How To Track ROI From Social Media Campaigns

The ability to track ROI from traditional online advertising like display ads is integrated into almost every online ad management tool; but depending on the platform, gauging results from social media campaigns can be a bit trickier. It’s important to consider the nature of many social media platforms to have an understanding of just how they would reach a landing page, blog or website. A user who finds your advertisement in a tweet might interact with it differently than one who finds it on Facebook. First, it’s important to focus on the goals that align with the bigger picture. A Twitter campaign specific to gaining more followers will give you great exposure, giving you a larger customer base to appeal to. Have an idea of the type of information you feel will be relevant to your bottom line, as they all have a hand in reaching a common goal. Whether it’s website traffic, leads, sign ups, reach or revenue, these may all be the main goal or purpose of your campaign.

Google Analytics

Google analytics provides tons of comprehensive data that help you find exactly where your leads are coming from on social media. You can look at reports that show you traffic broken down by social channel, letting you know what platforms the traffic is being driven from. It will not only show you the exact numbers of visitors, but also offer an assessment of all your social media traffic and show the percentages of each platform to the common link: your website or landing page.

Hootsuite Analytics

As a tool that specializes in social media, it’s no surprise that they provide some of the most thorough analytics for social media campaigns. You can customize URL parameters that lets you track which posts on which platforms is driving the most traffic to your website, landing page or blog. You can also access reporting that shows you a variety of metrics so you can see things like your follower growth, click-through rates & more for all posts you’ve sent using Hootsuite to any of the social media platforms you’re currently using.

Coupon Codes

It could be a word, phrase, hashtag or any combination of those; but having an identifiable code associated with a particular campaign is a great way to keep track of the leads that come in from it. With Twitter or Instagram, you can request they be following your account and also use a code to access a particular deal or product. Facebook fan pages have add-ons that reveal information only after the page is liked – prompting users to become fans of your page in order to access a code

Twitter Business Cards

Lead generation directly from some platforms is now possible with features like Twitter Business cards. With the same idea as a landing page, you can have sponsored, pinned or regular tweets that also include a spot for someone to enter their contact information. Much like a landing page, it’s perfect for keeping track of those who want more information, follow ups etc. If the goal of your campaign is to gather contact information for a mailing list for newsletters, future promotions & more, then the sheer number of sign ups is adequate for tracking. However, if your plan is to follow up or for to receive information to make a purchase or subscribe to a particular service, it will also be important to know how much of those initial sign ups become paying customers.