Do you have goals for social media? It’s unfortunate that most business owners don’t take the time to set goals that could substantially improve their results on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Getting clear on your goals is the first step to determining your strategy to leverage social media. If you don’t set goals, it’s difficult to know whether you are on track.
What goals should you set?
Here are several areas where you can set goals:
Friends, Fans and Followers:
Social media sites list the number of friends you have. In the case of Twitter, you have people you follow and those who are following you. Set a goal for the number of friends you want on each social media site.
So, how often should you track your results? It’s easy to track results monthly. On the last day of the month, summarize the numbers in a spreadsheet. Do it yourself or have a virtual assistant do it for you.
Activity:
While it’s difficult to keep track of how many messages you have posted on most sites, it’s still helpful to set a goal for how much activity to have on each site. For example, you might set a goal to post at least 3 messages on your business Facebook Page each day.
You can use a checklist to keep track of daily activity to make sure you have met your goal. The goal is used to drive the activity. If you don’t set a goal for daily activity, it becomes very easy to fall behind. There is nothing motivating you to take consistent action.
By the way, Twitter does track the number of tweets, so if you subtract the number from the prior month, you will know how many tweets you posted during the month.
You may also want to consider setting a goal for the number of personal messages you send on Facebook. If you want to send 10 personal messages per week, set a goal for 40 per month. Is it necessary to track all this minutiae? It’s up to you how much time to invest. The purpose is to simply get you into action consistently. Always focus on high priority activities that will generate the most results for your business.
New Customers:
While it may be difficult to know whether a new customer lead originated from social media, it helps to set a goal for how many new customers you want to receive from social media each month. Be reasonable. You don’t want to create an environment where you end up pressuring people you know on Facebook in order to reach your goal. Instead, social media sites are a platform for making connections, developing relationships and adding value. In the process of delivering value, you may also attract potential customers.
Likes and Comments:
One of the measures of success on social media is engagement. Watch for whether people interact with you on social media sites. When people click on the Like button or post a comment, it creates interaction. Facebook rewards interaction by showing your posts in a person’s newsfeed more often.
I regularly monitor the statistics on my Facebook Page. I can see how people see each post. It helps me understand what people read and respond to. Watch your stats and make changes as necessary.
Make sure you devote some time each week to start conversations on your personal Facebook page and your business Facebook Page. And be sure to respond back to people who post a comment. The more comments, the more it will attract other people to post a comment. There is a snowball effect. Imagine a snowball rolling down a hill. It continues to pick up snow and grows into a larger snowball. The same will happen when people post a comment. It will result in more comments.
Each month, review your results and implement new strategies. You will also benefit from developing formal and informal joint venture relationships. It helps to have other people you know post comments and interact with you through social media.
Look for win-win opportunities. Social is fun if you make it fun.
And always remember that social media is social.
Rick Cooper
Online Marketing and Social Media Trainer
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Great article Rick! When we bring on a new client needing Social Media support, one of the first things we ask is “do you have a social media strategy?” More often than not, the answer is no. Having a strategy that includes weekly or monthly goals is very important if you want to increase your ROI and see results from your efforts. Setting goals and keeping track of your stats will help you understand the effectiveness of your social media efforts.
Thanks for sharing Terry. That’s great to hear. Yes, you need to consider your Return on Investment (ROI) to understand where to devote your efforts. As the saying goes, “Time is money.”
Thank you Rick!
I’ve been focusing on my Facebook connections and know I need to tap into LinkedIn as a valuable resource. I realize I can set manageable goals and sometimes forget one comment at a time is how a conversation gets started!
Kelli
Absolutely Kelli. Just putting a simply daily focus on spending 15 minutes a day on LinkedIn could create dramatic results over the next 90 days!
Hi Rick, isn’t it crazy how people just jump into social media (or really any kind of marketing) without a strategy or goals? A little trick that I share with my clients is to set their home page on their computer to Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIn. I tell them to set it to the network they are not spending much time in. Now, every time that browser opens, they are presented with social media!
Once it is staring them in the face, they are more likely to put in the 5 or 15 minutes they need to start or continue the conversations, build the connections, and expand their presence.
Amy
Hi Rick
Thank you for a great article.
Rick, you are right. You can’t change what you don’t measure. When I begin work with a business consulting client, among the first things I ask are for numbers including subscriber lists, Facebook stats, Linked In connections, Twitter followers. Social media makes is very easy to make meaningful connections and is ripe for market research as well. If more business people looked at it strategically for these goals, they’d no longer see it as a waste of time. I have had new clients as a result of social media engagement, and my clients report the same. They know this, because they track it. Thanks for the reminder!
What a motivating article Rick! Love all the ideas and tactics you shared here. I agree it’s all about documenting and keeping ourselves accountable and it doesn’t get talked enough about when it comes to social media. Thanks for the inspiration around a topic that really does need the nuts and bolts! 🙂
Hi Rick, I really love your opening question “Do you have goals for social media?” It says so much all on it’s own based on how readers answer that. Also have to highlight your reminder to “always remember that social media is social”. It’s interesting how many entrepreneurs approach social media as a broadcast/outreach mechanism rather than a powerful relationship marketing catalyst that builds social equity – which includes and yet is so much more than financial gain alone. ~ Gina
Rick – I agree with some of the goals you outline … but not all of them. Tracking where clients/customers are coming from and how many come from social media makes sense. Tracking levels of engagement makes sense. Setting goals for your own activity and posting/engagement make sense. I think that’s great advice.
And, I think you need to set goals and you need to track your results, but I don’t think setting a goal for specific number of friends or followers makes sense. In fact, I don’t think it matters. I mean, who cares if you have 200 new Twitter followers if they aren’t actively listening to you or paying attention to your tweets… right? And who cares how many likes you have for your Facebook Page, i they never come back to it and they don’t pay attention to your posts?
Love it! Very inspiring! Goal setting is crucial to Social Media Success! Most people think they will just put them selves on Social Media and figure it out as they go along! You gave some great tips here!
Rick: As usual this is a great article. I would like to add that you want to connect to Twitter followers that would be complimentary to your business — so, a person may not want to follow everyone that follows them. When someone asks you to follow them, as yourself 3 questions:
1) Would connecting to this person benefit me in any way? If no, move on.
2) Is this person credible? You find this out by actually reading their tweets. Then, make a decision from that.
3) Would this person be someone that I would want to build an online business relationship with? You can learn that also be reviewing their tweets and seeing who they are connected to as well.
While this sounds like it takes a lot of time, (and it does!) By being more strategic with your connections you will be more likely to achieve your goals. My .05 cents.
Thanks so much Rick, your posts and blogs are always informational and great to share. Cheers! Diane Castro
Rick,
Great article my friend and very timely. So glad you’re my coach.
All the best,
John