Even if you’re a social media maven – and especially if you are not – the connection between social media and your real-world business can sometimes be difficult to make.
For this reason, I’ve taken to making a comparison for business leaders who find themselves struggling with the concept of determining a return on investment for social media.
It goes like this: Whatever business you are in, the real-world place where you hang your hat, bang your metal, offer health care, etc., etc., is your “geographic storefront.” Even if you’re a business-to-business company, you have a physical presence somewhere, admittedly not a “retail storefront.”
On the Internet, your website is your “digital storefront.” It’s the online equivalent of the physical, geographic location of your business. To get to your real-world business, you take roads and highways. On the Internet, you take roads and highways as well – except we know these highways as social media channels, such as Facebook or LinkedIn or Twitter or YouTube.
In this context, just like roadside billboards, the social media content your business shares on social media channels is the digital equivalent of the signs pointing potential customers to your business in the real world.
With apologies to the country band Rascal Flatts, this is why life (and business) is a highway on the Internet, especially in social media. What we’re talking about here is the strategic planning and sharing of content that’s enticing to the potential customers (or other stakeholders) your business most wants to reach.
Usually when I get this far in my comparison, my audience begins to get it. I can see the glimmer in the eyes and the nod of acknowledgement. It rings a bell. And this is great. But it’s not enough.
The ROI from social media begins with remarkable content that brings people to your digital storefront. It requires more than just strangers hanging around the storefront. You want them to become regular visitors, to become interested in what it is you do, to buy from you, and ideally, to become promoters of what you do.
That’s why all social media roads can lead to your website but once you’ve got folks in the store, you have to figure out how to keep them there. In the 21st century, this is the science of inbound marketing.
Inbound marketing is about turning strangers into website visitors, then into prospects, leads, customers and ultimately, promoters of what you do.
Inbound marketing begins when your business attracts strangers looking for what you do (or answers to the problems you solve) via Google search or on social media. What they see or read or experience from that “highway sign” content you provide, gets them to your website.
Once they’re there, you’ve got to provide an exchange of worthwhile information to educate these strangers and engage them in a way that they come back again and again and become customers or otherwise engage with you on a continuing basis.
This requires the creation of remarkable content – informational and educational content of value that begins to build a dialogue with a potential customer that can be nurtured into a true relationship.
This is the essence of inbound marketing, which you can learn more about on our site here, by reading our previous blogs on inbound marketing here, and by downloading our guide to the practice of inbound marketing.
Life is indeed a highway, and when it comes to business and social media, you can make great use of those highways known as social media channels if you’re willing to focus on the creation of remarkable content.
Paul Furiga is president and CEO of WordWrite Communications. You can find him on Twitter @paulfuriga. 
