7 Truths About Social Media Measurement

1. If you aren’t measuring anything else, social media measurement isn’t the problem.

Measurement is a discipline, and it needs to be business-wide. If you’re going to ask about the ROI, value, or impact of social media and how to measure it, I’m going to ask how you’re going about determining those things for other areas of your business, and ask you to translate or adapt some of those practices over to social initiatives.

2. Measurement is not the goal.

The goal is to derive insights that teach you something of value, and then act on them. Measurement is a waystation, a path, but is not the goal in itself. You don’t get a cookie for measuring.

3. Measuring activity isn’t as important as measuring results.

Gathering fans on Facebook is an activity. How those fans chose to respond to your offer, sign up for your newsletter, or buy your product (or not) is a result.

4. Metrics are determined by goals.

Learn how to create measurable objectives and the metrics practically jump out at you. If you know where you’re headed and have a clear definition of what it means to reach your goal, it becomes pretty apparent which signals (metrics) will tell you whether you’re close, far, or right on target.

5. Standardization has limitations.

You might have some *types* of metrics that can be bucketed together – such as engagement or awareness metrics – but the unique ones that matter to your business aren’t likely to be standardized anytime soon. That’s a departure from the way we’ve always done it, but then again, some of our “standard” metrics haven’t really gotten us very far (like ad equivalency) and others are standard in name, but not in how they’re calculated (like customer satisfaction).

Instead of striving for metrics that are universally applicable, focus instead on the ones that consistently deliver valuable intelligence for your business. It doesn’t matter what the guy down the street is measuring unless you’re just looking for a little inspiration.

6. Measurement doesn’t have to be complex to be effective.

You don’t necessarily need convoluted indices to get you where you’re headed, especially when you’re starting. Sometimes, just a simple correlation between an awareness metric and a sales timeline can tell you whether there might be a positive relationship, and you can act on that. Think of it this way: pair one qualitative metric – like customer satisfaction – with one related quantitative one, like sales or call center costs or website hits. One metric alone rarely tells you anything valuable.

7. Measurement is a constant evolution.

You set a goal. You back out a few metrics. Then you evaluate, and realize you haven’t learned anything of value, or that you need more clarity, more specifics, a broader view, or whatever. That’s okay. Look, business is an iterative process. It’s part art, part science, and so is measurement. Who wrote the rule that said we had to have the perfect, bulletproof set of metrics before we start measuring?

If something doesn’t get you the information you need, change what you’re doing and try something else. If you’re missing something, add it. Eventually, you’ll settle into a few combinations of metrics that really illustrate to you those Almighty Actionable Insights.

We’re often way too caught up with being perfectionists about gathering and presenting information, and not nearly good enough with FRAMING the information in a way that gives us something to chew on.

Source: 13 Truths about Social Media Measurement