Category Archives: Home Improvement

Can Accountants Measure the ROI of Social Media?

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Accountants that are using Social Media for business have either recognized and set specific goals that they expect to achieve, or at a minimum have anticipated general benefits that they feel they will realize from using it as a tool in their accounting firm. To find out if your strategy has been successful and is attaining the desired results you must quantify some things over time and measure your Return on Investment (ROI). So we now have to determine, is there an appropriate way of measuring the ROI of Social Media?

Business strategists say that everything that is done for and within the parameters of a business’s activity has to be measurable. Unless social media can be measured, its effectiveness as a business tool remains questionable. The argument for the measurement of everything, including social marketing expenditures, is that it provides a basis and a guide for decision makers whether or not to increase the budgetary requirements in the future. These statistics or measurements are used to calculate a “value” or perceived benefit that is being realized, your Return on Investment (ROI).

Wikipedia defines Return on Investment as: “The ratio of money gained or lost (whether realized or unrealized) on an investment relative to the amount of money invested.” Simply put, the definition of ROI is already in itself — a (1) RETURN on (2) INVESTMENT. But this definition is limiting because it is based purely on the assumption that there is an amount of money invested. Hence, the expected return is also an X amount of money.

In measuring the ROI in Social Media Marketing, assumptions can be easily skewed because there is no “monetary” investment, it is technically free. Does this mean that if there is no money “invested” that there is no tangible return to measure? The answer is no. The investment comes in a different form, your time. We can apply the same principles used to measure financial ROI to calculate the ROI of your non-monetary investments.

The first crucial step that every accounting firm must take is to set clear goals and expectations for their social media strategy. It will be difficult if not impossible to determine if you are making progress if you really have no idea of where you are going, or what you expect to achieve.

Baseline measurements must be obtained before you begin to track and monitor your progress. You must know where your accounting firm stands before you begin. Where are you today? You will be unable to measure your progress if you don’t know where you started.

In Social Media, a lot of your activities are based on human interactions and conversations on your firm’s Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn sites. These types of interactions are not easily measured. In this case your firm will need to rely on a variety of statistical tools to accumulate your “metrics”.

Being Accountants, we love to play with numbers. A quick tip: Metrics alone will not provide you with a clear ROI measurement. You will need to use the metrics to recognize the trends and correlate them to activities within your business. Some examples of trends that Accounting Firm Partners might want to look out for.

Example 1: Your Accounting Firm Partner’s Twitter page’s followers increased 100% from the previous month – did this correlate to an increase in inquiries for your Accounting Firm’s services?

Example 2: Are your fans or friends on your Facebook site proceeding to your Accounting Firm’s corporate website after checking you out on your Social Network? After which, how many new clients did you get?

In closing, remember that measuring the ROI of Social Media is unlike any other typical calculation. You must first begin with clear goals and expectations, and baseline measurements. While “metrics” are required, they are not the sole determination of success. These numbers must be used to determine trends and correlation of these trends to changes in your business. You will then be able to make informed decisions about adjustments to your strategy for the benefit of your accounting firm.

Start Up Internet Marketing Guide

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If you are thinking of starting a business online, here in this start-up internet marketing guide you will discover how to do so and successfully design and generate an income on the internet. Contrary to belief, it is not hard to generate an income from the internet, what matters is that you set up the right structure and adhere to a system that will enable you to do so without breaking your back or your wallet.

Congratulations for taking the first stride in developing yourself and ensuring you successful in your internet marketing endeavors by researching and reading reviews, tips and tricks offered by the people already having success in the industry. There are numerous ways to start out in this area of business that may seem overwhelming to analyze, but it is important that you do so in order to educate ones self on what one truly needs and which tools one will us.

Have you ever written a blog, commented on a forum or made a tweet? So many people are in touch with the social media out there online, the only thing that they fail to do is to convert their online activities, whether writing about their experiences and reviews of numerous products or services they may have used in their day-to-day lives. Equally so many people are constantly browsing online, looking for that product review, that added suggestion that you may have written before making a purchase as a motivated buyer online.

The above method describes one of the easiest methods and avenues to making an income online without spending a single penny. If you want to do so:

  • research for a profitable niche to go into. It will not be profitable if not frustrating to launch yourself into a niche that may not have the traffic to convert your efforts into a revenue.
  • After selecting the niche, research on the products you may be able to promote. Are they good and off high value to the potential consumer?
  • Draw up a list of key words surrounding the product or service you wish to promote and discover micro-niches that may exist and are untapped. note down associate key word phrases that may be relevant the niche. These may be two to three word long catch phrases that would be commonly used by the customer in their search queries.
  • You may opt to write an eBook about the given subject. This is one of many methods through which one may entice the potential customer into purchasing an affiliate product through your site through the value you may offer to them.