Your social media marketing success in Trinidad and Tobago all hinges on what you expect. That’s right, if you’re looking to increase brand awareness, or to perform better customer relationship management, then investing time in social media is a no-brainer. Those tasks are the easiest to accomplish. However, there is often a bit of skepticism about whether it’s worth the time if you’re expecting to generate leads and increase sales.
Know your destination first
Establishing your goals with social media is first and foremost. It will not only lead you in determining strategy, but will also allow you to measure your success more accurately. There’s nothing worse than putting forth an unfocused plan, then not knowing, or understanding what the results are, or why those results aren’t what you expected.
If you’re hoping to convert a large number of fans or followers, then you need to know up front that is your main objective. If generating good buzz is your primary concern, aim for that and you won’t be disappointed. Measuring the impact you’re making with your social media marketing efforts has always been tricky for some areas. While it’s quite obvious how many ‘fans’ you have. If you’re monitoring properly, it’s easy to know just how satisfied, or engaged people are with you. What about actual conversions, what people consider to be the real return on investment (ROI)?
A survey by the Lenskold Group shows that marketers believe it’s far easier to measure engagement, followed by new names, prospects/leads, then change in awareness and perceptions. Incremental sales and ROI fall near the bottom of the scale. However, this opinion could soon change.
Now measure in detail
Google has been rolling out a new set of reports within Google Analytics that it says can help you to measure social media activity on, and off your website. According to a Google blog post, the reports “bridge the gap between social media, and the business metrics you care about.” They are expecting the new reports to help with three things.
* Identifying the full value of traffic coming from social sites, and measuring how they lead to direct conversions or assist in future conversions.
* Understanding social activities happening both on and off your site to help you optimize user engagement and increase social key performance indicators.
* Making better, more efficient data-driven decisions on your social media marketing programs.
Awareness, branding, and engagement all contribute to consumers buying decision. Being able to now more accurately measure the impact of your social media marketing in Trinidad and Tobago should alleviate any questions. Having answers about what you’re accomplishing will not only help you devise a stronger social media plan, it will also give you piece of mind about your investment in your strategy.
For a look at the things the new report can hep with, such as social value, social sources, social plugins, and activity post, check this blog post from Google
How will having these reports help you devise a social media plan, and what will you discover about your current strategy? If you’d like to discuss online marketing and how to integrate social media marketing, contact us today and we can take you through the process.
