5 steps to measure social media campaign success

So you’ve spent the past few weeks working on a social media campaign or advertisement. All the copy has been written, creatives have been approved and it finally goes live. Just as you mentally clink champagne-filled glasses in your head, the results come back and it becomes evident that your campaign just hasn’t worked the way you hoped it would – and if your target audience is not responding, something is definitely wrong.

The devil’s in the numbers and crafting great content is important, but so is making sure that there are quantifiable and measurable metrics that can help you see where you went wrong and how you can do better next time. Here’s what you should do:

1. Define your goals

Before you get too excited and start going into the creative side of things, it is vital that you first define your campaign goals. What exactly are you trying to achieve from this campaign?

To help you along, think about the kind of social actions (eg. like, react, share, comment, tag) you want your audience to take when interacting with your campaign. This can be measured in terms of impressions, shares, clicks, sessions or purchase actions.

2. Choose appropriate metrics that correspond with your goals

Most Facebook campaigns have two main goals: Driving traffic and increasing engagement & awareness.

To drive traffic, track all URLs you post on social media so you know how many clicks and conversions you’re getting. To do this, you can use Google’s URL builder to set your link’s parameters.

TIP: Google’s URL builder is linked to your Google Analytics account so it will reflect what your audience clicked on as well as other key insights. All this should give you a better understanding of what interests your audience

To measure engagement and awareness, look at the reach, number of shares, likes and comments under your posts. These are telling because it will provide you with insight into what prompts someone to take certain actions.

3. Measure

Now that you’ve got your campaign and the right metrics, the next step is to measure performance. What good is a campaign if you don’t know how or if it actually helps fulfill your goals?

Facebook’s Power Editor is a good tool for looking at different kinds of metrics that may be relevant to your campaign. However, you should also be looking at numbers from Google Analytics. Linking up your Facebook page to Google Analytics is key and it’s pretty simple.

TIP: Remember to link Facebook and Google Analytics BEFORE you launch your campaign.

4. Track and Optimise

Track your numbers over a period of time and review them weekly. You’ll have some good weeks and some bad ones so don’t stress if there are occasional dips in performance, but be alert to any trends that may be forming within your audience.

For example, if you notice that more women from your timeline tend to click into your website, while men visit via the Facebook ads on the right-hand-side column, the content that you push out can be better tailored to these specific behaviours. Knowing the small details will help you improve your content so you’ll be able to target your audience more accurately.

Next, optimise the results. Optimisation is a broad term and really depends on the situation. This might mean having to shut down posts or ads that aren’t doing well in certain placements. Instead, you can use that budget for others that are giving you good and consistent results. Try switching up your copy, your creatives or even changing your audience segments – see what works best for your business.

5. Evaluate

This is how you’ll know whether your campaign was a huge success or perhaps why it flopped. It may be a trial and error process in the beginning but dealing with analytics earlier helps you understand your audience so you can tailor your campaigns better.

When it comes to social media, the numbers don’t lie. You can have great content but it must be effective in reaching your audience, otherwise it’s like hosting an amazing party with no guests!

Need help getting your social media content in tip-top shape? Write to us at [email protected].

How Pokémon Go hit the marketing jackpot

Yesterday, a friend pulled into my parking lot to drop me off and asked to ‘sit for a while’. I thought he had to tell me something personal, as that’s what most ‘parking lot chats’ entail. He pulled the break and points his phone out the window, “DAMN”.

He did not catch the (common) Rattata he was looking for.

That’s a Pokémon that looks like raging mouse.

Without a big budget marketing campaign, Pokémon Go gained more users than Twitter in just a matter of days. Advertisers should take cues from this app that lets you ‘catch’ a variety of monsters (both cute and hideous) in real world mobile GPS locations. The success of the simple game is proof that some classic marketing rules still apply no matter how much tech and user habits evolve.

Here’s what you can do to mimic the success of Pokémon Go :

1. Solve a problem before selling

The thing about good marketing, is that it’s indirect, and passively helps the consumer. The Go campaign wasn’t ‘Hey here is an app where you can see Pokémon through your phone with x, y, z using augmented reality, and GPS’, it was ‘Use your phone to find Pokémon in the real world.’ The app turned into a free tool, not a product.

2. Evolve with your consumer

Pokémon used to be just cards, then it became a show, now it’s a mobile game. In the mobile market, gaming is king.

Global data and consumer insights firm, NewZoo predicts that gamers worldwide will generate a total of $99.6 billion in revenues in 2016, up 8.5% compared to 2015. Pokémon Go took off because it targets the most powerful group of mobile users in the world: Gamers. The most watched person on YouTube is PewDiePie, a video game reviewer with over 46 million subscribers. And Kim Kardashian is currently on the cover of Forbes for making $45 Million of her mobile video game, Hollywood.

As a result of resurrecting the brand onto mobile, the social discussions of the game have penetrated into mainstream social media causing a worldwide takeover.

3. Make it free and social

Nowadays people are sold on a product the second they see a positive review first, or hear a discussion about it. So make your product or service as free and as accessible as possible for the launch to build an audience base, and ensure that every single step of your marketing plan is easy to communicate online.

Sticking up a product next to a model on Instagram might get it likes, but seeing people truly engage with your product will get real conversions. The internet is bubbling over with Pokémon memes and reports, one of the main reasons is how easy it is to share an experience. You don’t need a fancy explainer video, you just need to connect with your audience.

Pokemon Go is living proof that no matter how much digital trends have changed the marketing game, traditional marketing still works and should still be a part of your brand’s overall strategy. In Singapore the game was only turned on momentarily before going back on the long wait list of countries yet to have it in their app stores. This explains my friend’s disappointment for not seeing a virtual rodent in my parking lot.

Need help with your brand strategy? Get in touch with us at [email protected].

 

Content distribution 101

You have written all this content, but what’s next?

You may have read our recent post which talks about making the most out of your content, and stretching it that extra mile, and in this post I’m going to go a bit further and explain what content distribution is and how to develop a clear strategy.

Content is all the rage, but if you publish it on your website and leave it at that, it’s very unlikely that many people will ever see it. This subsequently becomes a waste of your time, resources and money. Any marketing activity needs to be backed up with a clear strategy that best matches your goals. Content is no different and there are many avenues that brands can take advantage of to gain their worth in words.

There are three main ways in which content can be distributed.

  • Through paid channels – when you pay for you content to be distributed (i.e. Advertorials, social ads, Google ads etc.)
  • Via your own channels – the channels that you have direct control over, such as your website social media, and newsletters. Basically, anything your have direct control over.
  • With shared opportunities– when other people share your content through PR channels, to include media coverage, social shares, reviews etc.

Below is a chart showing the activities falling under each category. Interestingly, it shows us that all three distribution channels are connected. This simply means the same piece of content can in fact run through multiple channels.

Content Distribution strategy

(Source: http://blog.bufferapp.com/content-distribution-tools)

The more visibility your content piece has, the more people are going to see it, which ultimately means you will have more success in delivering your message, and evoking a response.

However, I do need to stress that a great content distribution strategy means very little if the piece of content is not suitable for your intended audience or is poorly written – so firstly get that right. (Check out our blog to help you create quality content)

Work out a strategy that best suits your budget and goals. Incorporate as many channels as you feel are necessary in reaching YOUR target audience. Ask yourself: Where are they looking for content? How do they engage? If you are targeting a younger female audience, say 25 and under, with your latest beauty product and tips, it’s fair to say they are very active on social media, so competitions, mentions, shares and reviews will be most effective, as will engaging with influencers and running targeted social ads.

Your content strategy should ultimately help drive sales, and in-between help educate and inspire your target audience. Be smart and never compromise on quality.

Part two of this topic will show you how to set up a content plan and distribution strategy – so stay tuned.

Need help with your content? Drop a message to [email protected] 

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