Marketing campaigns require an investment that can be nerve-wracking for small and medium sized businesses. Most CEOs
know that having limited resources means they must be very strategic with their budget for their marketing investments to pay off. Even though they’re free to set up, social media marketing campaigns require resources to manage and the ROI is not always obvious, or immediate. Launching a social media campaign doesn’t guarantee that leads and sales will begin pouring in, by implementing a few strategies you will find it easier to drive a positive ROI that will have lasting benefits.
Be Committed
Too often, small and medium-sized business owners set up a social media account, take an aggressive approach with it for a month or two, and then forget about it. This is not the message you want to send on behalf of your business. This scenario is avoidable by starting small with your activity. Find a plan that is workable for you, maybe posting twice daily, and stick with it. This provides some level of consistency that is manageable, and it shows your audience that you’re committed to engaging with them.
The key is to be smart about it and treat it like any other business activity. Your social media strategy should be a part of their greater marketing strategy and include checks and balances along the way. Remember, it’s not going to happen overnight. It is a process that requires commitment.
Keep it fresh
While your brand, products, and services may represent your company, they don’t represent the human element behind them. Your brand persona is important.
Social media is about telling your story. How you tell that story is up to you. What’s important is building a community and engaging them with human interaction and personality.
Just because your products or services are in a particular space doesn’t mean that the personalities of your team are entirely there too. Your business may be a large chocolate chip distributor, but you can share your company’s core values and commitment to giving back. Sharing with, and engaging your customers, endears them to your brand.
Monitor your results
The nice thing about social channels is they provide you with varying levels of analytics allowing you to measure your results based on goals. Knowing that your social media strategy is more than collecting “likes,” you can decide how you are going to measure results before and after you get started. There are no one-size-fits-all results. You social strategies are as unique as your brand and products. Each business will have its own definition of success.
If you run ads or sponsor posts on your social channels, you’ll be able to monitor those in real time and make adjustments accordingly. The ability to adjust on the fly like that is where social media is different from traditional marketing efforts. Cost is another area that is different on social. If your campaign isn’t producing the results you want, not only can you change the strategy, you can change the investment as well.
Social media marketing can be one of the best investments your business makes. If you maintain your commitment to the process, tell your story, and monitor your results, you will be able to improve your positive ROI from your campaigns.
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