Even though Google Plus (Google+) was discontinued in 2019, measuring the return on investment (ROI) from social media marketing efforts is a fundamental skill that can be applied across platforms such as Google Business Profiles, Facebook, LinkedIn, and others. The strategies used to measure ROI on Google Plus remain relevant and can be adapted to current social media channels. This guide will walk you through how to measure the ROI of your social media marketing efforts, using concepts that could have applied to Google Plus and how to apply them today.

1. Define Your Marketing Goals

Before measuring ROI, it’s crucial to have clear, specific marketing goals. Your goals will determine how you measure success and evaluate ROI. These goals can vary based on your business needs and could include:

• Increasing brand awareness
• Driving traffic to your website
• Generating leads
• Boosting sales or conversions
• Building engagement with your audience

For example, if your goal is to drive website traffic, then you should focus on metrics like click-through rates (CTR) from social posts, while if your goal is to generate sales, tracking conversion rates and revenue generated from social posts would be more relevant.

The clearer your goals, the easier it will be to identify the metrics that matter and measure ROI effectively.

2. Set Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Once you’ve established your marketing goals, the next step is to set Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that will help you track progress and evaluate ROI. KPIs are measurable values that demonstrate how effectively your marketing efforts are achieving specific objectives.

Common KPIs for social media marketing include:

• Engagement rates (likes, shares, comments)
• Follower growth
• Traffic to your website (measured via Google Analytics or similar tools)
• Conversion rates (percentage of visitors who take a desired action)
• Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
• Revenue generated from social campaigns

Each of these KPIs can provide valuable insights into the performance of your social media efforts and help you understand how your activity translates into tangible results.

For example, if your goal is to generate leads, you might track the number of sign-ups for a newsletter or free resource as a KPI. If your goal is sales, you would measure revenue generated from social media traffic.

3. Track Engagement and Reach Metrics

Social media engagement metrics are essential for understanding how your audience interacts with your content. While engagement metrics don’t directly indicate financial returns, they are important indicators of brand health, customer interest, and content resonance.

Key engagement metrics to track include:

• Likes or reactions
• Shares or reposts
• Comments and replies
• Mentions and tags
• Click-through rates (CTR)
• Impressions and reach (how many people saw your post)

These engagement metrics give you a sense of how well your content is performing in terms of capturing attention and prompting interaction. High engagement can increase brand awareness, while low engagement may indicate that your content isn’t resonating with your audience.

For example, on Google Plus, posts with high engagement were more likely to appear in users’ feeds, boosting visibility. Today, the same principle applies to platforms like Instagram, Twitter (X), and LinkedIn, where engagement can enhance organic reach.

4. Monitor Website Traffic and Conversions

One of the most direct ways to measure the ROI of your social media marketing efforts is by tracking the traffic that your posts generate for your website. Google Analytics or similar tracking tools can provide insights into how much traffic is coming from specific social media platforms and posts.

To track social media traffic effectively:

• Use UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) codes to tag your social media URLs. UTM codes allow you to track the performance of individual posts, campaigns, and platforms in Google Analytics.
• Monitor the “Acquisition” section of Google Analytics, which shows where your website visitors are coming from, including specific social media platforms.
• Pay attention to “Goal Conversions” or “Ecommerce” tracking in Google Analytics, which will show you how much traffic from social media results in conversions (sales, sign-ups, or other desired actions).

By analyzing social media traffic and conversions, you can directly attribute sales, leads, or other valuable actions to your marketing efforts.

For example, if your goal is to drive product sales, you can measure how much traffic from your social media posts ends up on product pages and how many visitors make a purchase. This direct link between social media activity and conversions is a key indicator of ROI.

5. Calculate Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is a critical metric for understanding how much you’re spending to acquire a new customer through your social media efforts. CAC is calculated by dividing the total cost of your marketing efforts by the number of new customers acquired.

To calculate CAC:

• Add up all the costs associated with your social media marketing campaigns. This includes costs like paid advertising, content creation, influencer fees, and any tools or platforms you’re using.
• Divide that total by the number of new customers acquired through those campaigns.

For example, if you spend $1,000 on social media marketing and acquire 10 new customers, your CAC would be $100 per customer.

Understanding your CAC helps you evaluate whether your social media marketing efforts are cost-effective and how they contribute to the overall profitability of your business. A lower CAC indicates better marketing efficiency, while a higher CAC may suggest the need to optimize your strategy.

6. Measure Revenue Generated from Social Media

One of the most direct ways to measure the ROI of your social media efforts is by tracking the revenue generated from social media campaigns. If you’re using an e-commerce platform, it’s possible to track how much revenue comes from visitors referred by social media platforms using tools like Google Analytics.

Here’s how to track revenue:

• Set up conversion tracking using UTM parameters or eCommerce tracking in Google Analytics.
• Measure the revenue generated from purchases made by users who visited your website from social media channels.
• Compare this revenue to the costs of your social media campaigns to calculate ROI.

For example, if you spend $500 on a social media ad campaign and generate $2,000 in sales directly from that campaign, your ROI would be calculated as:

This means you’re getting a 300% return on your investment.

7. Evaluate Long-Term Impact

While immediate results from social media efforts are important, it’s also crucial to consider the long-term impact of your social media marketing on brand loyalty, customer retention, and overall business growth. Some marketing activities may not drive immediate conversions but can build lasting relationships with your audience.

To evaluate long-term impact:

• Track customer lifetime value (CLV), which is the total revenue a customer is expected to generate over their lifetime.
• Monitor repeat customer rates and customer loyalty metrics. Engaging with your audience on social media can strengthen relationships and encourage repeat business.
• Measure how your brand awareness grows over time by tracking social media mentions, follower growth, and engagement trends.

Long-term brand awareness and loyalty can lead to higher customer retention rates, reduced marketing costs over time, and more sustainable revenue growth.

8. Compare Results Against Benchmarks

To fully understand the ROI of your social media efforts, you need to compare your results against industry benchmarks or past performance. This allows you to gauge whether your marketing efforts are improving over time and how they stack up against competitors.

For example:

• If your engagement rate on Google Plus was 3% but the industry average for your niche is 5%, you know there’s room for improvement.
• If you increased traffic from social media by 20% over the previous quarter, that’s a positive indicator of growth.

Comparing your metrics to benchmarks provides context for your performance and helps you identify areas for improvement.

9. Adapt and Optimize

Measuring ROI is an ongoing process, and the results you gather should inform future marketing strategies. If certain campaigns or types of content perform well, focus on scaling those efforts. If other strategies aren’t delivering results, consider refining or eliminating them.

Use the data from your ROI analysis to:

• Optimize ad spend for higher returns.
• Focus on the platforms that deliver the best results.
• Experiment with new content formats and messaging to improve engagement and conversions.