One of the biggest problems online businesses have is that it’s immensely hard to measure the ROI of a social media account. We all know that having 1,000 fans is a good thing, but how do you actually measure the value of those fans and what they bring to your business?

It’s not easy.

But there are some tools we know work to maximize the return on investment you eventually see from your investments. And the better your social ROI, the easier it is to grow your fan base and grow your business – exponentially in some cases.

You’re Spending too Much Time on Facebook

Most businesses either feast or famine on Facebook. They invest hundreds of hours into their social marketing or they set it up and forget about it.

Both are wrong.

The key to social success is to find the highest percentage marketing tools you can and use them wisely – not excessively. More does not mean better, especially when we’re talking about social media. Here are some examples of what we mean:

*  Post Frequency – Post regularly, but don’t post five times a day. Too many posts will get you tossed off of many lists (except possibly Twitter).

*  Custom Posts? – Unless you are targeting very different audiences (e.g. agencies on LinkedIn, business owners on Facebook), there is no good reason to write fresh content for every platform. Cross post content using HootSuite or Buffer.

*  Reuse Content – Content on your website needs to be unique, but free reports, videos, images, and posts on a social media page can be reused. Don’t kill yourself creating lots of new content when you have perfectly valuable content already in hand.

*  Mobile Management – Download every social app you can find and manage your accounts from your phone. It’s faster, it’s easier and it’s constantly connected. If you can’t manage it on mobile, don’t do it.

That’s just four tips and they can save you hundreds of hours a year on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

When you master the concept of targeted, reusable content, consider the next step – automating the entire process. You can schedule posts with Buffer or HootSuite for weeks in advance, and then only login when someone responds to something or asks a question.

Setup contests and promotions to run in advance, and have someone on your team check them periodically for questions or concerns.

When you use social media in a smart way, it costs a lot less and the returns are often greater. It’s more measurable and ROI increases because you can test and improve your efforts from step to step. It’s not universal, but when used wisely these methods are  a sure path to social success.

By affiliaxe.com