According to Statista, 67% of marketers agree that the most difficult part about social media is evaluating the effectiveness of their campaigns — and we agree. But, to us, this also reflects the lack of proper goal-setting, especially in smaller businesses.
This brings us to why you’re here.
Why is it necessary for businesses to identify their social media marketing goals?
Setting goals will give your PT clinic better direction in how to approach your social media marketing. It also offers a better meaning to the data that your campaigns gather, leading to better strategies overall.
However, these goals also need to be SMART.
- Smart
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Realistic
- Time-Bound
This helps ensure that your expectations are neither too high nor too low which, in turn, helps you hit smaller targets that lead to your bigger goals.
Furthermore, your goals also have to be aligned with your campaigns and the platforms you use.
For example, let’s say you run an employment agency in Upstate, New York and your goal is to expand your pool of employees-to-be. In that sense, focusing your attention on LinkedIn — a social platform mainly used for employment — rather than Instagram will likely yield better results.
6 goals for your social media marketing efforts
1. Boost audience engagement
Content is the lifeblood that makes all of today’s digital marketing efforts thrive.
However, it doesn’t matter so much that your brand makes the most comprehensive posts if they don’t encourage engagement from your audience.
After all, a good chunk of your audience is also potential customers. Having them interact with your posts helps create deeper connections between them and your brand.
In this case, metrics such as reactions (likes, hearts, etc.), shares, and comments can help you understand how well your content is resonating with your audience. They also give you valuable feedback about what works for your audience which helps you tailor your content accordingly.
Not to mention, highly engaging posts tend to show up in more people’s feeds which is great for your brand awareness. This brings us to the next goal.
2. Increase brand awareness
As of 2023, there are 4.89 billion people on social media. Those numbers are subdivided into the many social media platforms but, regardless, your brand has the potential to be seen by millions.
Increasing your brand awareness is an important goal because the more people see your brand on their feeds, the more they become familiar and comfortable with it.
This ultimately increases the chances of converting them into paying customers.
Tracking growth in brand awareness can be tricky, though. There are many ways to track it but, in our opinion, surveys offer the most accurate results.
Tracking your brand’s mentions using Google Analytics is an easy way to track brand awareness, too. The more people search for your brand, the better your brand awareness. However, using Google Analytics requires your business to have a website – which brings us to…
3. Channel more traffic to your website
First of all, if your small business doesn’t already have a website, make it a priority. Statistics say that 84% of consumers believe that businesses with websites are more credible than those that only have social media pages. So, if you want your audience to trust you more, this is crucial!
Having said that, a goal you should have is for your social media to increase the traffic on your website. In essence, doing so already moves your audience further down the marketing funnel, inching them closer to becoming paying customers.
“How?”, you ask. Easy. Your website will be where purchases happen. So, the more people you send there, the more likely it is that you get sales. Think of your website as a shopping center while social media is the people you hire to spread the word.
Tracking traffic to your website is easy with Google Analytics. The tool even separates traffic from social media so you know exactly how well your campaigns are doing.
4. Improve customer service
Similar to boosting engagement, improving your customer service also helps create more depth in the relationship between your clinic and its customers.
See, social media gives people an outlet to vent out their thoughts and feelings – and that includes both positive and negative. For you, this just means that you get data that you can use to make your service better while reassuring your customers that you’re taking steps to fix their issues.
Social listening can help you track mentions of your business anywhere online, so we highly recommend you use it to bolster your customer service. Plus, it helps you find leads.
5. Position your PT clinic and staff as experts
You already know this but you’re not the only physical therapist in the vicinity. Your clinic isn’t the only one that can help people move better. You have competition.
The silver lining here, though, is that your presence in social media can help put you in a position to be seen as a thought leader. This helps you stand out from your competition which would then increase the trust your audience has in your brand.
6. Generate more leads
The ultimate goal of any marketing campaign is to increase sales. Social media is no different.
One advantage social has over most other marketing methods, though, is that there are so many things you can do to generate more leads.
For example, targeted ads help you reach those who fit your buyer persona more accurately. You could also offer exclusive discounts on social to send more people to your product’s landing page. You could also build your email list using content on social media. The list just goes on and on.
Conclusion
In summary, establishing social media goals is essential for small businesses because they give your marketing efforts more direction. This, in turn, helps improve your strategies while also giving meaning to the data you gather.
Now, every brand will have its own goals but the ones I’ve listed above should be no-brainers. And, if you ever need help with your social media marketing, talk to us. We’re more than ready to help.
