How much does social media cost my brand?
Social media doesn’t cost much and it’s pretty simple to figure out. Just take the salary of the person or people on staff who will be managing the different channels. Also, if you use a social media management system that costs money like Hootsuite Pro, throw that into the mix, also.
How will social media help my brand?
Assess the different ways social media will generate revenue for your brand. One of the advantages of being on social media is that it gets people talking about your brand, product or in this case, your sports team. Does being on different social media raise ticket sales? Are more people buying products related to your brand?
Don’t think of it as free advertising.
If you see social media as cheap advertising, then it most likely wont be effective. If fans are constantly bombarded with Facebook and Twitter posts urging them to buy products, they’ll tune you out. It’s important to build a community of followers. For example, take a look at the NFL’s Facebook page and you’ll see they aren’t constantly prompting the consumer to buy a jersey, product or ticket to a game. Instead, they give fans a stream of interesting content (photos, video interviews, articles, etc.). While they do occasionally promote offers (about every 6-8 posts) they do it in a subtle way that doesn’t drive away the consumer.
Analyze. Is it worth it?
Do the benefits outweigh the risk? Do you expect a return on your investment? Find out how social media is helping you with a few pretty basic analytics. Facebook Insights offers information about your reach, engaged users and how viral your posts are. SocialMention is also very useful for brands. It shows you who is talking about you and whether you’re getting positive or negative sentiment about your product or brand online.
What would you add? Let us know in the comments section.
(Photo courtesy of http://next.inman.com)
