Measuring your

social media

marketing effortsHint: Size isn’t everything

Natalie Henry

@henrynatalie

April 2010

It looks like fun

but like any relationship,

it takes effort.

The issue:

The focus of social media is on building and nurturing

relationships. Old school sales-related rules don’t

necessarily apply. Those rules hinge on quantifiable

ROI.

And why aren’t they effective

for measuring social media

efforts?

Measuring social media

initiatives with old

school methods

does not capture the way

‘word of mouse’ travels.

Doing so also inhibits

participation.

Steps we need to

take before we can

start measuring

Don’t worry there are only five of them.

1. Build concrete goals i.e.

What do you want social

media to do for your

company or a particular

project?

Be S-M-A-R-T about it.

2. What’s the plan? How

do you plan to fulfill the

goals? This action plan

should complement the

marketing strategy.

3. Implementation and

execution: It’s time to put

the plan into action. When

doing so, consistency is key.LISTEN ► LEARN ► CONVERSE ► TWEAK ► REPEAT

4. Measuring results:

You put in the time and

effort, now what?

Five separate metrics (These aren’t definitive.)

>Reach

>Frequency and Traffic

>Influence

>Conversions and Transactions

>Sustainability

5. Keep talking. Regular

interaction is vital. We can’t

just write an article, post a

blog entry or finish a

campaign and call it a day.

This is relationship building folks –

not chitchat in the elevator.

Time to sum it up• Size is irrelevant

• Create SMART goals

• Build and execute an action plan aka

LISTEN ► LEARN ► CONVERSE ►

TWEAK ► REPEAT

• Measure selected metrics in above goals.

• Keep talking (listening and tinkering).

Reminder: You must begin with

determining your objectives

and then apply metrics

according.

Here’s a cheat sheet to get you started:

100 ways to measure social media http://www.marketersstudio.com/2009/11/100-ways-to-measure-social-

media-.html

Parting thought:

Should you ask ‘What's the

ROI of your efforts?’ or

‘What value are you

creating for people via

social media?’

Thanks for listening.

Natalie Henry

@henrynatalie

Sources

Measurement Strategies for 5 Social Media Goals (PR Communications) - John Cass

Are We Too Worried with Finding the ROI of Social Media? (The Viral Garden)

100 Ways to Measure Social Media (Inside the Marketers Studio/David Berkowitz)?

The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web by Tamar Weinburg

Lose Control of Your Marketing: Why marketing ROI measures Lead to Failure by David Meerman

Scott

Social Media: Who Can Show Us the Real Value? (Econsultancy)

Cheers to Social Media by Simon Baptist and Dylan Fuller (Slideshare presentation)

Oliver Blanchard Basics of Social Media ROI (Slideshare presentation)

Social Media Networking and ROI: How to Maximize Value and Minimize Cost

Images: Creative Commons