Lead Generation with Social Media Marketing – How to Measure the Results

By now you've probably heard all the buzz about social media and how it can drive leads for your business. But when it comes to small business marketing, I'm going to assume that your budget is not unlimited. You need to know that every dollar you spend will bring at least $1.01 to your bottom line. So you might have been a little hesitant to dive into social media for lead generation because you weren't sure how to track or measure the results. If that sounds like you, I've got some great tips to share with you.

** Use link shortening to measure lead generation.

One problem with social media is that long URLs can take up too much room in your post (especially if you're using Twitter). With many link shortening services, not only can you create smaller links, but you'll also be able to track how many clicks they're getting. Several link shorteners have excellent built-in analytics programs that provide all sorts of practical information you can use to measure your social media lead generation program. I particularly like cli.gs and clicky – but there are new link shortening services popping up almost daily, so look around for one that fits your needs and your budget.

** Take advantage of Facebook Insights.

Facebook Insights provides easy-to-follow information on how many new fans you've received, how much activity has been happening on your fan page wall, and how it compares to your historical data. By comparing this information to your small business marketing activities, you'll be able to infer which activities have been drawing the attention of your target audience and have been the most responsible for lead generation.

** Encourage your visitors to share.

AddThis goes above and beyond the typical "tweet this" or "like" buttons that you may have seen on other websites. The AddThis service offers tremendous analytics that will show you what content has been shared, how much traffic was brought back to your website, how individual pages have been shared, where your links have been spread, etc. And it can even be incorporated into Google Analytics. You might need a little technical help to get it implemented on your website, but the few bucks you'll have to pay your tech guy will be more than worth it.

** And speaking of Google Analytics...

Sometimes we have a tendency to overcomplicate things and we forget about the easy tools that are already at our disposal. Your current implementation of Google Analytics can be very useful in measuring the success of your social media engagement. Take a look at your traffic sources report. How many visitors are coming from Facebook? Twitter? Social bookmarking sites? While you've got your tech guy installing the AddThis button, have him create a custom Analytics report to specifically measure your social media marketing activities and lead generation success.

** Try a dedicated phone number.

Just like URL shorteners, there are trackable phone number services popping up every day. Most of these services will provide you with a unique phone number that rings into your current phone line. The value is that each call is trackable, so when you use the dedicated phone number only in your social media marketing campaigns, you'll be able to measure how effective your social media efforts are. The phone numbers are relatively inexpensive, and usually much more reliable than remembering to ask "how did you hear about us" with every phone call.

It's important to remember that social media is simply a tool that can be added to your small business marketing toolbox. Social media won't turn your leads into sales and it won't do your marketing for you. So it's important to track and measure your social media ROI to ensure that you're spending your time in efforts on the most productive activities that result in the best lead generation.