Seeing your digital marketing efforts taking off is a great feeling. But as your social media campaigns start to gain momentum, how do you truly know they’re working, not just looking pretty? It’s all about getting your head around the Return on Investment, or ROI, for your social media efforts. 

While that might sound like a very grown up, numbers driven subject, at Childsey we believe it’s equally about recognising the genuine impact your social activity has on connecting with customers and growing your business.

Why Thinking About Social ROI Matters So Much

Thinking about ROI isn't just for huge, corporate businesses, it’s incredibly important for businesses of all sizes. Knowing your social ROI allows you to make really thoughtful decisions about where to put your time and money.

Every post, every campaign, and every pound you spend on social media is an investment in your business's future. By measuring and keeping on top of your ROI it gives you the opportunity to see which campaigns are performing well and which ones are not contributing to your goals. 

Are those fun Instagram Reels bringing in sales? Is your friendly LinkedIn chat leading to new enquiries? This understanding helps you decide where to put your efforts and resources next, making sure every investment is a wise one. It’s a bit like having a clear roadmap that shows you the most rewarding paths for your business journey.

It also helps you understand the real value of your efforts. Sometimes, a campaign might generate loads of 'likes' or 'shares' which is great and always good to see. But are these translating into actual business growth? 

Measuring ROI helps you look beyond these metrics and focus on what truly drives your business forward. Since posting this content have we seen an increase in new customers, have our enquiries increased? Or have we had higher sales since focusing on this content? All of these things give a clear picture of the tangible difference your social campaigns are making. 

The social media world is constantly changing and shifting, what worked great last month might need to be tweaked the following month. Trends are constantly changing, especially on platforms like TikTok. 

When you measure ROI consistently, you get a flow of information that tells you what’s thriving, and what might need a bit of extra help. This allows you to adjust your messaging, target your audience more precisely, or try different platforms to improve your results. The key is to be responsive, and always seek the best for your business.

The Heart of Social ROI Connecting the Dots

ROI compares what you gained from your social media marketing efforts with what you spent. Put simply, if you invested £100 in a targeted Facebook ad and generated £500 in sales directly from it, your return is something worth celebrating!

Not all social media campaigns are about immediate results or sales. Sometimes the return can lie in other ways which are just as equally valuable. If your most recent campaign was aimed to get more people to sign up for your newsletter, you might focus on the cost per lead, measuring how effectively your budget brought in fresh contacts. 

If your goal was to raise brand awareness, then metrics such as follower growth, impressions, or profile visits tell the story. Or, if you wanted to improve engagement, you’d look at how many people are actually commenting and sharing your posts.

The important thing is to align your measurement with your goals, so you’re always clear about the type of “return” you’re hoping to see.

Finding True ROI

Measuring social ROI isn’t always straightforward. Customers rarely take a neat, single step journey. They might see your friendly post on Instagram, later read your blog through Google, then respond to your email before finally making a purchase on your website. Which social channel deserves the credit?

This question of attribution is one of the trickiest parts of ROI. There are various ways to "attribute" credit: some give all the credit to the very first interaction, others to the last, while others spread it equally across all the lovely touchpoints. Tools like Google Analytics can help you explore these different models and see how they paint different pictures of your campaign's performance.

It’s also important to account for all the costs involved, not just what you paid for the ad itself. The time spent creating the content, any design tools or software you use, and even the time your brilliant team spends engaging with comments all form part of your investment. Factoring these in gives you a much more honest, accurate picture of your true ROI.

Tools to Help You Measure

Thankfully, you don’t have to tackle ROI measurement on instinct alone. There are many wonderful tools available that can help you track and measure your social marketing. 

Social Media Analytics Tools on platforms like Meta Ads Manager, LinkedIn Analytics, or through third party platforms can help you track engagement, reach, and how much traffic your posts drive to your website. 

Google Analytics is often the starting point for most businesses, providing incredible insights into your website traffic, user behaviour, and conversions. You can set up "goals" to track specific actions, like newsletter sign-ups or purchases, and link them back to your social channels. 

Using UTM parameters in your links (small codes you add to your website URLs) is the key to tracking exactly where that traffic from social media is coming from. If you use a CRM System for managing your customers, it can help you track the entire customer journey, allowing you to connect a new contact that came from a social media form right through to a sales outcome.

By thoughtfully using these tools and regularly reviewing your data, you can gain a much clearer understanding of your true social ROI.

Your Journey to Insightful Social Marketing

Measuring social ROI isn’t about drowning in spreadsheets or chasing figures for the sake of it. It’s about discovering what truly resonates with your audience, understanding where your efforts make the biggest difference, and building the confidence to make informed decisions for the future of your business. Turning those lovely engagements into true, enterprise level returns is absolutely possible with a little insight and focus on your social strategy.

At Childsey, we’re here to help your business uncover these insights. 

Want to find out more? Let’s chat about how we can help you turn your social strategy into a powerful growth engine.