How many times have you heard “We’ve got 500 followers on Twitter and we’re on Facebook; we’re on top of social media!”?

For someone who is just being introduced to social media, hearing terms such as “followers”, “likes” and “subscribers” might be enough to impress them enough to think that a social media campaign is successful. But is that all that really matters? Followers, likes and subscribers?

More and more businesses and non-profits are starting social media campaigns. They may be small campaigns run by the office manager when they have a free moment or major campaigns with PR Firms where thousands of dollars are spent, but they all want the same thing: results.

Regardless of most people think, social media is not free. It takes time, manpower, equipment, and internet access to name a few and we all know that businesses speak in dollars. That’s why it’s important to track your social media campaign. Not only to make sure that it will still be funded, but tracking helps you find out what your followers want and if your campaign is generating any new business or traffic.

There are several software programs and web-based services available that help you track your social media campaign. Some include:

• Hootsuite (my personal favorite for business use, but only tracks links with their URL shortener)
• URL Shorteners like: Bit.ly (only tracks links)
• SWIX (this program will actually also track your ROI if you input the cost)
• Radian6
• Spiral16
• Or check out this master list of Social Media monitoring tools.

But it’s not enough just checking to see how many followers, likes or views you’re getting. Using the data that you can obtain through the above service, you can check it against your website analytics to see if people really are going to your site.

Another great way to monitor your campaign is to have a simple “How did you hear about us?” question on your sign up forms.

This all may seem like common sense, but unfortunately monitoring often gets pushed to the side in this time of “Right Here, Right Now” mentality. We can get so consumed with getting the word out, that you might not realize who you’re getting the word out to and if it's reaching anyone at all.

If you’re interested in starting a social media campaign, or would like to have some coaching/strategy on the topic. Please feel free to contact me at art@shanniesart.com.