Sometimes a few simple changes and a shift in focus is all that you need to make a big difference in the return you get from your social media activity. In this post we have 4 great ideas to help you boost your social media returns, getting the most from your social media marketing budget. NB these are all points you can measure.

There are three outcome areas from your social media activity that can make a positive contribution to your business:

  •  First brand awareness, this will make a big difference to new and existing customer engagement. Trust, awareness and recognition is vital for any form of engagement or purchase.
  • Secondly is generating leads and making connections with existing and potential customers. In practice this is converting anonymous online traffic into recognisable individuals not just as likes and followers but more detailed connections such as registered users or subscribers where you can make repeat contacts and know who you are reaching.
  • Finally sales. The most obvious benefit but not easy to track.

4 Tips For Better Social Media Returns

  1. Posting a blog on you web site is one of the most common types of content shared on social media. However when they arrive what are you saying to them? Remember customers don’t buy products and services – they buy solutions to their problems. Create headlines for content that answer questions and addresses challenges. You can communicate with customers at all stages of the sales cycle. Write stories, explain with case studies, this will communicate your message in a way that is very easy to understand and highly effective.Be consistent, blog on a regular basis. It is well proven that making the effort will produce results. Regularity is vital it will keep your website and social channels fresh.
  2. Having spent money, time and effort to drive traffic form your social media activity consider what you are doing to get the most value from these visits and the time spent on your pages. Consistent lead generation is one of the key measurable outcomes you can get from using social media to promote your business. Over 90% of site visitors will need a repeat visit before converting, think about how you can encourage that second or third visit. Finding cost effective ways to keep in touch with them via email, organic social media, phone or office visits gives you an edge in the final purchasing decisions.This is a lead generation process converting anonymous traffic into a marketing contact. If you do not have a system or plan in place for this you are losing ROI.Swap a benefit with visitors in return for their details. Add “extra content” to your blog posts available on registration for a PDF download. Offer an email subscription where again you can collect contact data.For the sale more complex (maybe B2B ) products or services offer guides and detailed information that aids their research activity and helps potential clients through the sales process again with the exchange of customer data.Just ask! Exit intent pop us are on many sites – because they work well.Use the data collected to communicate with potential customers and drive repeat traffic. Monitor what works and is effective, test different formats to see what is best for your site.
  3. Social channels are hungry mouths to feed and they will take up a lot of your time. Multiple posts per channel in multiple formats all takes a lot of time. The temptation here is to be sporadic only posting when other activities allow or at quieter times of day. Getting the most out of your social media efforts  means getting the timing and frequency right.The best solution here is to use social media automation tools. Volume matters. This will allow you to spend time on analysis and testing to keep your posts effective. It will also allow time to connect with engaged followers.
  4. Talk to those most interested in your company products or services. This extra focus can help maximise your ROI from the social media marketing budget. Put a re-targeting campaign to work seeking out those people who have already visited your web pages and shown some interest in your products or services. Keep your message in front of the right people. Use repetitive messages based on the specific page they visited. The key benefit is that bringing back a percentage of prospects that have shown interest in your offer will increase conversions in terms of lead generation and sales volume.

The key benefit is that you are encouraging prospects to make a second visit. This will increase conversions in terms of lead generation and in turn sales volume.

Its not all about numbers but these tips can all be measured and tested.  Start the process and you will be able to identify where to find your best social media returns.

If you are looking for extra affordable support to boost your social media returns or developing an online strategy please get in touch.