It’s budget time: 3 tips to show social media’s value

It’s budgeting season—prime time to show the value of your social media efforts.

Here are three insights to help you showcase your impact before 2020 allocations are locked in:

1. Speak to your executives’ level. “Tailor data to your stakeholders just like you tailor content to different audiences,” says Cisco senior social media and talent brand manager Carmen Collins.

Don’t underwhelm or overwhelm. Know who wants what.

“The ‘big cheese’ needs a 10,000-foot view, so you might include follower growth and highlights,” Collins says. “A team manager needs a 5,000-foot view, so you might also add reach and engagement. And your social team needs an ‘in the weeds’ view that digs deeper with clicks, ‘likes’ and content trends.”

2. Don’t fight the sales funnel; use it. Of course, these types of engagement metrics alone won’t impress more budget-minded bosses.

“Most execs also want to see business impact, not ‘likes,’” says Collins, “but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to show that a tweet drove a sale.”

Citing social media’s overall impact on the sales funnel is smarter and more realistic than trying to show sales causality.