Regardless of your niche, your blog may look old in a matter of a few minutes. The Internet is teeming with information and activities are done at a frenzied pace such that the landscape is always on a perpetual change mode. This is the reason why your blog can easily be dumped and pushed by the wayside if you don’t maintain a high level of vigilance. In fact, there is an article or content for almost every topic that visitors may ask and look for. That is why it is important that you devise ways to maintain a consistent stream of visitors to your blog page. You can achieve this if you maintain fresh content on a consistent basis. You must work on the proper branding of your blog and the company that you represent so that clients will find enough reason to visit your blog and support your business.

When starting a blog, it is very important that you determine a specific niche that you will be mainly writing about. There is a vast range of topics that you may write about however it is recommended that you only focus on a particular subject in order to have consistent visitors. In this way, you can easily set yourself and your blog apart from the rest of blogs out there. Try as much as possible to be unique and original. This will attract more visitors who want something new and fresh to visit your page.

Even if you have a good background on your chosen niche, it is recommended that you practice due diligence. You must consistently hone your knowledge and competency on the niche that you are in. Show your target clients that you have the confidence and authority in presenting information of value. You should not only research about the information that you will be including in your blog, but also know the things that your competitors are providing and doing in their own web pages. The market is tough but you will eventually devise the right system in getting readers to consistently read your blog. With focus and patience, you will achieve an eminent position in your niche and establish your expertise on specific subjects and concerns that are most important to your target clients.

After establishing your reputation on the web, you have to exert efforts in developing a strong and dedicated link with your target clients. There are several ways that you can adopt in order to spread the word about your blog. Social networks and video service like YouTube are few of the popular mediums that you can tap to attract attention to your blog. Make interesting videos or catchy tag lines get the attention of potential clients and get them to visit your page. The Internet is awash with a lot of opportunities and alternatives so that you can achieve your Internet marketing goals. Adopt a consistent marketing strategy and you will be able to build a strong following in just a short period of time.

It is also important that you continue to update your blog so that you remain relevant in the eyes of your target audience. Failing to update your blog even for just a day may significantly affect your blog.

Accountants that are using Social Media for business have either recognized and set specific goals that they expect to achieve, or at a minimum have anticipated general benefits that they feel they will realize from using it as a tool in their accounting firm. To find out if your strategy has been successful and is attaining the desired results you must quantify some things over time and measure your Return on Investment (ROI). So we now have to determine, is there an appropriate way of measuring the ROI of Social Media?

Business strategists say that everything that is done for and within the parameters of a business’s activity has to be measurable. Unless social media can be measured, its effectiveness as a business tool remains questionable. The argument for the measurement of everything, including social marketing expenditures, is that it provides a basis and a guide for decision makers whether or not to increase the budgetary requirements in the future. These statistics or measurements are used to calculate a “value” or perceived benefit that is being realized, your Return on Investment (ROI).

Wikipedia defines Return on Investment as: “The ratio of money gained or lost (whether realized or unrealized) on an investment relative to the amount of money invested.” Simply put, the definition of ROI is already in itself — a (1) RETURN on (2) INVESTMENT. But this definition is limiting because it is based purely on the assumption that there is an amount of money invested. Hence, the expected return is also an X amount of money.

In measuring the ROI in Social Media Marketing, assumptions can be easily skewed because there is no “monetary” investment, it is technically free. Does this mean that if there is no money “invested” that there is no tangible return to measure? The answer is no. The investment comes in a different form, your time. We can apply the same principles used to measure financial ROI to calculate the ROI of your non-monetary investments.

The first crucial step that every accounting firm must take is to set clear goals and expectations for their social media strategy. It will be difficult if not impossible to determine if you are making progress if you really have no idea of where you are going, or what you expect to achieve.

Baseline measurements must be obtained before you begin to track and monitor your progress. You must know where your accounting firm stands before you begin. Where are you today? You will be unable to measure your progress if you don’t know where you started.

In Social Media, a lot of your activities are based on human interactions and conversations on your firm’s Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn sites. These types of interactions are not easily measured. In this case your firm will need to rely on a variety of statistical tools to accumulate your “metrics”.

Being Accountants, we love to play with numbers. A quick tip: Metrics alone will not provide you with a clear ROI measurement. You will need to use the metrics to recognize the trends and correlate them to activities within your business. Some examples of trends that Accounting Firm Partners might want to look out for.

Example 1: Your Accounting Firm Partner’s Twitter page’s followers increased 100% from the previous month – did this correlate to an increase in inquiries for your Accounting Firm’s services?

Example 2: Are your fans or friends on your Facebook site proceeding to your Accounting Firm’s corporate website after checking you out on your Social Network? After which, how many new clients did you get?

In closing, remember that measuring the ROI of Social Media is unlike any other typical calculation. You must first begin with clear goals and expectations, and baseline measurements. While “metrics” are required, they are not the sole determination of success. These numbers must be used to determine trends and correlation of these trends to changes in your business. You will then be able to make informed decisions about adjustments to your strategy for the benefit of your accounting firm.