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When making business decisions, we tend to focus on the ROI (Return On Investment). Regardless of the type of investment we are making, whether it is time, finances, or something else, we want to be able to measure how much we are getting in return. This return is most often measured in the financial return, but what about measuring the return on your Social Media investment?

Is it best practice to measure your Social Media key performance indicators (KPI’s) as the financial return that you are receiving?

Is it even fair to measure your Social Media efforts in dollar $ign$?

Social media can be a difficult thing to measure when it comes to ROI because, most of the time, the goal when investing in creating, managing, and engaging on social media is not directly driven by dollar signs. Instead, you want to:

  • Build relationships with people
  • Learn about your audience
  • Engage with leads on a personal level
  • And share about your company in a way that reflects your company’s personality

And these thing goals generally do not have a financial benefit. So, what are the right kinds of KPI’s to place on Social Media?

Measure the Right Thing

One of the primary adjustments your organization will have to make is to set goals align with your objectives.

Answer This Question: What is the role of your Social Media Investment? 

Is it to build your brand? Are you looking for hot leads to be generated through social media? Do you want to engage with your established audience? Is it primarily a professional networking tool? Is it a means to educate your audience? A dollar figure is not always the best measuring stick. Find something else that is of value, like;

  • Building Email Lists – For organizations that value email efforts, this would be a good focus.
  • Gaining Followers – Maybe you want to establish a larger voice in the everyday life of your audience.
  • Website Call-to-Action Participants – If you are creating web content like eBooks, Case Studies, Whitepapers, or other forms of information that you are exchanging for contact information, let this be your KPI.

There might be other objectives as well, but no matter what your organization is wanting a achieve, find the particular points that are right for you and then create measurements that are in line with your overall goals and messaging.

Final Note:

NO MATTER WHAT – Make sure that your Social Media content and engagement is creating a natural and intuitive experience that will point your audience toward the things that you’ve defined as your KPI’s. This means that if your goal is to build email lists, you shouldn’t only be posting linkless content. Your Social Media posts should be leading people to your website where they can subscribe to your email lists through C2A’s.