Figure out how you’ll calculate your ROI Don’t measure return on investment using vanity metrics — things like hearts, likes or your number of followers, says Shah. “These just make the CEO feel good that the time and effort spent on social media wasn’t wasted. It’s relatively meaningless unless you think of it as a precursor to engagement. It should be measured using engagement metrics such as retweets, re- plies, questions, comments, leads generated, sign-ups to your newsletter or downloads.” Still, most organizations struggle with calculating social


media ROI. “In its infancy, the tie between social engagement and ROI was hazy at best. But now we have the ability to track the prospective and existing client’s journey further than we have before,” Rodricks says, adding there are several metrics that provide far better insight into the effectiveness of social media efforts than vanity metrics. “Brand awareness tells you the number of impressions, clicks and the click-through rate. Brand consideration shows the number of new visits, page views, time spent on content, content downloads and exit rate. And brand preference shows email submissions, repeat visits, social shares and inquiries,” he says. It’s about quality over quantity for Deloitte. “We’re not


focused on having the most likes, followers, comments or shares as much as we aim to engage our target audience with compelling content,” says Boyer. “Accordingly, we measure our social media ROI by asking such questions as, How many of our clients and prospects viewed a social media post? What did they do as a result? Did they read more content on our website, download one of our reports, register for an upcoming event? How many influencers and market leaders engaged with our content? How did we impact the conversation happening on this topic?” You’ll also want to take the long view when it comes to your


efforts. “Don’t expect a 120% ROI aſter posting a few things on Facebook or Twitter. Invest the time in communicating with your customers, building relationships and goodwill, and work


on making their lives a little better for engaging with you. It pays off in dividends,” says Barbaric. “By the way, I still haven’t met anyone who has been able to fund payroll with likes or retweets.”


Apologize when campaigns #FAIL It goes without saying that businesses should always test social media campaigns internally before pushing that “live” button, but let’s be honest — gaffes are inevitable. “Communication can be misinterpreted or misconstrued. There are trolls out there ready to pounce the minute a brand trips up,” says Shah. If it happens to you, respond professionally, quickly and with transparency. “Do what you would do in a face-to-face situation. You would not respond aggressively when a mistake is pointed out. Behave the same way online.” To minimize the chances of your campaign bombing, look at


how the messaging is accepted on the platform you’re planning to use, Shah says. For example, are you using a hashtag that can be read differently or one that will mean something other than what you’ve intended? “Remember Susan Boyle’s Album Party hashtag? #SusanAlbumParty or #susanalbumparty.” (Eek.) Also, don’t forget your automated posts. Sure, these save time so you won’t miss the trending topic of the day (like Valentine’s Day), but pay attention or you might find yourself guilty of ill-timed tweets. “There are countless examples where these have resulted in a lot of negative press and social outrage.” It turns out that the best way to get the most out of your social


media effort is straightforward: just get immersed and partici- pate as a regular user, Barbaric says. “Understand the experi- ence. Look at what captures your attention. Look at how your peers and other organizations interact. Comment on posts.” Now that’s a great recipe for a #SocialMediaWin if ever there was one.


LISA VAN DE GEYN is a Toronto-based writer and contributing editor to CPA Magazine


FEBRUARY/MARCH 2018 | CPA MAGAZINE | 37


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