There was a time when having an online presence was a nice boost to business, but it wasn’t a necessity. Those days are long gone. Along with SEO and sometimes SEM, a full online marketing plan absolutely must include a strong social media marketing presence. The question is, what’s the best way to tackle this and how do you keep track of every social media campaign so a client can see exactly how their campaigns are doing?
Know What You Need to Track
There are so many different factors that go into a successful social media campaign, and you need to know what is most important to a client for tracking purposes.
Does a client understand the importance of an impression, or do they not care at all? What about followers on Twitter or likes on Facebook? On YouTube do views or follows matter – and can you track clicks? Finding tools to track all of these things is important, but understanding what is most crucial to your client will help you deliver more effective social media reporting that keeps them happy with the results.
Do a little bit of brainstorming before starting on the report, because understanding how your client views things will help you go a long way towards getting that report finished and formatted the right way to showcase your best results.
Monitoring Views, Clicks, & Actions
One of the best things you can do with any social media report is to make sure there is a section that clearly shows the views (impressions), clicks, and other actions that each social media campaign is getting.
Remember that the end goal is action and conversion, not just traffic. This is why a report with multiple social media sites like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram/Pinterest should show not only views, but clicks, shares, likes, and other positive stats.
Your job then is to explain what good these actions do. A like on Facebook gets shared with all that person’s friends and acquaintances, meaning more people are exposed to your message or brand. A like can do the same. From Facebook, you can also track click-throughs to a blog or website, especially if using Google Analytics or Stat Tracker on a website to see where all the traffic is coming from.
Framing the Report
There are several key points you want to frame with every report. Showing a clear growth in the number of followers is huge. This is both for individual social media websites as well as a cumulative number when you combine all of them. These are people who have chosen to be exposed to your client’s message over and over again – they will be more likely to buy in the future.
Another great part of any report looks at if anyone of influence has begun sharing or following. This could be a celebrity, a big name in the industry, or anything in between. Everyone likes the idea of important people following them and spreading what they have to say.
You also want to include the success of specific actions that lead directly to profits. Any numbers that show e-mail sign-ups (people who want to hear from you and possibly buy in the future), actual sales, or trial membership sign-ups (depending what your client does) will be numbers that should be emphasized in every report.
As a quick checklist, always make sure to include the following in any report:
– Measure growth in followers
– Any influential followers?
– Specific actions like e-mail signups or clicking through to the website
– Hand pick direct comments or quotes that talk about great service or a made sale due to social media efforts
Finally, emphasize how well your specific campaigns are working for the client. If you’ve had long-term success why not include numbers for the last week or month, as well as cumulative numbers, as well?
Follow these steps and you’ll be providing top notch social media reporting that your clients will love and appreciate.
