Three Tips for Social Media ROI

Three Tips for Social Media ROI

In the latest issue of Editorial Emergency's newsletter, Lisa Jenkins—vice president of client services at The Marketing Distillery—explains how her online agency implements business-savvy social media strategies. "We do all this with a very strong emphasis on metrics, analytics and return on investment—because social-media marketing in the absence of results is called 'fun,'" she notes.

And here's some of her advice for social media programs that produce the bottom-line numbers you want to see:

 

Have a personality. You can churn out offer after offer, or accumulate fans and followers by the thousands, but this won't deliver the results you want if you don't engage your audience. "I always say I'd rather have 100 people who are super-engaged with the brand than 5,000 who can take it or leave it," she notes.

Encourage interaction. Create engagement by putting an interactive spin on certain content. Instead of sending out a dead-end tweet that says Hey, look at this, for instance, you can request feedback and include an incentive: Look at this and tell us what you think and you'll be entered to win a copy of this.

Use the Law of Thirds. With a healthy mix of social media content, you'll get your message across without seeming heavy-handed. "A third of the content you're pushing out can be promotional," says Jenkins. "Another third should be specific to your industry, your community, the world you operate in. The final third should be interactive."

Conclusion: If you want to profit from your social media program, you have to treat it as seriously as any other marketing element.