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Organic social media marketing can be a flashy/shiny object to companies. Brands start tossing time/money/resources into it, almost hoping that something positive will happen from all that effort.

We call that the “post and pray” method.

Or they barrel into organic social media, thinking it should be approached like any other direct response channel.

We call that generally a bad idea.

Examples of things I’ve heard company decision makers say (any of these sound familiar?):

• We’ve got to be on TikTok; it’s exploding right now!
• Social media feels like a marketing tax we have to pay — it doesn’t do anything for us, but it’s required.
• Our expectation is for Instagram posts to drive leads.
• Why aren’t we doing the XYZ tactic?! Our competitor is doing it!
• Let’s try to make something go viral.

Then, fast forward six months — that same decision maker looks at a channel report in Analytics and starts panicking, seeing that social media appears to be driving little traffic or sales/leads.

At the risk of oversimplifying things, the issue is the lack of an appropriate “why are we doing this” underneath and, most of the time, the proper measurement, KPIs and vision of what success looks like.

But, it’s easy to see how we got here — as an industry, we’ve taught ourselves and clients that evaluating digital marketing comes down to simple a channel report — did the channel drive website traffic, and did that traffic immediately create a conversion for us?

But — social media is a lot more than a last-click attribution Google Analytics report. Are you noticing that branded search is going up? Or are you observing your traffic clicking your social media icons to vet you when they come to your site? Is the traffic in the mysterious “direct” or “unassigned” categories inexplicably growing? Is your messaging across the board resonating better and getting you better conversion rates and clicks through? Are you earning more links for content that is boosting your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) rankings?

These metrics can indicate a healthy, successful social media program supporting your overall digital marketing metrics.

How Brand Awareness Affects the Bottom Line

Intrinsically, we know increasing positive brand awareness is good — but why? Overall, brand awareness leads to a lot of really good things, including 1) a bigger pool of potential customers, 2) opening the door to new partnerships and opportunities 3) helping you build long-term brand value.

We know how to measure brand awareness on social media through things like reach, impressions, engagement, followers, etc. But how can you tell if that brand awareness positively affects your bottom line? Here are some additional metrics to start considering:

• Increases in branded search (can be measured in both SEO and Paid).
• Earned links for key content.
• Leading to increased SEO rankings in that keyword category, leading to increased traffic and conversions in organic search.
• Increased email signups — leading to email conversions.
• Increased partnership or distributor opportunities.
• Increased brand valuation.

Other Key Areas Social Builds Value

Customer loyalty — Loyal customers are likelier to repeat purchases, recommend your brand to others, and provide valuable feedback. While email is usually the fan favorite among brands for customer loyalty programs, social media can be a vital tool for building loyalty, especially for extracting public testimonials from brand enthusiasts, plus connecting with brand advocates who might have purchased on third-party websites, therefore, you don’t have their email address.

Market research — The value social media can provide in helping you identify trends and customer needs as well as testing messaging strategies is hard to understate. This information can be used to develop better products and services, ultimately increasing customer satisfaction and driving sales.

Employee engagement — Let’s remember the people who keep the wheels turning in your organization. Engaged employees are more productive, committed, and likely to stay with your company longer. Social media can showcase your company culture, celebrate employee achievements, and encourage internal communication. This not only helps with talent acquisition but also creates a sense of pride and camaraderie among your workforce, which can positively impact your business’s overall performance.

Crisis management — In the age of lightning-fast information sharing, social media has become a critical tool for crisis management. Being active on social media allows companies to quickly address any negative publicity or potential crises, helping to protect their reputation and minimize damage. By promptly responding to issues and providing transparent information, your brand can demonstrate its commitment to customer satisfaction and maintain trust. This can help safeguard your company’s bottom line by preventing long-lasting damage to your brand image and customer relationships.

In short, while analytics reports may give you insights into referral traffic and conversions, there’s much more to the social media story than meets the eye.

MANA welcomes your comments on this article. Write to us at [email protected].