by
Yasi ZhangLearn about the ROI of social media marketing, how social channels help you generate leads, and how to implement a cohesive strategy that will increase traffic and sales.
Social media marketing is an integral part of any modern marketing strategy. If you are using social channels to market your brand, it’s time to take things up a notch by learning how to use them strategically. In this article, I’ll explain the ROI of social media and show you how to use these channels as lead generation tools for your business.
Nowadays, almost every single company has a social media account, if not one, multiple. Popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn have billions of users. Almost 1.8 billion users are visiting Facebook daily, half a billion users are visiting Instagram daily. The numbers are enormous. Imagine if you can put your brands in front of millions and billions of potential customers, your business will achieve explosive growth.
But not every business is having that kind of growth. Why? Because they do not know how to use social Media as an effective marketing tool. I have seen many B2B businesses opening Instagram accounts with few followers and post interactions, and I wonder why they need to be there. On the other hand, I have seen lifestyle brands or interior design services having millions of followers on the same platform.
You do not have to be on every single social media platform; you need to be on the right social media platform where your service and products fit and where your potential customers are.
Secondly, you need to generate the right content for the platform that helps you to achieve your marketing goals. Use social Media as a tool to drive brand awareness, engagement, and leads, not only for the sake of being on social.
In this article, we will discuss:
- The ROI of social media marketing
- How to create compelling content for your audience on each platform.
- How to grow your channel and use it as a lead generation tool
- When should you start using it, and how do you get started
The ROI of social media marketing
Social Media is not just a fad. It’s an essential component of the marketing mix. It has emerged as one of the most powerful tools for building brands and driving revenue
In 2016 alone, social media advertising spending was up 25%. The ROI of social media marketing can be calculated by looking at how much business you generate from your marketing activities.
Depending on your marketing goals, you can set relevant KPIs for your social media efforts. Marketing goals can be:
- Brand awareness
- Authority
- Engagement
- Lead generation
- Reputation and risk management
- Customer service
On almost all the social platforms, you can see results of following, reach, engagement, and the number of clicks. On general myth is that most people think the bigger the following is, the better is it. That is not always true. Sometimes a smaller following but a more engaging community generates a higher conversion rate. If your marketing goal is lead generation, you should focus on a conversion matrix such as ad spend vs. click-through rates.
It is hard to measure brand awareness as startups don’t have the resources or investment to purchase expensive social listening tools or market research services. You can monitor your following, engagement, and post reach. When you see a growing trend, it indicates that your content is reaching more people.
When you spend on advertising on social media, it is easier to calculate the ROI.
ROI= (Revenue — Investment)/Investment
For example, if you generated $3000 sales from your social advertising campaign, you have spent $1000. Your ROI is ($3000-$1000)/$1000 = 200%.
To measure the ROI of social media, you need to know the investment.
Then define your marketing goal and develop a plan related to KPIs, which will help you measure what success means for your company. You need to build the social assets (design and copy) to help you achieve the goal. Once you have launched your campaign, you can monitor the live performance and adjust if needed.
How to create compelling content for your audience on each platform
Social media marketing is a lot like any other type of marketing — you need to know who you’re talking to effectively communicate with them. One big difference between social media and traditional advertising channels is the diversity of people you might be targeting. So you need to be very clear about who is your target customer, what they are interested in, where they always hang out, and what problems they are trying to solve. Combine it with your value proposition, and you should have an idea of what your social presence will look like. Graphic design and copywriting are two crucial elements for your social presence, don’t take it lightly. Once you have a brand guide, you should communicate with your designer or marketing agency how the social assets should look and what kind of tone your brand has.
To achieve results in anything, you first need to know your marketing goals. Then identify what social Media platforms are suitable for your brand.
You don’t have to be everywhere!
Choose the proper social channels and focus on growing them through quality content.
Once you know your marketing goals, targeted social channels, the next step is to create a social media content strategy. You will need to define three to five core content pillars that drive towards your goal. From those content pillars, you can create a social media content plan which can be 90 days shorter.
The next step is to create the social assets according to your social media plan. An attractive and appealing design can capture eyeballs and intrigue interest. A well-written social media copy can create connection, building trust and brand loyalty with your followers. Each social platform has its own recommended graphic dimension. Make sure that you adjust the visual according to the platform. Otherwise, your post will look out of place, or part of it is cut off.
The last step is to distribute your content. Investing in distribution channels is crucial as they will help you reach target markets and build a stronger reputation online. There are many scheduling tools online, such as Hootsuite, Planoy, or even Canva can help you schedule design and post on social channels.
To create compelling content, remember that social Media is a way to tell your story. Your brand offers something valuable and shareable for the market, not just about promotions or sales.
Post frequently, but don’t overshare too often as it will bore people who follow you on Facebook and Instagram. You want them to be interested in what you have to say rather than scrolling past unread posts all of the time because there are so many of them.
Avoid spamming followers with irrelevant updates by asking yourself whether the update would interest at least one person before posting it online.
The most effective social media marketing strategy incorporates all three steps: creating, distributing, and analyzing.
How to grow your channel and use it as a lead generation tool
Quality and frequency are two important factors to grow your channel sustainably. You need to post content relevant and valuable for your target customer, and you need to post frequently and engage with people online. So that in the distracting online space, you are not losing connection with them. You need to nurture your followers into leads then eventually turn them into customers. Therefore you need to them informed engaged all time.
There are different ways to generate leads through social media. All of them work hand in hand with your sales funnel.
You can create social assets promoting a free online tool or a resource that you developed and encourage people to download. By clicking the link. they land on your landing page, where you can capture their email address and other information in exchange for the resource download. When someone submits the form, he or she can download the free resources. You now have a new lead in your CRM system. Then through email marketing sequence, you can nurture this potential customer to become a buyer. This way, social Media is at the top of the funnel to capture leads for you.
An online quiz is also a popular tool. You can create a fun quiz and share it on social media; if people are interested in this topic, they will participate and probably share the results on their social accounts. At the end of the quiz, you can add a bonus resource or a free consultation call relevant to the participant. Be aware that the content of the quiz has to be related to what you are selling so that the participants will most likely get your bonus at the end and give you the contact details.
Some brands want to use Social Media as a customer service platform and build relationships with potential customers. In this case, you have to be very careful with the words you are using on social media and always keep in mind your customers and other users who will see them. It is crucial to respond quickly and respectfully. The faster and more organized your response is, the better chance of getting positive feedback from others watching or observing what happens online. This way, they can generate a good image for their company, make people happy about coming back again because they feel valued by the brand, and generate sales leads when it comes time for someone else looking at these interactions to buy something from them instead of going elsewhere.
When should you start using it, and how do you get started?
You should start using social media marketing when you have a product or service to promote. It takes time to grow on social media and gain momentum; therefore, it is advisable to start as soon as possible.
Managing social media requires a lot of work. It is not simply posting anything online. That is not effective at all. You should carefully plan your marketing strategy, define goals, create content pillars and then design effective visual assets combined with compelling copy.
Each element plays a role, and each step is one after another. Social media marketing is here to help you achieve business goals. Therefore planning and execution require strategy and experience.
We know how much work it requires to manage a social media channel, and the success is not always immediate. That is why we are at promote and scale to help startups grow on social, and you can focus on business development and product. We have in-house expertise and a team of experts to support you, and you can grow fast. Book a free 15 minutes consultation call with us to learn more.
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We are Promote and Scale, an agency specialized in digital marketing and lead generation for early-stage start-ups.
It is our mission to help you stop wasting your time and money on ineffective and inconsistent marketing activities. It is our vision to offer you comprehensive, high-quality, and efficient marketing services, so you can focus on what really matters — building your product, business development, and acquiring new customers.