Social Media ROI Backwards (for B2B)

Priit Kallas

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Filed under: Business, Social Media

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Tags: B2B, B2B social media, Case studies, comments, interactions, retweets, sharing, Social Media, social media goal setting, social media leads, social media results, Social Media ROI, Social Networking Sites

If you have thousands of followers on social networking sites then the obvious question comes up. How do we get money out of it? Now if you started thinking about it just now then it may seem a very complex task. But the solution has been here for years in project management and goal setting. First ask yourself:

• What is the desired result of your social media activity?
• What problem will this solve?
• What need will it fill?
• For you? For your customers?

Now we would have to put a dollar value on that result. After that you will need to go backwards from your goal defining each step on the way. In the business to business sector a desired outcome might be leads. You need to convince the prospects that you are the guy for the job.

So what are the steps before the prospect gives you the money (backwards)?

Social Media ROI: Managing and Measuring Social Media Efforts in Your Organization
Use this book to bring true business discipline to your social media program and align with your organization’s goals. Top branding and marketing expert Olivier Blanchard brings together new best practices for strategy, planning, execution, measurement, analysis, and optimization. You will learn how to define the financial and nonfinancial business impacts you are aiming for–and achieve them. Practical solutions from structuring programs to attracting followers, defining metrics to managing crises. This book will help you gain more value from every dime you invest in social media.

Convince the prospect

The visitor believes that you know what you are doing. The next question he asks is do you know the prospect, are you fun to work with? Here’s where social media will help you out. Your followers will give social confirmation that there are other people who are doing business with you and are not afraid to show it. Case studies of real clients and discussions of real people will help tremendously. Talk to prospects directly, show your personal touch. Help them shine in their own organization. People love to do business with people not logos or websites. Count leads.

Demonstrate your expertise

Show your skills and give advice. Have a content strategy that is derived from the needs of your target audience. If they have a question you should have an answer. Encourage them to interact on social channels: ask questions, describe their problems and experiences. Answer everyone. Count interactions, questions.

Get qualified visitors

Create outstanding content. Find out what are the problems your target audience struggles with. Write helpful material to address those issues. The material you create should be distributed through your social media accounts. If you know your target and their problems then the content you create will bring them in. Even better… if you are spot on and the content is compelling enough they will share it with their peers. This will be your sustainable visitor engine. Count visitors, readers, downloads, sharing etc.

Sharing and distribution

The process doesn’t end with the sale, there are more steps after the conversion takes place. From happy clients you should get case studies, client interaction on social channels and sharing your content. You are on the next lap and everything you did before is now compounded. Count mentions, comments, retweets, etc.

Profit

If the time and money spent on the social media presence is less than the profit from the sale then you have positive ROI. Or you can call it the money making machine.

Posted on: October 27, 2010