“I love what we are doing on social, I see my ads, the numbers look great, but how do I know if it’s really working?” Time and time again clients bring this concern to my attention. The graphics are on point, detailed targeting is in place, and we are backing up what we are doing with a solid strategy and metrics to follow. But how do you know if it’s really working?
When a client first brought this concern to my attention, I myself was at a loss for words. They were right. How are we measuring success? Is it by clicks? Page views? Conversions? Leads? Which metric do you choose to say “Okay, this is working.”
When a business first decides to utilize paid social media advertising, the first question should be a matter of goals. What are your goals on social? What do you wish to accomplish?
The answers to these questions will allow you to accurately measure success, and it’s important to note every business will have different ones. For some, this can sound frustrating, but that is the wonder that is social media. A paid social media advertising strategy is tailored to the individual business, their goals, and who they are as a team. It is an incredible digital marketing tool that is personalized to your business. What’s better than that?
Below you will find a few optimization options to consider utilizing based on your social goals!
“I want to bring awareness to my business.”
If your goal is to bring awareness to your business, a certain product, or a service, begin by optimizing for brand awareness or video views. These optimizations are a top funnel approach and will increase your visibility to the right people. This goal can then be measured by estimated ad recall or video thru-play.
“We want to increase traffic to our website and overall sales.”
This is a common goal businesses have with social media advertising. In this case, your team is going to want to optimize your social campaigns for traffic or lead generation. Optimizing for traffic will not only allow for the right shoppers to click on your ad, but will open the door for them to explore your chosen landing page and website. Lead generation is another great optimization to choose when you want to generate more leads and increase sales for your business. The success of your social campaigns can then be measured by landing page views and lead generation!
Pro Tip: Make sure your Facebook pixel is properly installed on the backend of your website and the lead script of this pixel is installed on “Thank You” and form submission pages to ensure lead accuracy!
“I’m not too sure what we want to accomplish on social. I know everyone is doing it, and we want to stay ahead of the curve.”
In this instance, you are going to want to optimize for a little bit of everything. Include campaigns that focus on brand awareness, traffic to your site, and lead generation. This will give your business a strong social media presence and allow you to measure success from multiple angles.
Pro Tip: Utilize a funnel approach. Start with targeting a broad audience and begin to create more custom audiences as your Facebook pixel generates more data! This can be done on a month-to-month basis.
Measuring success on social media can be measured in a multitude of factors. Next time your team is struggling with measuring success on social, consider your most important business goals and create a strategy that is goal-centric!