However, building an audience is only the first step in applying metrics to determine the return on investment in social media marketing. To make social media marketing pay off, you'll need to actively engage the target audience in your marketing activities.
The third step, illustrated above in a diagram by Jamie Turner for Mashable, shows that social media marketing is a long-term activity. To earn a real return on social media marketing, you have to convert your followers/fans/viewers to actual customers and retain their loyalty.
Research suggests that consumers are more likely to buy from brands that they are followers or fans of. Over time, if you actively engage your audience via social media marketing and listen to their comments as much as you post your own, you'll be better positioned for higher revenue and a positive return on investment.
