It’s a given that almost all brands are present on social media these days. So now, CEOs and COOs are looking to community managers and saying, “Show me the money!” We’ve already discussed the importance of providing clients regular reports, but it’s also good {and in your best interest as a community manager} to know how your actions will in turn, create sales and revenue for your client. There are lots of tools out there to help you show your boss’s boss the stats. But what you really need to know is how social media terms translate into sales. Think of it as a series of actions: Exposure -> Influence -> Engagement -> Action = Revenue.
Exposure (Audience). A strong, quality social audience and following on any platform is a good starting point. Ensure you have a quality audience who will work to your advantage and enhance your overall brand awareness. Obtaining 1M followers on Twitter will do nothing for your business if they aren’t engaging with you.
Influence (Impressions). Get your content seen by audience members. That requires developing relevant and interesting content, you will influence your audience, causing a chain reaction of mentions to their own networks, audiences and groups. Influence through creative imagery, brand promotions and an ability for your fans to feel a part of the brand community you build both on and offline.
Engagement (Likes, RTs, Shares, Pins). That same strong content will engage with your audience, causing them to retweet, click like, share, comment on what you produce. Impressions are great; however, you want to strive for large amounts of engagement. That means you’re connecting with your audience — they’re receiving your message, processing it and doing something with it.
Action (Sale). The action phase usually occurs in two parts: the first in a lead generation form that allows you to acquire the user’s contact information. The second part is the sale itself. The sale can occur without the first phase of action occurring. Either way, it results in revenue for the company.
By catching the attention of a fan through your awesome Facebook page, captivating Pinterest board, or intriguing Twitter feed, you’ve accomplished step one and already enhanced your exposure. However, you still need to follow through the rest of the chain reaction to ensure that your audience member does, in fact, enhance sales.
