Social media metrics: start with overarching corporate goals
Measuring corporate social media value? Tough assignment. But a necessary one when every dollar counts. The trick is to map back to overarching corporate goals first, then work toward objectives for social media in support of those goals.
Chris Brogan says social media has entered the "prove it" era. I agree.
It's a tough challenge to show how Twitter or blogging can tie back to the corporate bottom line. But with every marketing dollar under the microscope now, it's a necessity.
A big problem with the corporate adoption and acceptance of social media today is that it is hard to talk about. The metrics are not available in a common blueprint. TV metrics are easy and comfortable. Direct mail metrics are easy and comfortable. To a lesser degree, even search engine marketing metrics are pretty straightforward. But social media? Still feels mushy. Still feels wild west. It's hard to discuss and digest that across a broad internal corporate audience.
I don't think there's any single magic answer, except maybe this: you have to start with your overarching strategic goals for the company. From there it gets easier to set strategy and quantifiable goals for social media in support of those overarching corporate objectives.
Trying to figure out how to set and measure goals for social media? Here are some links that can help:
- Social media marketing industry report. Helps you understand the questions other marketers are asking about social media.
- ClickZ article on social media metrics. Argues that a dynamic trend - how your message builds over time - is a better way to measure social media effectiveness than static numbers such as reach and frequency.
- Brief slideshow on social media metrics. This preso says to think of social media metrics in terms of two buckets: influence and engagement.
- A post at Webwalker. Lays out ten communication objectives for any marketing channel and some metrics for measurement. These metrics can be tied back to social media goals.
- Massive list of social media metric strategies and tools. I'll stop here. This is a tremendous list.