Is your company simply going through the motions on social media? For many small business owners, updating their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages is done because it’s the “right thing to do”. Without setting clear goals for your business on these platforms, it’s hard to know how well your social media strategy is doing.
You need to understand what you want to achieve with your presence online, and create a path to get there. We’re going to highlight 5 critical social media goals that apply across platforms, covering key actionables to help you get started and how to effectively track your results.
Creating awareness for your brand
For any business to be successful, they need to capture an audience’s attention and direct them at their value proposition. Your brand needs to exist on the social media accounts that matter most to your target audience, because that’s where they spend the most time engaging. Setting this goal means looking to get eyes on your brand, making them aware of your company’s message on a platform they actually use.
Am I successfully creating awareness for my brand?
- Measuring the reach of social media posts. How many people are viewing your content? How many more should it be reaching?
- Tracking your followers/likes. How large is your current audience, how many more people do you want to have as fans?
- Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and more all provide you with analytics to track the effectiveness of your social media messages.
Increase Engagement from the Community
In person, one of the best ways to earn a lifetime customer is through great customer service, the same principle applies to the digital landscape. Great social media interactions improve brand perception, loyalty, and word of mouth awareness. In addition, many social media platforms factor in engagement to their algorithm when determining which accounts to prioritize. Having engaging content is an excellent way to grow your brand online.
Am I successfully creating engaging content?
- How many likes, shares, comments am I getting on my social media posts?
- How many great interactions am I having with fans on social media?
- How many fans are spreading my companies content?
Drive Traffic to your Website
Connections with your fans don’t have to end on your social media platform of choice. Once the relationship has been created, your fans are primed to view your great on-site content. Having a presence on these platforms creates an avenue for directing new eyes to your site.
Is my social media presence driving traffic to my website?
- Analyzing behavior of social media traffic to your site. Are they more likely to buy when sent from social media?
- How receptive is your social media audience to links to your site? Are you providing them enough value before asking for it in return?
- What percentage of my traffic comes from social media?
Attract new customers
Engaging customers on social media is a great way to transition them into the buying funnel. A customer that has warmed up to your company wins over a cold call anytime. When someone follows you on a platform, it allows you to build trust with them over a long period. For businesses with a long or complex sales process, you can use social media to remind the potential customer of their value.
How effective is social media at attracting new customers?
- How many of your new customers found out about you through a social media platform?
- Do your open leads follow you on social media? Are your posts engaging with them, and reminding them of your value?
Increase Revenue Through Sales
If you’re a small business with a more direct sales process, you have the opportunity to turn your social media fans into direct sales. Before interweaving advertising posts into your feed, you first need to provide value to earn trust and respect amongst your followers. You are then able to ask in the form of a direct link to a product or service page. Your social media presence has the ability to turn likes into dollars with a few key strategies.
Is social media increasing our businesses revenue?
- How many sales come from social media traffic? Are they more likely to buy versus other means?
- How effective are my promotional posts on social media? Am I providing enough value before I ask for a purchase in return?
What goals are you setting with social media?
Having so many choices with social media can get overwhelming, causing many small businesses to avoid them altogether. Without understanding what you want to get out of your accounts, you wont be able to create a path to get there. Setting a few key, actionable goals allows you to focus on what’s important and track how successful you are at reaching it. Not sure where to start? Call us!
We’d love to hear some social media goals your business has in the coming year, and how we can help you achieve them. Happy posting!