Once you learn how to properly use social media, it’s time to get serious and treat it as part of your marketing plan. Create a strategy, utilize the appropriate social networks for your organization and analyze your efforts. Let’s focus on the analysis portion.
Goals: Why are you using social media?
“Because everyone does it” is no longer a valid reason to delve into the world of social media. Especially without a plan. Not having social media strategies and goals is the fastest way to fail. Sure, some people get lucky in their efforts but flying by the seat of your pants is not a strategy.
As with your traditional marketing, you need to set goals and then analyze your efforts to make sure you’re reaching these goals.
Possible social media goals for a CVB:
– branding
– destination awareness
– bookings
– website traffic
Be realistic about your goals. Specify the quantity of bookings you want to receive through your social media efforts.
Basic tracking
– amount of connections: followers, followings, fans/likers, contacts, subscribers
– amount content you provide: tweets, posts, photos, videos, etc
– amount of interactions: Twitter replies, retweets, lists, click-thru rates, Facebook likes, comments, fan photos, photo/video views, Flickr comments, group photos, discussions, YouTube comments, etc.
What???
| Network: | Flickr | YouTube | ||
| Friends | Followers, Following | Fans or “Likers” | Contacts, Group Members | Subscribers, Friends |
| Your Content | Tweets | Posts, Photos | Photos, Videos | Videos |
| Interactions | Replies/Mentions, Retweets, Lists, Click-thru Rates | Likes, Comments, Fan Photos, Photo Views | Comments, Galleries, Favorites, Group Photos, Discussions | Comments, Favorites |
Beyond the basics
Once you have started tracking the basic stats, you need to dive a little deeper:
– themes
– demographics
– influencers
– additional PR coverage
– community
– competitive benchmarks
Reporting
Basic graphs and tables are good for reporting monthly stats. Use pie charts and other graphs to show the big picture when tracking over a period of several months. Screen shots help portray a sense of your social media network / community. Remember: Twitter search only lasts for approximately 2 weeks so weekly twitter tracking (mentions, replies, retweets) is a must if you’re counting by hand.
Analyzing your efforts
No one wants to waste time. If something isn’t working, analyze to see why and then modify for best results. If you’re sending 30 tweets a day and only getting a handful of clicks, your twitter strategy might not be effective.
Remember: Quality vs. Quantity
By tracking clicks and retweets, you can see which themes receive the most interaction on Twitter. The same is true with interaction across all of your social networks.
Questions?
This may seem like a daunting task so I suggest to start by tracking the basics on a monthly basis. There are time-saving tools available and some are even free to use. Feel free to contact me at any time with questions.
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