How to turn social media engagement into revenue

It may seem like there is no limit to what you can do with social media, and it’s kind of true! From brand awareness to sales and just about everything in between, social media has revolutionized marketing. However, an engaged community on social media does not always directly translate to revenue. And, for some, that’s just fine. But, for brands looking to turn social media engagement into revenue, it’s going to take a little bit of effort to get there. If you have already invested the time and effort into building strong social media accounts with lots of followers, you’re more than half way to profitability.

From likes to leads: converting social media followers into customers

Turning likes to leads does not happen overnight, but it will be much faster with an already engaged audience. Before starting any new campaigns, make sure to incorporate your goal of driving revenue from social engagement into your broader marketing strategy. This will help ensure that your team is on the same page and you are tracking the right metrics, if you need to allocate more budget, it’s also more likely to happen when the goals are clear. After the goal is clear, start incorporating the following tactics:

Make a plan. Sticking to a plan with goals and clear objectives is the best way to ensure you can turn engagement into revenue. A plan allows you to measure, test, and adjust campaigns to reflect feedback from the audience, giving your brand a better shot at delivering revenue faster.
Understand your audience and practice social listening. Really tune in to what your audience is asking for and consider how you can deliver. Do they face a particular challenge that you can help solve for? Is there a specific product or service that would be better suited to them than the one you are currently offering? Ask questions, respond to comments, and engage with your audience, they are your best tool for understanding what they want.
Create a community, not just a following. The difference between the two is the feeling and the connection a community evokes. If your followers do not feel connected to your brand or a part of something bigger, they are much less likely to convert to being a lead. When you create a space for your biggest brand champions and those interested in your brand to build connections and share what they love about your product or services, that will lead to far more conversions.
Provide exclusive offers and deals. Everyone loves a deal just for them. Member promos and special sign-ups go a long way in converting people as you get front-row access to your audience. When people sign up for text or email groups to get a special offer, that shows intent, turning that person into a hot lead. You can deliver exclusive offers for birthdays, when they make big purchases, as thanks for being part of the community, and on so many other occasions. Track the engagement and ROI on exclusive offers to the community to see what resonates and apply those wins to the broader group.
Ramp up your social media by including the leadership team. We have talked about this in other articles, but people want to hear from executives. They want the inside scoop on the brand from the people that run the show. Giving them insider access through your executive team can build consumer trust, turning them into customers and brand ambassadors.
Automation is your friend when it comes to social campaigns. Social media platforms have numerous tools available to speed up the process of getting leads. They are incredibly useful and make it easy to track ROI.

Creative campaigns are the backbone of a successful social media outcome

Creative campaigns by themselves are a great start, but they are not enough to change a like to a lead. Social campaigns with the goal to drive revenue should address your audience’s niche needs and be extra compelling. Build campaigns that are going to turn heads and change that like to a purchase by using exciting and compelling visuals, user-generated content that creates a sense of belonging and camaraderie, and other unique approaches. When your audience recognizes that you know more about them and can provide a solution to their challenge, they will be more likely to commit to giving you their business. However, you have to catch their eye first, and that’s where creativity reigns supreme.

How to measure the ROI of social media efforts

There are endless ways to measure success on social media. With a clear goal to drive revenue, the easiest way to measure ROI is to use a simple formula. Take revenue generated minus the total cost associated with the campaign, then divide that by the cost of the campaign and multiply by 100 to get a percentage ROI. This will give you a very straightforward number to start from and then you can apply more specific metrics. Consider the following points as well when measuring the ROI of social efforts.

Make sure everything is tagged appropriately – If you are not tracking everything, you will not receive the data you need to make informed decisions or to see if your efforts are paying off. Make sure you have Google Tag Manager installed on your website, Facebook also has a tag you can add, and finally, make sure that your profiles are optimized and you understand your way around the insights that your chosen platforms deliver.
Create custom landing pages – A custom landing page will allow you to more accurately track the likes that turn into leads by following the customer journey more specifically. Plus, a custom landing page allows you to deliver curated and exclusive offers and deals to your most valued social media followers! It’s a win-win strategy for most brands. Most social channels also now have lead forms and other unique tools to help you capture lead information.
Measure what matters to your brand. There are dozens of metrics you can use to track the effectiveness of your social campaigns, so make sure to choose only the most relevant ones for your team.
Set up benchmarking against yourself and your competitors. It’s nice to know where you stand against competitors, but it can also be helpful to set aspirational benchmarks to push results that much further.