Ah, measurement. How we love to have a gauge of whether what we’re doing is working or not. No more telling me that you can’t measure the impact of social media. Here’s a pile of metrics you can consider. Try benchmarking them before you start your online outreach or community efforts, and tracking them throughout and after.
Your Metrics Should Vary
As you embark on this list, you ought to work backwards. Start with your objective in mind, and from there, work back toward the measures and metrics most likely to drive toward that goal and support the intelligence you hope to gather. Measure those. You can’t and shouldn’t measure everything. You should measure the indicators and drivers of what you want to accomplish.
What You Might Measure
Revenue and Business Development: (benchmark before and after SM initiatives begin)
- Speed/length of sales cycle
- Number or % of Repeat customers
- % of Customer Retention
- Number of customer referrals (new business), net number of new leads
- Transaction value per customer
- Customer lifetime value
- Conversions from blog/email subs to leads or customers
- Website conversions for leads or sales
- Organic search rankings > converted leads
- % of Converted leads from online vs. offline sources
Potential Cost Savings:
- Shorter customer service/issue resolution time
- % of issues resolved via offline vs. online channels
- Number of support calls before/after outreach effort
- Recruiting costs through online presence (vs. recruiters)
- Training costs
- % of quarterly or annual customer/account turnover
- Overhead costs for communication (measure costs of online outreach vs. analog as compared to resolution ratios)
- Number/ ratio of viable community-driven product ideas
- Length of concept-to-development cycle (use of online community as testing/focus/idea development)
Value, Awareness, Influence
- Brand Loyalty
- Sentiment of posts online – advocates, detractors
- Share of conversation/voice
- Number and frequency of mentions in media (online or print)
- Net Promoter Score (likelihood of recommendation)
- Subscribers to blog/email/newsletter
- Comments/engagement on posted material, downloads of ebooks, etc. (interaction with content)
- Inbound links to site/blog (total as well as on-topic/relevant)
- Number of Tags, votes, social bookmarks
- Fans/followers/group members for social profiles (implication of a brand following)
A note about Cause and Influence:
For all the metrics you track, you have to realize that the path from initial contact to desired result is a winding one when it comes to marketing. Direct marketing efforts like “get postcard, enter code, buy said product” are more obviously causal and can outline a clear sales path. But in a social and online world where there are literally hundreds of touchpoints in effect at any given point, metrics themselves don’t indicate success or failure.
In most cases, it’s a combination of several factors – need, awareness, cost, sentiment, reputation, availability – that drive a business/purchase decision. So what you’re really after is not “we do X and Y happens”. What you’re after is a combination of both qualitative and quantitative measurements that – in combination over time – increase the likelihood that when a revenue decision is on the table, your business is the likely recipient. Individual metrics are snapshots of behavior, but what you’re striving for is a stronger, more consistent tie with your business for the long term.
Make no mistake that value-based metrics are as important as numbers-based ones. Awareness and loyalty aren’t immediate, but they add to the whole. In this great post by Dave Evans of ClickZ, he says (emphasis mine):
“Rather than planning a campaign with defined start and end dates and a certain spend that’s guaranteed to produce a specified exposure (reach and frequency), social media is an ongoing effort that builds and converges toward an objective. By understanding what’s happening now on the social Web and measuring over time, you can see the trend emerge. The dynamic trend, rather than static measures like reach and frequency, becomes the quantitative guidepost for your social media program.“
My Last Word…For Now
I’m going to take the last bit of this mammoth post to say something critically important. Every single metric above – every single one – is tied to something else that doesn’t have it’s own metric. It’s the strength of the relationships between people. That’s nearly impossible to put on any kind of yardstick, but it’s the underpinning of ALL of these things. Better relationships drive better business, period. You may not be able to measure the relationships themselves, but all of the metrics above are indications – the results, if you will – of how well you’ve cultivated those relationships on a human level.
So what do you think? What other metrics do you use? Still want to tell me that social media isn’t measurable?
Photo Credit: Charlyn W on Flickr
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Unlike offline media that has remained unchanged for the last century or more, digital media is literally changing from year to year. Because we love measuring “vs. last year” this is putting many brands in an uncomfortable spot. The metrics being spit out are hard to gauge. Is 2000 comments a good thing? Is 2,000,000?
In many ways, “success” is no longer determined by the stats you achieve, but rather what you do with those stats. How can the metrics provided be used to change or improve campaigns?
Unlike offline media that has remained unchanged for the last century or more, digital media is literally changing from year to year. Because we love measuring “vs. last year” this is putting many brands in an uncomfortable spot. The metrics being spit out are hard to gauge. Is 2000 comments a good thing? Is 2,000,000?
In many ways, “success” is no longer determined by the stats you achieve, but rather what you do with those stats. How can the metrics provided be used to change or improve campaigns?
Great post, Amber. There isn’t one recipe for measuring social media success. Reviewing and selecting from the various ingredients you mention is how each business can taylor the metrics they need to measure their individual businesses’ social media success. Your post is a great resource.
Colleen Pences last blog post..delaneydiaries: @ccolmenar Are you heading back to SA? I won’t make it to SXSW either which is a crime since I’m so close. I blame my babies!
Great post, Amber. There isn’t one recipe for measuring social media success. Reviewing and selecting from the various ingredients you mention is how each business can taylor the metrics they need to measure their individual businesses’ social media success. Your post is a great resource.
Colleen Pences last blog post..delaneydiaries: @ccolmenar Are you heading back to SA? I won’t make it to SXSW either which is a crime since I’m so close. I blame my babies!
Amber,
Love the post, it needed to be said. Most of the marketing people I know are data hungry for ..I’m going to say it… ROI. It’s an important way to help our clients justify their investment, and keep their CFOs and Controllers at bay who want marketing translated into dollars and cents. But as you pointed out, there are other variables out there that complete the picture of total marketing performance and they all work in unison, as an orchestra of sorts. I really liked the Share of Conversation and Net Promoter Score measures too, but also important to remember that quality is better than quantity in these circles. That goes for conversations and contacts. Thanks again.
Juliann Grants last blog post..Customer Service Black Hole Costs Google Cold Hard Cash
Amber,
Love the post, it needed to be said. Most of the marketing people I know are data hungry for ..I’m going to say it… ROI. It’s an important way to help our clients justify their investment, and keep their CFOs and Controllers at bay who want marketing translated into dollars and cents. But as you pointed out, there are other variables out there that complete the picture of total marketing performance and they all work in unison, as an orchestra of sorts. I really liked the Share of Conversation and Net Promoter Score measures too, but also important to remember that quality is better than quantity in these circles. That goes for conversations and contacts. Thanks again.
Juliann Grants last blog post..Customer Service Black Hole Costs Google Cold Hard Cash
Great post. When people accept the term “engagement” as the key element that it is, we will likely see more of what you are suggesting. Active engagement leads to so many positive results and some of those results will be measurable. But if you don’t invest the TIME and you are not genuine and sincere with that investment, what is it that you’re really hoping for in the age of conversations and connections? Again, good post.
Great post. When people accept the term “engagement” as the key element that it is, we will likely see more of what you are suggesting. Active engagement leads to so many positive results and some of those results will be measurable. But if you don’t invest the TIME and you are not genuine and sincere with that investment, what is it that you’re really hoping for in the age of conversations and connections? Again, good post.
Amber,
I’m so happy that you wrote this post. As someone who doesn’t implement an initiative without clearly defined metrics for how we’ll measure success, I am always in favor of defining the ways in which campaign performance can be evaluated — and social media is not exempt from that. In fact, in many cases, social media activities are the key behavior drivers in a campaign. I know this because I have done the heavy lifting of assigning values to each activity to assess which vehicles and interactions have pulled the best, and generated the greatest results, in specific campaigns.
It’s important to note, however, that not all metrics can be traced directly back to a quantifiable outcome as there are many touch points along the continuum that influence purchase/response/conversion, but directional stats can allow you to make an educated hypothesis of efficacy. And let’s not underestimate the power of monitoring to take the market temperature post-campaign and match it up against sales, sign ups or whatever the measurable call to action may have been.
There is always some desired outcome to a campaign. Or, at least, there *should* be. As you pointed out, by starting at the end with what you want to achieve, you can deduce which tactics contributed to that outcome and assign the corresponding metrics accordingly.
I think the reason many people can’t measure their marketing success is because they don’t have a clearly defined objective at the onset. You can’t just launch a social media campaign for conversation sake. While there is benefit to having mindshare for your brand in the space, you still need to lead those talkers to some end. Then, measure if that talking generated the desired action.
If I want to get people to register at my website, for example, I’ll devise which tactics I think will produce that result. Then, I’ll analyze click-throughs, referring URLs, socnet activity, etc. against how may registrations I’ve generated. I’ll even evaluate interactions and relationships to see if spikes can be attributed to greater levels of engagement.
The point is that there are always metrics that can be measured, and while they may not fit cleanly in a chart or on an Excel spreadsheet, they are no less useful in understanding a) the dynamics of your audience, b) the strongest tactics and c) the optimal media mix. This assumes that the marketer is also testing different creative, messaging and media (which they should be).
It’s an evolutionary process and sometimes it takes a while to get the rhythm, but you’ll never get there — or, more importantly, be able to leverage those key activities and repeat the process — if you don’t measure regularly and diligently.
Amber,
I’m so happy that you wrote this post. As someone who doesn’t implement an initiative without clearly defined metrics for how we’ll measure success, I am always in favor of defining the ways in which campaign performance can be evaluated — and social media is not exempt from that. In fact, in many cases, social media activities are the key behavior drivers in a campaign. I know this because I have done the heavy lifting of assigning values to each activity to assess which vehicles and interactions have pulled the best, and generated the greatest results, in specific campaigns.
It’s important to note, however, that not all metrics can be traced directly back to a quantifiable outcome as there are many touch points along the continuum that influence purchase/response/conversion, but directional stats can allow you to make an educated hypothesis of efficacy. And let’s not underestimate the power of monitoring to take the market temperature post-campaign and match it up against sales, sign ups or whatever the measurable call to action may have been.
There is always some desired outcome to a campaign. Or, at least, there *should* be. As you pointed out, by starting at the end with what you want to achieve, you can deduce which tactics contributed to that outcome and assign the corresponding metrics accordingly.
I think the reason many people can’t measure their marketing success is because they don’t have a clearly defined objective at the onset. You can’t just launch a social media campaign for conversation sake. While there is benefit to having mindshare for your brand in the space, you still need to lead those talkers to some end. Then, measure if that talking generated the desired action.
If I want to get people to register at my website, for example, I’ll devise which tactics I think will produce that result. Then, I’ll analyze click-throughs, referring URLs, socnet activity, etc. against how may registrations I’ve generated. I’ll even evaluate interactions and relationships to see if spikes can be attributed to greater levels of engagement.
The point is that there are always metrics that can be measured, and while they may not fit cleanly in a chart or on an Excel spreadsheet, they are no less useful in understanding a) the dynamics of your audience, b) the strongest tactics and c) the optimal media mix. This assumes that the marketer is also testing different creative, messaging and media (which they should be).
It’s an evolutionary process and sometimes it takes a while to get the rhythm, but you’ll never get there — or, more importantly, be able to leverage those key activities and repeat the process — if you don’t measure regularly and diligently.
Awesome post Amber and great list. I haven’t been on the side of those who say that you can’t measure social media but the list you makes it a lot easier.
Post has been bookmarked for future reading!
Bosss last blog post..Get Email, Don’t Give Out Your Email Address
Awesome post Amber and great list. I haven’t been on the side of those who say that you can’t measure social media but the list you makes it a lot easier.
Post has been bookmarked for future reading!
Bosss last blog post..Get Email, Don’t Give Out Your Email Address
Amber – great list of metrics. I particularly like the ones under revenue and business development, and potential business development. I think measuring things like page views, tone and inbound links are great, but I’m not sure how much those types of things resonate with C-Suite folks. Metrics that show how SM has contributed to the bottom line (customer retention, satisfaction, etc… – many of which you have outlined above) are always going to be preferred…particularly in this environment.
Chuck Hemanns last blog post..We’ve moved
Amber – great list of metrics. I particularly like the ones under revenue and business development, and potential business development. I think measuring things like page views, tone and inbound links are great, but I’m not sure how much those types of things resonate with C-Suite folks. Metrics that show how SM has contributed to the bottom line (customer retention, satisfaction, etc… – many of which you have outlined above) are always going to be preferred…particularly in this environment.
Chuck Hemanns last blog post..We’ve moved
I agree with you and Len…it is not so much the numbers or mass of data you receive, but what your do with that data and how you show your community what you are doing with such data (listen and act transparently).
Always spot on, Amber!
Lauren Vargass last blog post..SXSWi Tentative Schedule
I agree with you and Len…it is not so much the numbers or mass of data you receive, but what your do with that data and how you show your community what you are doing with such data (listen and act transparently).
Always spot on, Amber!
Lauren Vargass last blog post..SXSWi Tentative Schedule
Really interesting article. I feel that the most important of all the variables is Brand Loyalty. But the difficulty is in measuring it.
Adams last blog post..Does Twitter actually give you traffic?
Really interesting article. I feel that the most important of all the variables is Brand Loyalty. But the difficulty is in measuring it.
Adams last blog post..Does Twitter actually give you traffic?
Great list of measurements and suggestions. One other dimension to consider when selecting metrics/KPIs is time; certain needles can’t realistically be measured in just 30 or 60 days, but a reasonable trend line might be graphed in that time.
We’re launching a 90-day social media pilot program for a client, for example, and while customer lifetime value might be a valuable metric for them, it’s not gonna budge much in 3 months. So we’ll focus more on measures that might have more immediate upticks, like sales leads or media mentions.
Heidi Strom Moons last blog post..AFB Honors its "Political Heroes" on Capitol Hill
Great list of measurements and suggestions. One other dimension to consider when selecting metrics/KPIs is time; certain needles can’t realistically be measured in just 30 or 60 days, but a reasonable trend line might be graphed in that time.
We’re launching a 90-day social media pilot program for a client, for example, and while customer lifetime value might be a valuable metric for them, it’s not gonna budge much in 3 months. So we’ll focus more on measures that might have more immediate upticks, like sales leads or media mentions.
Heidi Strom Moons last blog post..AFB Honors its "Political Heroes" on Capitol Hill
Great start for companies that are looking to measure the impact of their social media efforts. I particularly like the aspect of how businesses can use social media to reduce costs in certain areas.
Brandon R Allens last blog post..This is Only a Test, If This Were An Actual Emergency….
Great start for companies that are looking to measure the impact of their social media efforts. I particularly like the aspect of how businesses can use social media to reduce costs in certain areas.
Brandon R Allens last blog post..This is Only a Test, If This Were An Actual Emergency….
Great article. Thanks
Great article. Thanks