No one would argue that Inbound Social Media has radically changed the way business is performed today. The customer now has a voice, a loud one, and businesses have demonstrated that by embracing this change, they can benefit from it.

Inbound Social media usage dominates overall internet usage. Today social media internet activity accounts for one out of every six minutes spent online. Here are a few things to keep in mind for your next campaign.

Set Clear and Measurable Goals for Each Inbound Social Media Campaign

What is the goal of your campaign? Are you looking to drive leads who will become customers? Are you looking to provide warm leads with valuable information so they convert to hot leads? Whatever your goal is you need to be sure they fit the SMART guidelines:

• Specific - Why is this inbound social media campaign important to you? How does it contribute to your overarching goal?
• Measureable - If your goal is leads, how many leads? Is your content engaging and is the offer highly relevant? Do you have the proper analytics software in place to gather and evaluate results?
• Attainable - In your wildest dreams you imagine 100% of your readers react exactly as you intend them to act. Realistically, they won't. With that in mind, what is a realistic, attainable goal that you can feel successful accomplishing?
• Relevant - Is your inbound social media campaign actually relevant to your goals? Does it make sense to create a Facebook Like Page about global warming when what you really want is for your leads to request a consultation and become a customer? How does a free iPad even fit into what they're trying to do?
• Timely - What is the timeline for accomplishing this goal? Is this a top priority? If it's not, what goals make sense to focus on first?test