Are You Successful with Social Media?

How do you know if what you’re doing socially is working? It’s difficult because there isn’t a magic button or number or measurement that says “Hey- good for you- you mastered it!”

There are, however, a few things that can be used to give a general idea whether your business has a successful social media strategy.

For starters- are you seeing any business results?

Of course, when we say “results” many people equate that to sales or money- but “results” can mean so many different things- increasing brand awareness, building authority in your industry, boosting sales or conversions, giving your brand personality, or something completely different… It’s virtually impossible for a business to accomplish all of these things through social media, so focus on one or two goals at a time. Every business will have a different priority- so you have to do what’s best for you.

Next- do you feel like you’re screaming at the top of your lungs, but no one is listening?

It’s possible that you may be using the wrong social networks. If your customer base is made largely of rural customers, then being on Twitter is probably not beneficial since it is far more popular with urbanites- according to the Pew Research Center. Even though it may seem like it would be beneficial to be on every platform, it’s not necessarily so. Pick the platforms that match your audience. You can check your website’s Google Analytics to see which networks are referring the most traffic- that is where your audience is, and that is where you should meet them.

Lastly- how much and how often do your followers like, share, or comment on your posts? It’s pretty easy to want to be super self-promotional, but it’s a big no-no.

Check out some of the businesses who do things the right way- like Mail Chimp who sells email services, but gives advice to all of us about how to make email be less painful for us all. Creating value for the audience is key. How can your products and /or services help people in a larger context than what your company operates? That is what people want- and if you do it, then people will like it.