So it’s true, right now as we come into a decade of using Social Media and Digital as a pertinent part of the marketing mix most brands and companies are still struggling to define and figure out their Social ROI. It’s interesting that it’s taken us this long to really nail this but this should be an easy one folks. With the change from traditional, direct and print marketing many of our key values and metrics are the same and figuring them out is almost the same. Just as before when you measured the amount of views or impressions on a magazine ad, now you can look at those some metrics on your Facebook post. The nice part is your images are being put in front of your audience much more frequently and offer a chance for them to engage. Not only can you look at impressions but now you can see if anyone took an action such as a like, click or comment. These values should be much more valuable and can be rated higher.
HubShout’s Full Infographic:http://hubshout.com/?2015-Social-Media-Stats-Infographic&AID=1656#.VYHkWFX3_Gf
With similar business objectives as to before along with similar values it should be easy to plug in some numbers so you can decide what actions by users might be worth. From there taking into account any expenses (ads, SEO, team costs, etc) you can calculate your ROI. We even outlined these steps in one of our blog posts awhile ago. However with the amount of items and varying levels of relationships with users through Social Media this can be incredibly cumbersome. What’s more once you have it all figured out, how do you know which of those posts or numbers may have been better so you can keep doing it? Or how do you know that Tuesdays, for example, was the best day to post? Tricky.
So, If at least 60% of marketing professionals are struggling to figure out their ROI then I guess we are doing something right. We built LiftMetrix to empower marketers to act on their social media analytics without having to spend hours in spreadsheets or hire data teams. Get a free trial today, chat with one of our team members or share your thoughts below!
At the cost of $1 Billion a couple of years ago, Instagram is still growing and trending around the world. It has become a necessity for brands and users alike on social media even with the limited ad options. The visual focus, simplicity and popularity of the app itself combines to make a powerful platform for brands. It’s all in the way you use it. We’ve put together a few topics that make Instagram what it is and to showcase some of the best ways to leverage the platform as a brand.
via Instagram
Statistics:
A LinkedIn user, Katy Elle Blake, prepared a list of all the Instagram facts you need to know for 2015. While she covered a full array, we pulled together what we thought were the most useful for our audience but we encourage you to read the full report.
Instagram currently has 300 million monthly active users.
75 million of those use Instagram every day.
30% of teenagers consider Instagram the most important social network.20% of US adult females use Instagram, compared to 15% of US adult men.
20% of Internet users aged between 16 and 64 have an Instagram account.
41% of Instagram’s audience are aged between 16 and 24 and 35% are from 25-34.
This one might shock you - 51% of Instagram’s audience is male. 49% is female.
Instagram launched in October 2010. Over 20 billion photographs have been shared on the site since then. 70 million new photos are shared each day.
There are around 2.5 billion Instagram likes every day, or 8500 new likes each second. 1000 comments are left each second.
70% of Instagram users log in at least once a day. 35% check Instagram multiple times per day.
https://instagram.com/press/
In addition to the stats specific to the platform, we found these five stats about user engagement on the app and with brands from Sprout Social incredibly useful.
At 4.21%, Brand Engagement Rates Highest on Instagram
50% of Comments Are Posted in the First Six Hours
@mentions in Captions Receive 56% More Engagement
Adding a Location Results in 79% Higher Engagement
Open Backgrounds and Single Dominant Colors Return More Likes
via Sprout Social
Brand Tips:
If you are still figuring out how to use Instagram we love these tips and suggestions from B2C. Here’s the full article but we’ll highlight the items we agree with wholeheartedly. (Note highlighted experts are from the article and the remainder copy are our views).
#1: Build a community around an actionable hashtag:
You can’t go wrong with hashtags and we strongly encourage you to choose quite a few to begin using actively to ensure you are reaching your target user. However, in addition to those it is important to have a hashtag that is your own but isn’t just a brand name. You want a user to see the hashtag, take an action and associate the action with your hashtag. There are some great examples of brands doing this out there across the board and we think Instagram is the most important platform for this.
#4: PLEASE don’t over post:
For reach this is IMPORTANT! Although on Twitter you can post day and night, Instagram is a unique platform. For most brands posting a couple times a week is plenty so keep that in mind when planning out your content.
#7: Utilize all the tools Instagram has to offer:
Just like any other platform, it isn’t a one way street, You never want to push content out and walk away. So just like other platforms, understand the behind the scenes including native Instagram features (filters, special effects, editing, etc), Instagram analytics tools to provide you with insight (Impressions, reach, engagement, etc) and finally Instagram’s Business team and Blog.
#8: Get inspiration from others:
There are so many great brands out there that it is easy to see how users are responding to their content. Use their best case examples to inspire your own content. In addition see what your fans are doing and jump on board. Anytime something is picking up with a fan, even if you didn’t create it, take advantage of the momentum and loyalty they are creating.
#10: Interact with Others on Instagram to Grow Your Following:
This one should be a no brainer if you are using any social media platforms, but it must be said. The best way to grow your audience is to be authentic and engaging. Find users who are talking about your or a relevant topic for your business. Get a conversation started, #regram their images, highlight top users, and more to garner engagement and additional reach.
Tools:
Although Instagram is still pretty closed off, there are a few tools to help in a variety of ways that we have used in the past:
Keyhole.co:This tool is used to see what hashtags are popular and find suggestions for related ones, although its really for twitter, you will find most hashtags are consistently used across both.
Tagboard: This tool lets you see what other Instagram content is being shared using the same hashtag and how often it’s used.
Iconosquare: This tool allows you to collect analytics such as average likes, your best hashtags and follower growth.
So now that you’ve got all that information, what will you do with it? We recommend getting out there and trying it out! Try everything and begin to understand what works best for your brand and resonates the most with your user base. Over time you will continue to grow your audience and be one of the top brands we keep seeing!
In the world of social media no day is the same so you are constantly on top of your toes. We understand this but also know there are a few things you can do each Monday to get you ready for the week and stay on top of your goals and consumers.
Follow Up on Your Weekend
You may or may not be active over the weekend but it’s important to check first thing Monday that everything went out smoothly.
It’s also a great time to see if you had any engagement or mentions that you should respond to immediately.
Check your Analytics
What time of day and days of the week received the most engagement?
What times of content got the largest responses? (photos, status, video, links, etc)
How did any of your social media ads perform?
Make a Plan
Put your learnings into action and create a plan for the week including adjustments to make and what content you will share.
Create an engagement plan including how many people to begin following and searching out on various platforms.
Check your keywords, what’s trending based on the content you plan on creating this week?
Plan weekly content
Create your call to actions based on this weeks goals, are you driving to your website, a webinar, to purchase, etc?
Start putting together your content and matching it up with your planned timing.
Prepare visuals to go with your content.
Plan any ad budget for your content when available.
Curate
Did you miss anything related to your industry or that may resonate with your consumers this weekend?
Are your feeds set up for any new articles or information for the week?
Start collecting and organizing curated information into your content calendar.
Final Checklist
Do you have any important dates this week such as holidays, company happenings or weekly updates?
Have you set up your monitoring and engagement plan for the week? Read our post on increasing twitter engagement if you need help getting started.
Do any ads need adjusting or do you need to start and create new ads?
Are all of your documents and tools up to date?
Coffee Break
Well it’s not exactly related but it will help jump start your morning! Once you’ve put together your plan and gotten your week off to a good start, now is the perfect time for a coffee or tea break to get you ready for the week.
Have a chat with coworkers, they may have general knowledge of company happenings or consumer behaviors from the weekend you can use! Who know’s.
Also, step away from the computer
Did we miss any steps? Tell us below!
Or do you want an easy way out? If the above is taking too long or not giving you the results you expect, then check out LiftMetrix. Each week we prepare insights based on how your content performed taking into consideration your business objectives. In addition, each day your recommendations are updated in a way you can understand. Simply adjust your content based on these recommendations to see your ROI grow and keep your boss smiling. Recommendations include which days and times to post, how many times to post, types of content, character length and more. Set up a free consultation today or just go straight for our 14 day free trial!
