How do you track and reward social media advocates?

1 Define your goals and criteria

Before you start tracking and rewarding your social media advocates, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and how you will measure it. Do you want to increase your brand awareness, traffic, leads, sales, or referrals? What are the key performance indicators (KPIs) that you will use to evaluate your success? For example, you might track the number of mentions, shares, comments, likes, clicks, or conversions that your advocates generate. You also need to define what makes someone an advocate for your brand. Is it the frequency, quality, or reach of their engagement? Is it the type of content they share or the tone they use? You can use different criteria for different segments of your audience, depending on your goals and strategies.

2 Use tools and platforms

Tracking and rewarding your social media advocates can be challenging, especially if you have a large and diverse following. Fortunately, there are tools and platforms that can help you automate and simplify the process. For example, you can use social media analytics tools, such as Sprout Social, Hootsuite, or Buffer, to monitor your social media metrics and identify your most engaged and influential followers. You can also use social listening tools, such as Mention, Brandwatch, or BuzzSumo, to track the sentiment, topics, and keywords that your advocates use when talking about your brand. Additionally, you can use advocacy platforms, such as Influitive, BzzAgent, or Ambassify, to create and manage campaigns, challenges, and rewards for your advocates.

3 Offer value and recognition

One of the best ways to reward your social media advocates is to offer them value and recognition. Value can be anything that your advocates find useful, relevant, or interesting, such as exclusive content, discounts, freebies, or access to events or features. Recognition can be anything that shows your appreciation and gratitude, such as shout-outs, testimonials, badges, or leaderboards. You can also use gamification techniques, such as points, levels, or achievements, to motivate and engage your advocates. The key is to align your rewards with your goals and your advocates' preferences and behaviors. You can also ask them for feedback and suggestions on how to improve your reward program.

4 Build relationships and communities

Another way to reward your social media advocates is to build relationships and communities with them. Relationships are based on trust, respect, and communication. You can foster relationships with your advocates by responding to their comments and messages, asking for their opinions and feedback, and showing interest in their personal or professional lives. Communities are based on shared values, interests, and goals. You can create and nurture communities with your advocates by inviting them to join groups or forums, hosting events or webinars, or facilitating collaborations or co-creation. By building relationships and communities, you can increase your advocates' loyalty, satisfaction, and advocacy.

5 Test and optimize

Finally, you need to test and optimize your tracking and rewarding system regularly. You need to analyze your data and results to see what works and what doesn't. You need to measure the impact of your rewards on your KPIs and your return on investment (ROI). You need to adjust your goals and criteria as your brand and audience evolve. You need to experiment with different types of rewards and formats to see what resonates with your advocates. You need to keep learning from your advocates and your competitors to find new ways to track and reward them effectively.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?