Social media can disrupt your workflow, but it can also be a powerful tool for growing your practice. So how do you tell the difference between a social media campaign that converts followers into clients, and a time wasting stream of distracting notifications? Luckily, there are methods to help you quantify the cost effectiveness of the time that you invest posting, tweeting, and liking.
Here are some questions that can help you evaluate the cost effectiveness of your social media engagement:
What is the lifetime value of your client?
How much business will come with each client that you convert? This figure will vary greatly depending on your firm’s practice area, and you should think about whether the same person will likely return to you or refer business in the future. Keep in mind that a client’s value should not be judged simply by what you can bill on the incident matter. A single immigration client, for example, might generate a cascade of business by referring her entire extended family to your firm. Assess the likelihood that your clients will need your expertise again in the future or refer business, then try to realistically quantify the value that each client represents.
What is your cost per client acquisition?
How much are you spending in total on offline marketing? What percentage of your clients find your firm from offline marketing, and how much are you spending on traditional marketing per new client? Try to calculate this figure so that you can compare it with the per client cost of social media engagement.
What is your cost per social engagement?
Cost per social engagement describes the return on your posts and comments in terms of likes, comments, shares and new followers. Do your Facebook and Linkedin posts regularly receive likes and comments? Are your tweets being retweeted? How often do you gain a new fan from your social media activity? It’s worth your time to become familiar with the analytical tools that each platform makes available to you as a user, this way you can have an accurate picture of the impact your social media use has on business development.
What is your cost per new follower?
Cost per follower is a metric that calculates the average advertising expense per new follower for your promoted content such as tweets, Facebook posts, Facebook Pages, LinkedIn ad campaigns. Each website has tools within their campaign sections that will either automatically calculate your cost per follower, or provide you with the necessary information for your own calculation.
How much time are you spending on social networks?
Don’t forget to calculate the greatest expense: your time. What is the opportunity cost that you accrue by spending your time on social media? Are you managing that time efficiently? Think of your time on social media in terms of billable hours, but remember that it is an investment that can yield exponential returns.
With the answers to these questions you’ll have a much clearer picture of your social media impact and the effectiveness of your current strategy. If you find that your social media use is returning value, then keep doing what you’re doing. If the numbers are lackluster, it may be time to revaluate your approach.
