Thursday is guest post day here at Duct Tape Marketing and today’s guest is Mickie Kennedy – Enjoy!

It’s easy to get lost in the social media juggernaut that is Facebook. Between all the status postings, helpful links, and Instagram pictures of your food (um, scratch that last one), are you actually bringing any business in? How do you check if your efforts have been worth it and you’re actively bringing in real money to your company?

Know Your Goals

It’s always best to take the first step when you know where you’re going. Exploiting Facebook for PR purposes is no different. Was your conquest of the social media powerhouse to bring in as many potential customers as possible, or are you focusing on filling a niche? Would it benefit to switch your focus?

It may sound simplistic, but the majority of people attempting to utilize Facebook to its fullest simply aren’t when they blindly post links and updates. Having a clear focus for your business on Facebook can help you realize what is working and isn’t. Evaluate and re-direct if necessary.

Keep in mind if something works the first time it doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll work again. It’s a constant process to keep your goals updated and your actions reflective of them. However, if you know what the ultimate aim is for your company, it’s easier to stay up on it.

Does Your Current Direction Equal Capital?

After analyzing your focus, a quick look at your numbers can give you an idea on the effectiveness of your current campaign. Take a finite amount of time, say a month, and check to see how much or little things have changed after you redirection.

Perhaps your custom bonsai tree business seems to be stagnant lately. As this has a decidedly niche customer base, you decide that your current strategy of mass updates about proper cultivation techniques isn’t working. Instead, you focus your time on posting in bonsai or gardening related Facebook groups. After a month, you notice a slight incline in sales. Now you can narrow it down further to see which was more effective.

Some Handy Dandy Applications

First of all, make sure you are utilizing Facebook Insights to the fullest. The Facebook development team has improved Insights over th

e years, meaning that you can poke, prod and fine tune your analytic data more than ever. This can really give you an idea what your growth arc is and in what areas you can improve.

One useful app is Adobe Marketing Cloud. It analyzes hits and use of applications down to the nth degree, including if people are sharing your links and reposting any images. It also breaks down users into how many friends they have, showing you the potential for garnering a wide audience.

Also make sure to check out Adobe Social. Boasting its real time functionality, the application is used both as an analysis program and a front-end for Facebook. Call it a one stop shop. You can even use it to moderate any fan pages you’ve set up, and of course analyze them as well!

By Mickie Kennedy, founder of eReleases, the online leader in affordable PR distribution since 1998.   Grab your free copy of Ultimate Guide to Pinterest here, a must-read for the small business professional. Follow eReleases on Google+, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter.