Business leaders and marketers have a hard time explaining social media ROI to their cohorts. Social media ROI is actually very simple to understand, once you have the right mindset and terminology locked down. When I say mindset, I mean shifting your expectations from only revenue. ROI comes in many different shapes and sizes. Watch my webinar that breaks all of this down so you can explain social media ROI to your cohorts.
Here is the easiest way to break down social media ROI:
- Sales – More Money
- Community Building – More followers, engagement, impressions, sentiment, etc.
Yes, social media marketing is more than likes, comments, saves, and shares. It helps drive sales into the business, not only sometimes, but could be the main source of revenue for your business if done the right way. Sales is clear to all business owners, leaders, etc. The community building ROI bucket is hazy to a lot of people because there is not always a direct correlation from your efforts to dollars. But, we have to remember the reason social media started and how its still used today.
Let’s quickly talk about the two ways to achieve ROI through social media marketing:
- Organic – Earn It
- Paid – Fuel and Fire
Organic is earned. Earned is hard. Earned is going to take your social media team longer to get to the ROI stage, unless they get lucky. Earned is spending everyday in the social media trenches to build momentum to have a community of customers that love your brand on social media and if they love your brand on social media they are going to chose your brand over others because they are engaged with your brand everyday on social media. Building a community is VERY difficult. Convincing customers (existing and new ones) to follow, like, and share your business posts is challenging. Luckily, at Fresh Content Society, we specialize in that! Once you have a community, they are your ROI, customers asking questions about your business is conversations happening low in the sales funnel. A customer telling you they are going to purchase in your comments, in your inbox, etc. Creators are reaching to your brand and that is all ROI. So, organic, ROI is variable, but community will lead to sales.
Paid social media drives ROI for brands by enabling precise targeting, scalable reach, and measurable outcomes. By leveraging audience data and platform algorithms, brands can reach the right people at the right time with content that converts—whether the goal is to drive traffic, generate leads, or boost sales. Unlike organic efforts that take time to build, paid campaigns offer immediate visibility and performance insights, allowing brands to optimize in real time for maximum efficiency. When executed strategically, paid social acts as a powerful accelerator that complements organic content and helps brands achieve tangible business growth.
ROI can be simplified if you have the right plan to meet your business goals. Reach out to FCS to learn more and get your brand on track to organic social media marketing ROI!