Social Media Marketing, An Hour a Day: Objectives, Metrics & ROI

In this chapter, Evans talks about writing down what it is you are trying to do so that you will know what you are measuring in order to achieve your social media goals.  For instance, Evans starts by asking you to think about who your audience is.  Knowing the wants and needs of your audience will help you to have a starting point to focus your efforts on.  Pay attention to patterns that customers are setting and learn what their dislikes and likes are.  Remember, on the Social Web, it’s all about getting involved in conversations with others.  What better way to reach out to your consumers than to talk to them?

It’s All About the Metrics

Regarding your key metrics, Evans points out:

In selecting your key metrics, it is equally important to think through the kinds of social activities that your audience–or various components of it–may be engaging in.  Your audience may be actively reading blogs, bu not at all interested in actually blogging themselves.  These types of differences in behavior will certainly impact your choice in the activities you offer them and hence the types of metrics that are available for analysis.

By measuring different aspects of social media and paying attention to what other people are doing, it will allow you to better understand what is going on at the various purchase points on the Social Web, thereby creating a more effective social media campaign for success.

Other Tips That Evans Offers in This Chapter

• Your promise minus your delivery equals what you do at the point-of-sale.
• It is essential when considering the use of managed applications (ie. Twitter, Facebook, etc.) that you get involved and stay involved. By being involved and thinking clearly about how a managed program will evolve and play out, you not only benefit from the program itself, but you set in place the basis for a true community built around your brand and the larger experiences you provide as your overall social media program continues to expand.
• Social media measurement is based as much on heuristics–using what is available to make the best of what you have–as it is more traditional quantitative and statistical analysis.  Don’t be afraid to go with your gut: your experience is worth a lot when it comes to making sense of these new channels.
• If you measure conversations that include strong indicators of active recommendations and your bounce rate is still high, look at the landing page and check that the experience it provides is consistent with the likely interests or motivations of those arriving.
• While “posts to comments” is more popular, “comments to posts” is the measure that actually rises in value as the thing you are generally after- audience participation- improves.

The Main Points According to Dave Evans

• It is essential that you identify and clearly state your business objectives before deciding on specific elements of a social media program.
• The behaviors of your target audience are key in setting both the strategy and in identifying the metrics that will support your campaign.
• Conversational content can be measured, with the metrics leading to an understanding of who is talking about you and what they are saying.
• Metrics collected near and within your purchase process link the conversation to the actual impact on conversions.  This is the data that can help you establish an ROI for your social media programs.