3 Steps to Improve Social Media ROI

Updated Nov, 2023

Many businesses share the challenge of not seeing the desired outcomes from their social media efforts. In today's digital ecosystem, social media continues to be a pivotal element of marketing strategies. A recent survey indicates that a significant majority of small and medium-sized businesses are prioritizing social media, recognizing platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter as key areas for investment to drive growth and engagement

Generating revenue from social media. 

If you're interested in 3-steps that will generate revenue and improve your social media return on investment, then ask your self this simple question...

Question: "If a tree falls in the forest and nobody's there to hear it, does it make a sound?"

Answer: "Of course it does, but nobody was there. So, nobody cares!"

Now, apply this logic to your social media strategy. Does anyone really care what your business has to say if they can't hear what your business has to say? You may think so based on the number of people who "like" or "follow" your page but new data confirms a sobering reality.

What's reach and why is it important?

Recent studies conducted on Facebook performance show your actual "reach" to be as little as 2% of your Facebook audience (people who like or follow of your page). Reach is important because it's the number of people who actually see your posts in their personal newsfeeds.

Here's 3 steps to realizing your social media ROI goals. 

1. Grow Your Reach. 

First things first. Before you can effectively engage an audience, you have to have an audience of fans. The more people you have following your brand on social media, the larger your potential organic (unpaid) reach is. You can extend this reach at any time by "boosting" your posts. Boosting is paying to have your post visible in more people's newsfeeds.

There are several options for boosting your posts. You can pay to reach the entire base of your current followers or target a new audience based on demographic, geographic, or behavioral characteristics. This is a great opportunity to ensure you're reaching the right audience to attract potential prospects for the products and service you sell. Just because you have followers, doesn't necessarily mean you have the right followers. This is where having detailed "ideal customer personas" make a huge difference.

When people find your social media content educational, informative, or entertaining, they're more likely to start following your brand, become fans, and engage with your content.

2. Engage Your fans. 

You've got an audience in your digital woods, now it's time to make some noise. Create content so compelling that your audience will want to share it with everyone they know. Likes are good, but conversations are gold. Engagement means sparking discussions, sharing, and connecting.

Answer the hard questions, the ones others shy away from. This honesty fosters trust, turning followers into influencers who sing your praises. Use interactive content like quizzes and polls to engage your audience actively.

Visuals are your secret weapon. They stop scrollers in their tracks, so choose images that pop and tell your story at a glance. Videos? They're your engagement superstars. Keep them brief and impactful, with text and graphics to convey your message, even on mute.

Your engaged fans are your brand ambassadors, spreading the word organically. They're the ones who help your content echo through the social media forest, not just fall silently.

3. Monetize for ROI

Ultimately, you want to turn your social media fans into customers and realize a positive ROI from your social media investment. Be patient and exercise discipline while growing and engaging your audience. You need to build trust and trust takes time. Don't try to take your followers straight from the like button to the cash register.

In order to monetize your growing fan base, you'll need to start using some of your posts to get them on your website, a landing page, or a native social media lead forms to exchange their contact information for something of value like "premium content". This can be anything from an offer, a preparation checklist, an e-book, a worksheet or calculator, or even a registration for a webinar.

If your company uses a CRM, make sure to set up an API from the forms to receive the information and create a short email sequence and workflow. Your lead form should have an opt-in checkbox with a link to your privacy policy. This essentially gives you consent for one-on-one communications and marketing, ultimately bringing your new prospects into your sales pipeline. If you don't have a CRM, then you should definitely consider implementing one. 

Remember, people spend time on social media for themselves, not for you. Resist the urge to use your social media page to discuss politics, brag about your product, or post pictures of your salespeople celebrating at an elaborate awards banquet. Look at what you're posting the consumer's point of view. If you want to engage with them in their personal newsfeeds, you need to be respectful. 

Improve Sales ROI

Wondering how to improve your social media plan? We've got you covered. 

Our proficient team at HarvestROI is on standby to guide you every step of the way. Schedule a free consultation with our team so we can help you elevate your sales enablement plan via HubSpot.