Is there a direct measurable return on investment? These are fundamental questions that every business owner must address before spending their hard earned cash on social media marketing services.

In content marketing, you always have to keep your eye on the end game: turning readers into revenue. Building and engaging your audience is an important part of a good digital marketing strategy, but it’s only the beginning.

When you use social media properly, you get to know potential customers, and they get to know you. You build trust and authority with your responses and build loyalty by getting personal (but not creepy). This may result in a sale today or years down the line.

Accoridng to Joey, “Social media is useless unless there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Your content is the cornerstone of your marketing. When you share graphics and engage in witty repartee, the purpose is to gain interest and to entice people to want to learn more. But while a great visual may get you lots of shares, it’s not going to convert customers. When they get to your site, your content has to be as interesting as the post that attracted them. While social media is often compared to fishing, people are not fish. A shiny lure might get their attention, but the hook has to be baited with the real thing or the fish swims away. Content is the real thing.”

Furthermore, Hickson says targeting can be tricky. You have to really know your audience. One of the most powerful and often overlooked weapons for brick-and-mortar businesses or event campaigns is Facebook’s local ad targeting. When you know who and where your potential customers are, the ROI on Facebook ads can be insane.