolve customer complaints

· Climb the search engine rankings

· Get more sales

Now, although all of these goals are highly coveted, you have to be careful that you don’t try to bite off more than you can chew. Whenever you do too many things at once, you usually end up doing many things poorly instead of a few things really well.

Create a strategy for reaching your goals

Once you’ve identified your major goals, you need to come up with a plan for reaching these goals. Is Tweeting the solution to help you drive more sales? If so, what should you Tweet about and how often should you Tweet? Who in your company should be doing the Tweeting?

When creating your social media strategy, there are a few things you need to keep in mind.

· Which social media channels are your customers using?

· Are your competitors using social media? If so, how?

· How can you tie social media into your other marketing efforts?

· Can you be authentic? Or do legal matters prevent you from getting the most from social media?

Measuring your results

Now that you have goals and a plan for reaching these goals, you can start to more accurately measure the effectiveness of your social media marketing campaign. This will help you to see what’s working and what can be improved.

When measuring your social media results, you should:

· Give the campaign time to work. You won’t see results over night. Social media requires consistency and commitment.

· Be willing to experiment and try new things. There is no single correct way to use social media. What works for once company may not work for you.

· Track time spent on social media. Social media can quickly become a costly distraction that causes you to put in far more time than is justified by the results it yields.

· Know when it’s time to pull the plug. If you’ve truly give your social media campaign time to produce results and nothing is happening, it’s time to consider a shift in your strategy. You also need to reassess your goals to truly make sure they’re realistic.

Social media isn’t for everyone

The simple truth is not every business can benefit from Tweeting, blogging, or whatever else. Not every company has an audience who actively uses social media, and for some companies, there will be far more effective and profitable ways to reach out to customers and drive sales.

Before you start “socializing your brand” you need to really spend time studying the current social media landscape. You have to figure out where your company can carve out a spot to gain attention and be successful. Otherwise, you’ll only end up wasting a lot of time and money.

How do you measure the results of your social media campaign?

John manages the nursing scrubs website NursingUniforms.net, one stop online shop for branded lab coats, scrub tops and all kind of medical uniforms.
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