Three Ways You Never Thought to Use Social Media for ROI—Until Now

According to an aggregated video composed by Erik Qualman, author of “Socialnomics,” the return on investment (ROI) of social media is that your business will still exist in five years.

That’s a big claim to make, and many brands are still plagued by the question of whether social media drives real ROI. However, on the other side of companies’ inhibitions lies research and testimonies that keep proving the value of social media to be true. For instance, Coffee Groundz, a midtown neighborhood coffee shop, reported a 20-30 percent increase in company sales and market share via Twitter.

Getting to this level of success isn’t easy though. Social media is much more difficult than people think—something any social media marketer will frustratingly be able to tell you. To this end, a recent infographic from Psoshul shows what three thriving brands have been doing to utilize social media for long-term profit:

1.  Make Twitter a Direct Ordering Channel: Coffee Groundz’ sales likely spiked thanks to this smart move. The company’s over 14,500 followers can use Twitter as a direct ordering channel, cutting out the middleman and making it easier than ever to spend money.

2.  Combine Geo-Location Tech with Twitter: Famed women’s luxury retailer Jimmy Choo used Twitter to geo-locate and feature upscale stores where its sneakers were available. The move increased its sneaker sales by over 33 percent and saw a 40 percent increase in positive tweets and mentions about its brand.

3.  Get Going on Those Social Exclusive Discounts: Discounts and offers exclusively offered on social media are always well-received. I don’t know about you, but I always take the bait. These kinds of offers reassure customers that their investment in the brand’s social account is worth it; it gives them an incentive to stay away from that “Unfollow” button. Organic, fair trade beverage provider Steaz proved this when it offered downloadable coupons on Facebook and Twitter—resulting in 250,000 downloads and 2,830 tweets within just one hour after doing so.

Still stumped about the ROI of social media? When measuring your social media’s ROI, consider the following things:

• Tracking conversions: Set up goals for various types of social media conversions. These conversions can come in the form of a sale, a lead or even a subscription to your eNewsletter, according to Leslie Poston, senior social media strategist for digital marketing agency Flightpath and author of “Social Media Metrics for Dummies.

• Measuring Success: The easiest way to measure the success of your social campaign is to track the number of website conversions that come from your various social accounts. Using a classic website analytics tool is your best bet according to Nichole Kelly, author of “How to Measure Social Media: A Step-By-Step Guide to Developing and Assessing Social Media ROI.”

• Capturing and Growing: Once you identify a successful social outlet or strategy, you can’t stop there. You need to leverage those captured metrics and grow your business outward. Poston, for example, suggests that small businesses hone in on click-through rates and shares to fire up their social campaigns.