Advisor
.jpg)
Posted on 2022-08-09 By anuradha
How to Measure Social Media ROI
As a digital or social media marketer, you need to be able to track and calculate your social media ROI (Return on Investment). It shows the value of your social campaigns in dollars, euros or yen so you can double down on the tactics that work and avoid those that don`t.
Social media is a powerful part of any marketing strategy to drive brand awareness and ROI and is growing in importance as shoppable posts and social commerce become a reality.
In this blog, we`ll show you how to measure your ROI so you can boost the value of your social media activities.
What is social media ROI?
First of all, let`s define what social media ROI is. Like anything that refers to a Return on Investment, it`s the value of your social media activities divided by the investment made.
The formula to calculate ROI for social media is:
(return – investment made) / investment made X 100 = social media ROI
If your ROI value is more than 0 percent, you`re making money from your social media campaigns. Anything below that means you are losing money.
How do you calculate social media ROI?
How you calculate ROI depends on the objectives of your organization and the metrics you use. You can download our social media campaign ROI calculator to keep track of your goals, costs and returns.
For example, is brand awareness a priority for your social media, or is it lead capture or sales? When creating your ROI metrics, bring them back to the objective and goal of your activities to prove value.
There are many social media goals you can choose. It really depends on your core objective, which could be:
New followers
Click-through rates
Conversions
Completed lead generation forms
Downloaded files (e.g. eBook, whitepaper)
How do you track ROI for social media?
Once you select a goal or goals for your social media activities, you will need to set up a system for tracking your ROI.
The easiest way to do this is to set a goal in Google Analytics. You can do this by setting up goals and event tracking. Read through our Google Analytics Goals Guide to understand all that`s involved and what you need to do.
If you want to track other metrics - likes, shares and brand mentions - use a platform like Buffer or Ahrefs.
Note: Be aware that Google Analytics 4 has replaced Universal Analytics (which most marketers use), so make sure you`re up to speed with changes so you can account for them in your campaigns.
How do you calculate social media spend or investment?
To calculate your social media ROI, you need to know how much you spend on creating and implementing campaigns. Examples of spend include:
Your time or the time of your marketing team - it takes time and effort to set up campaigns, so account for the time spent on social media
Tools or software - account for any software or tools you need to buy and pay for regularly
Social ad spend - If you run paid social media campaigns, take your weekly or monthly budget into account
Content creation - Social media requires content so account for any money required to create it
External agencies - Do you use a copywriter or video content creator? Include the investment you make in your calculations
