Social media marketing is heralded as one of the most efficient online marketing strategies, but what’s the bottom line?
Social media marketing is one of the most popularly talked about online marketing strategies around today, but it’s also met its share of criticism. Proponents claim that social media is the future (and present) of marketing due to its universal availability and popularity. Opponents claim that it’s a fad, or that there’s no real measurable benefit to pursuing the strategy.
So let’s get down to brass tacks; what’s the actual return on your social media investment?
The Investment
It costs nothing to get started with social media; you can create all your accounts and start posting for free. It might take a few hours to set everything up—which is a cost that shouldn’t be neglected—but overall, it’s highly affordable.
Where you stand to spend the most time and money is in the planning and execution of your strategy. If you want to be effective, you need to do some in-depth market research and spend time creating high-quality posts. This can cost between hundreds and thousands of dollars a month, depending on your intended level of commitment.
The Potential Value
Most critics of social media argue there’s no tangible value in the strategy. But consider these benefits:
- Increased traffic. Syndicating more posts and posting more links back to your site will lead to increased traffic for your domain, which can translate into more customers.
- Marketing support. Social media can enhance your other marketing strategies, like content marketing and SEO.
- Brand visibility and reputation. A more prominent social brand will increase brand awareness, and drive more, faster purchasing decisions among your target audience.
All of these effects compound over time; as your following gets bigger, you’ll see better and better results for the same level of effort. Among them, inbound traffic is your real money-maker. At higher levels, you’ll see thousands of visitors a month from your efforts, and if your conversion rates are in order, that should easily outweigh any costs you’re putting in.
The Bottom Line
Social media demands minimal investment, and while some of its effects are hard to measure, there’s a tangibly recognizable ROI you can achieve with the right approach. The only downside is the amount of time it takes to build momentum; the potential ROI is enormous, but it takes months, if not years, to get there.
