Social Media - Is it worth it?

You’re putting all the effort in, but is it worth it? Evaluating your social media results is an important part of your marketing efforts. After all, what is the point if you aren’t seeing results?

You need to consider what your aim is. Is it to get new enquiries? Maybe it’s a way of keeping in touch with current families? Or do you just want to keep an up-to-date professional presence, a bit like a shop window?

The first thing we check with all settings is what platforms they are using and where they are seeing their enquiries come from. In almost all of them, Facebook is a frontrunner, with Instagram following closely behind. Twitter and LinkedIn? Great if you have the time, but if not, then prioritise.

If you want to get more detail on what is working for your setting, we advise looking at Facebook’s Insights. These tell you what posts are working well for you and if they are hitting your target demographic by age and area, etc. If they are, then great. If not, then something needs tweaking.

Look back at some of your posts and check you are including a clear call to action. This could be a ‘Message us now’ or a link click to your website. If you have included one, did you get the desired result? For a post that includes pictures of the children engaging in role play, your desired outcome may purely be likes, and that’s fine too. The important thing is to evaluate your content and make sure it is working.

When you have had an opportunity to collate this information, the results need to direct your marketing. Post more of what is working well, tweak the ones that aren’t and re-evaluate to see if what you changed worked. It can sometimes be the simplest of things, a different style of image, or a clear call to action. The most crucial part is to make sure the time you spend planning and executing your marketing plan is time well spent and is getting the results you desire.

• Nicola Read is owner of social media management company Babbl, www.babbl.co.uk