Social Ads: Measuring ROI When You Have Nothing to Sell
Marketing used to be simple: identify your demographics, describe your product or service, and create signage, direct mail, or promotional items. But, the times have changed, and so have the estimated 2.77 billion social media users worldwide. Now is the time to re-think your plan and incorporate platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn into your marketing budget. Marketing isn’t just about selling products, it’s about longevity and developing your brand in ways that are flexible and sustainable.
Many businesses struggle with accepting the merits of content marketing, because how do you measure ROI when you have nothing to sell? We have the answers:
Engagement
This measures how many people are interacting with your content. Engagement is measured in the number of likes, shares, and comments your social media ad receives. This metric is important because more engagements means that your content is resonating with your target audience. Instagram is especially known for high engagement rates relative to Facebook and Twitter.
Brand Awareness
Making your case for the value of brand awareness is lucid; the more people that know about your brand, the more you will sell your product or service. A fair question would be, “How do I know that this sale was a result of my social media ad?” Insights or analytics provided by the social platform show how many website visits you received during the period your ad was running, and it measures the percentage of visits that resulted from your ad. If the percentage is high, it’s safe to assume that social ads are, in fact, helping your business. If your posts aren’t yielding the results you were hoping for, it’s easy to adjust your strategy and try again. Remaining flexible and adaptable is the key to staying relevant in the fast-paced world of social media.
Audience Growth
Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram gather a lot of data about their users, including demographics, hobbies, interests, and more. You can use this information to target your ads to users who are likely interested in seeing your content. With a thoughtfully targeted social ad, your audience is more likely to like, share, or comment on your post, increasing your engagement and impacting your brand awareness.
Be Original
Remember, content marketing can be fun, so don’t be afraid to mix it up. Develop a unique personality and use a different tone on different platforms. It’s important to keep your content fresh so you’re not posting the same content across all channels. Get creative with your messaging and choose different media to accompany your posts, this could be photos or even videos. Your target audience is likely to engage with your posts on more than one platform if your content is original. A little planning can go a long way.
Want to share some content marketing tricks that have worked for you? Drop me a line on Twitter @megannicole_pr!