There's no point in starting a social media campaign without a goal in mind. After all, would you start a business without a goal? Would the U.S. Olympic Gymnastic team win all of their medals without a goal in mind? Here are 3 Ways to Practice Social Media Like an Olympic Champion.

3 Ways to Practice Social Media Like an Olympic Champion

Social Media Strategy

You can't just throw out a wide net on social media platforms and hope for the best. You need a strategy in place. Here's a quick overview of how to create a social media marketing plan for best results:

Click here to find out if your social media strategy is working for you.

#1 Define Your Goals

Here are some examples of Social Media goals you should consider from Troels Kjems at Think Digital:

• New followers

• Clicks on link in update

• Online purchases

• Filled out contact form

• Signups for newsletter

• Downloads of .PDF file

• Time spent on important webpage

#2 Track Your Goals

Google Analytics is how most companies track their online progress these days. It's easy and takes you through steps to help you track your investment. SproutSocial says if your goal is conversion from a destination page, you need to make sure the URL is not indexed in Google, so that the only way for someone to land on it is by going through your email signup process. Otherwise you could potentially mess up your data.

#3 Assign a Monetary Value

Buffer.com offers the following list to help you assign monetary value to your goals.

• Lifetime value – How much do you earn on average from a customer? (There’s a quick calculator here, and a helpful article here.)

• Lifetime value, multiplied by conversion rate – How much is each potential visit worth to you?

• Average sale – How much is the average purchase through your site?

• PPC (Pay-per-click) – How much would you end up paying if you were to use ads to achieve the same social media actions?

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Measuring Your Social Media ROI

The social media management company, Sprout Social, gives 3 reasons why it's important to track your social media ROI:

• You’ll see where you can improve your efforts

• You’ll be able to decide which social media channels are bringing in the most revenue for you

• You’ll see how specific changes impact your social media goals

Why Digital Marketing is Incredibly Important to Your Business

Margaret Croom, the Digital Marketing Director of eWomen Digital Advantage explains why and how you can use your online marketing like a champion:

First why digital marketing?

• Real-time customer service

• Know your customers online behavior

• Save a bunch of money

• Build loyal fans

 Comment below on how your digital marketing is (or isn't) working for you.

DIGITAL MARKETING IS …

• Vitally important for your small business to give you the best chance to compete, survive and grow.

• It levels the playing field.  You can reach your target market with a small budget.

• Better and more cost effective than traditional marketing methods.

• 100% trackable which leads to more conversions and sales.

If you want to learn more about the effectiveness of your own digital marketing strategy and/or how to develop one that works for you, Click here.