Social media is the marketing of the future! For small businesses, online businesses social media marketing is what is  really working now. But, is it working for you?

Recently I read a blog post with this quote: “The average small business owner does not get a sufficient return on social media efforts. Most put in too much time and resources for too little return.”

What a very interesting premise. Does that mean that social media isn’t working–or that business owners are not using it correctly? I believe the latter is correct.

Part of the problem is that you may be thinking of social media as a quick ad campaign that may last for 2-3 weeks. Social media doesn’t work that way. You can use social media to drive new traffic and attract new leads. But, it doesn’t happen overnight. It may take 3-6 months to see the outcome.

Track It

If you want to see if social media is really working for you–then track it.

• Look at your Google Analytics and really see where your traffic is coming from.
• If it is coming from one specific social media site (like Facebook) then put a little more time into that site.
• Track it for 3-6 months and see if you have a traffic increase

But, with this tracking, don’t forget that you need to put some time into your social media to make sure it is working. Don’t put all your time. Like the old saying “don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” But, social media IS the marketing device of the future so you want to make sure you are putting time into it.

At the end of the 3-6 months of tracking, you should be more clear on which sites are the best for your business and focus on those. This will clear up some time.

How do you track your social media campaigns?