A whopping 200 million small businesses use Facebook to connect with people. They don’t use it because it fails them. They use it because it’s proven to deliver an ROI.

Have you ever wondered what other businesses are doing that you may not be doing? If you’re not seeing an ROI or enough of one, you’ve probably wondered this.

The secrets to actually getting an ROI with social media marketing are:

  • Consistency
  • Relevance
  • Creativity
  • Determination

If you use all of these in your social media marketing, you’ll likely see a much better ROI from all of the work you put into social media.

But how do you use each one? Let’s tackle that now.

How to Actually Get an ROI With Social Media Marketing

Consistency

Most people follow hundreds of different accounts on social media, so there is a lot of competition when it comes to whom they pay attention to. Don’t lose your audience by only posting once a week or worse, once a month. In order to keep your business top of mind, people need to frequently see posts from your account. The more often they see you, the more likely they are to remember you when it comes time for purchasing your product or service.

You also want to be consistent with your posting schedule. If you’ve decided you’re going to update your account once a day, keep it that way. Your followers will soon expect to see something new each day. If you’re planning to post a few days per week, try to get on a regular schedule and stick to a posting strategy.

Relevance

Relevance has a lot to do with knowing your target audience. This is a must when it comes to successful social media marketing.

Identify your target audience by coming up with the ideal Facebook (or another social network) user who is interested in your offerings. Once you know that, ask yourself what that person would like to see on the social network from you.

Pay attention to “would like to see on the social network.” People browsing their social media feeds are not looking for advertisements or in-depth information. They are looking for fun, entertaining, and insightful posts so it’s important to post a mix of content types.

This may immediately make you think, “Oh well, my business just can’t use social media because we’re a serious industry.” This is untrue. Lawyers, doctors, and even funeral home directors can use social media in a tactful way that helps connect them to their audience. This can make a serious industry feel more approachable and less intimidating.

For example, the photo below is a post from a funeral parlor that used heartwarming stills from the popular movie Up. This is a great way to use relevant, entertaining content to connect with their audience.

funeral home example social media post

Creativity

Being creative with your posts will garner more attention from your target audience. Create original images, text-based posts, and videos that will catch your audience’s attention as they scroll through their feed.

This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t use other images, videos, and posts for inspiration. Checking out what your competition is posting and what works for them is a great way to get ahead. All you have to do is put your own spin on what they’ve done. This will also ensure you’re being consistent with your brand and brand voice.

For example, a plastic surgeon asked one of his patients if he would mind participating in a Live video of his operation. The patient agreed, and the plastic surgeon had someone start the Live stream as he started the rhinoplasty. This gave his followers a deep understanding of the procedure, which can be a great way to convert people who were on the fence about getting a nose job.

Determination

Determination is everything when it comes to social media. To get an ROI, you must keep adjusting your strategy to find what works best. One of the best ways to do that is to establish goals. These goals have to be:

  • Specific
  • Measurable
  • Attainable
  • Relevant
  • Timely

Yes, the SMART way of establishing goals is perfect for social media. It will keep you on track and more determined than you’ve ever been to increase social media ROI.

A plan is essential. Come up with a goal you really want to achieve with your social media marketing. For instance, you may want to drive 1,000 people from social media to your site in one month. This is very specific, and it is measurable using Google Analytics. Is it attainable? Well, that depends on several factors, such as how many followers you have, how engaged they are, and what you’re posting. These factors can all be adjusted as you work on achieving your goal.

The relevancy of the goal must have something to do with ROI. Driving people to your site is relevant to ROI especially if you lead people to a landing page meant to convert visitors.

Goals should be timely. If your services are most utilized in the summer and you’re trying to reach a high-traffic goal in the winter, it’s likely not going to happen. This also falls in line with attainability.

Social Media Marketing ROI Expectations

Social media can be highly profitable, but don’t get ahead of yourself when it comes to expectations. Social media marketing is just one piece of the overall online marketing puzzle. With all the pieces, you can significantly grow your business with the help of social media. All you have to do is be consistent, relevant, creative, and determined.

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