Daunted by the idea of proving social media ROI? These 3 steps will give you the structured framework you need to show the results of your efforts.

We all know social media is effective — but do we really know it?

Social Media Examiner’s 2018 Social Media Marketing Industry Report found that only 44% of marketers agree that they know how to measure social media ROI. That means two-thirds of you don’t know whether or not, or how much, your marketing efforts are paying off when it comes to the use of social media.

Managing your business’ social media is no small task. It can be a time-consuming and laborious process, so you want to make sure you’re doing it right. That means having a systematic framework in place to prove social media ROI. These three steps will get you started.

3 steps to prove social media ROI

1) Set goals

It may seem obvious, but too many businesses approach social media marketing with vague goals or none at all. Deciding that you want to “grow your business” through social media is great — but it does little to set you up for success.

As you think about goals, keep the SMART principle in mind: Your objectives should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timed. So for example, instead of shooting to “generate more leads,” set a goal to “generate 10% more leads over 30 days.”

2) Track and measure

Once you’ve set your goals and identified your key metrics, it’s time to implement a system that will track and measure your metrics. At the very least, you should be tracking your metrics on a monthly basis.

We’ve created this monthly marketing reporting template just for supply chain and logistics businesses. It can help you measure social media ROI, as well as track your content marketing efforts, all in one place.

3) React

This is your endgame. While proving your ROI is a great outcome of tracking and measuring your metrics, the real object of your efforts should be reacting to what you discover. Look at your metrics in the context of your goals and objectives. Which efforts are moving you forward? What’s not working?

Trying to prove social media ROI is far from impossible when it’s supported by a solid framework. With a data-driven approach, you can prove ROI and use concrete tools to take steps to improve it.

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• This Is How You Calculate Content Marketing ROI
• 4 Metrics to Measure the Impact of Content Marketing on Brand Awareness
• Video: Use These Metrics to Benchmark Marketing Performance against Your Competitors