Measure return on investment for your efforts in social media - USA Today

Q: as a small business people these days, I guess, I get my feet wet with social media. I have a Facebook account and am involved in LinkedIn which I love. That said, I do not know is worth all the effort. How can I say? -Jan by Nicholas Kamm, AFP/Getty Images fileBy Nicholas Kamm, AFP/Getty Images Intent: it is an important issue for all sorts of reasons. On the other hand, many people found more spend more and more time on Facebook and similar for personal reasons and as such, on the other hand, it has become the place where people take business buying decisions. Through social media, they receive recommendations of friends, see targeted ads, and business research they learn of.Then, Yes, because you have to go where there are eyes, you must be on social media, but you also to all also make sure that you get a bang for your buck and time. Here is how to say:1. the bottom line: how do you know if all your tweeting and updates and blogs and new videos make a difference? Because you make more money, this is how. The real danger with social media as I see it is that it is very easy to get swept in, and find yourself spending much time with it, because it is fun and exciting and then tell you that it is necessary. .. When it really may not be because it is not pay financially.Yes, social networking can be a great affordable way to build a brand and meet new people (see below), but if you make more money as a result, you do something wrong.2 Analytics increased: I love this quote from the Mobile Marketing Association - they say that measuring the success of a new marketing campaign requires a new kind of analysis, which includes: "the number of eyeballs, shakes and finger scans. The number of blogs, articles, tweets and diggs. The number of acquisitions, conversions, calls, responses or purchases. Total size of basket, recall from consumers, loyalty and recommendations. Checkins on foursquare and check-out on Amazon.3 Increased traffic: here's another quantifiable way to judge your results: an increase in traffic. Of course, traffic can mean all sorts of things: it may be more people reading your blog, more hits on your Web site, more people shopping in your store or more people from the physical store online.Here are a few ways to measure your traffic online: •Google Analytics: Google Analytics is the standard for monitoring traffic, keywords, incoming links, sites, etc. •Wordpress: If you use Wordpress for your blog or your websitetheir dashboard is another excellent analytical tool. •TweetMeme: If you have the re-tweet button on your site, TweetMeme is very useful.4 More than relations: there are many benefits to obtain many new friends online and supporters. For example, affordable social media gets your business from many new people and, it can look impressive, having many supporters or people who "like" your fan page.But the real value, I suggest that you can actually meet and get to do business with a few new associates; people you otherwise normally not comply. People that really make money with social media and who have understood how to use it to develop their business actually use to meet and build relationships.After all, it is not only called social media, it is also called social networking. Use it to the network.5 Better brand awareness: actual relations are a useful way to measure your ROI social media, it is nevertheless true that another valuable advantage is that more people will learn your business. With lots of fans and followers or that your tweets re-tweeted, increases the notoriety of the mark. Social networks, when done right, builds your brand.The ROI on your social media efforts may seem difficult to calculate, it is not dissimilar to the rest of your business: he follow, analyse, see what works and do more of that.Tip of today: What is a .com or a .net means for your business? VeriSign wants to know, and the winner will receive $25,000. The company recently announced an international competition which seeks small business to answer the question "where .com or .net will take your business". Participants can visit www.DotComForSmallBiz.com or www.DotNetForSmallBiz.net to submit photos and essays on the theme of the competition. Ask that an Expert appears Mondays. You can e-mail Steve Strauss at: sstrauss@mrallbiz.com.For an index of her columns, go to smallbiz.usatoday.com. Steven d. Strauss is a lawyer, author and speaker who specializes in small business and entrepreneurship. His latest book is the small business Bible. You can register for her free newsletter, "Small business success Secrets!" on its Web site: www.mrallbiz.com. Follow on Twitter at http://twitter.com/stevestrauss.For more information on reprints & permissions, see our FAQ. To report corrections and clarifications, contact standards editor Brent Jones. Review of the publication in the journal, please send your comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include the name, telephone number, city and State for the purposes of verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.We have updated the guidelines of Conversation. Changes include a brief review of moderation and an explanation on how to use the button "report abuse". To learn more.

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