One of the hardest things for business owners to measure is the ROI of social media marketing. Oftentimes, we hear complaints about all of the time wasted posting pictures and updates on social media channels only to gather one or two likes and maybe a comment. It makes business owners feel like they are throwing a ton of money into a black hole and that they will never see an adequate return on investment. The problem lies with a lack of understanding how the process of social media marketing actually helps businesses in the long run.
You cannot guarantee a high ROI from social media marketing right out of the gate, same goes for any marketing strategy. Unless a customer purchases something from your business and indicates that they came to you based on a specific marketing channel, nailing down an exact ROI can be tricky for all marketing campaigns. With billions of monthly active users on social media channels, your business can’t afford not to get in the social game. “The number of people saying that they turn to social media to get their news, as opposed to traditional outlets, has doubled since 2010, from 9% to 19%, according to the Pew Research Center.”