Stop for a moment and think about any big-name brand you love. Got one in mind? Maybe it’s a food or beverage company, like Taco Bell or Red Bull. Perhaps you’re thinking of a beauty brand like Dove or a clothing line like Nike. As you begin your brand’s personal marketing journey, you no doubt turn to these giants and try to duplicate their success—as well you should. They’re geniuses when it comes to marketing. They know their numbers. They’re well aware of how many hits their sites get, how many followers they have on any platform, and what their sales numbers are, and they analyze all their numbers constantly, trying to refine their marketing efforts and boost sales.

Numbers Matter

 

We know that Coke boosted sales by 7% when it spent a summer selling cans with people’s names on them. The “Share a Coke” campaign is attributed to a 2% increase in sales even after those monikered vessels left the shelves. We also know that the Georgia Aquarium nailed a 36.7% click-through rate on its opening campaign, resulting in 8,000 pass sales. For clarification, the average click-through rate in the entertainment industry is just 2.33%, so their results were practically beyond belief. At JJ Social, we love numbers, too, and we have loads of hard numbers to demonstrate the successes we’ve brought our clients.

…But You Can’t Measure Everything

 

It’s so easy to get caught up in this because every entry point into marketing tells you to measure. How can you possibly know if you’re spending your time and money right if you aren’t measuring your ROI on every campaign? There are many things you can and should measure, but how can you measure emotion? How can you measure the strength of a relationship? You can’t. You may know you love your significant other, your children, or even your job, but there’s no way to definitively quantify the depths of your affection.

Sure, singers like Randy Travis have tried: “My love is deeper than the holler, stronger than the rivers, higher than the pine trees growin’ tall upon the hill…”

Poets have tried as well. Look at Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s words: “I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach, when feeling out of sight, for the ends of being and ideal grace.”

And You Can’t Always Measure Social Media ROI

 

There are some things you can measure about social media. You can look at engagement levels, number of clicks through to your site, number of clicks to social media deals, and other metrics as well. What you will never know, however, is the stuff of poet’s pens and the harmonies of great crooners. You will never be able to measure your relationships with people on social media, nor the emotions that attach them to your brand and keep them coming back for more. Although intangible, this matters, perhaps more than any other variable, as we know that the decision to purchase is almost always based on emotion. This is why most advice on social media ROI is wrong. It doesn’t account for this at all.

Engaging Social Media Content Builds Relationships

 

Think back to the brand you considered when you first began reading this page. There’s a reason you thought of them. The brand has managed to form an emotional tie with you. If it was Taco Bell, maybe it was their hilarious social media quips that made you double over with laughter or their personalized posts to the audience that made you feel closer to the brand. If it was Dove, perhaps they helped you realize that you struggle with the same insecurities most women do with their “Real Beauty” campaign. This tribalism, or connectedness to people just like you, and overall feeling of wellbeing linked you to the brand emotionally. With Red Bull, maybe it was their vibrant imagery of everyday people and events that made you feel like you could have a larger-than-life experience too. Or, maybe Nike’s messages of empowerment gave you the strength and motivation you needed to throw on your running shoes and feel good. There are countless brands that provide customer service via social media as well. While you may not be able to recall a specific brand that does this, if you’ve come across it, it sent a deep message to your subconscious that the brand cares about its customers. It may have caused you to make a purchase, without you even realizing that was your nudge to buy.

Social Media is About Networking

 

These things; the emotions, connections, and relationships created through social media interactions cannot be measured, but you, personally, know if you came across one of these campaigns that it had a profound effect on the way you viewed the company and your ties to it. Just as viewing posts from your friends and family connects you to them through shared experiences and beliefs, a business’ social media posts do the same for its customers. After all, it’s called social networking. You should be there to network and build relationships. What is the value of the relationship you build? Can you put a price on that? Can you measure it? You really can’t; no more than you could provide ROI information for the relationships you build with friends and family.

Begin Building Relationships via Social Media

 

We really do love numbers at JJ Social Light. They let us show our clients how far they’ve come and how much their businesses have grown through our help. At the same time, we know there are some things that simply cannot be measured, even though they have a profound impact on a company’s sales and growth. Relationships through social media is one of those things. If you don’t have social media accounts or aren’t using them to build, now’s the time to start. Need help? We’d like to build a relationship with you, too, and are glad to guide you through the process of building your own customer relationships as well. Contact us today to get started.