The rapid growth of social media and its equally rapid adoption by business has left more than a few i’s undotted and t’s uncrossed in terms of measuring value and defining success.
Unfortunately, standard marketing KPIs don’t really cut the mustard when it comes to the complexity of online engagement with customers, prospects and influencers.
With a lack of any clear standards or consistent guidelines many organisations barely go beyond measuring basic social media numbers, and these numbers only have real value when measured against well-defined goals and objectives. And setting these can be quite an involved process in its own right, as this chart from the Altimeter Group shows by highlighting the differing ROI criteria within a larger business hierarchy.
KEY:
CSAT = customer satisfaction
WOM = word of mouth
RTs = Twitter retweets
The issue for smaller B2Bs, when attempting to determine their social media metrics, is that the available online research, information and data is wholly or predominately focused on the needs and budgets of larger consumer facing organisations with case studies and other reports focusing on the activities of the likes of the Ford Motor Company, Coca Cola, Starbucks etc. That said, there is still merit to be had from reading these reports, you just need to ignore the numbers and probably a lot of the more involved metrics. One recent report that sets out some clear processes in a succinct way is A Framework For Social Analytics, again from the Altimeter Group. And if you’re only going to read one document on the subject read this one.
It goes into some detail and outlines four main steps you need to take when undertaking social media analysis.
The following extract is taken from the report and details the four steps.
Step 1 (Strategy): Align Your Social Strategy with Business Objectives.
The first - and often most overlooked - step in social media measurement is to determine what you’re trying to accomplish and how you will approach it. This means starting with core business objectives, such as corporate priorities, business unit/product objectives, or Management By Objective (MBOs). Then lay out the business strategies that support these objectives - before you start to develop or assess any social strategies.
Step 2 (Metrics): Determine How You Will Measure Success.
Metrics development should follow the same process. First, determine how you will measure success from a business perspective - whether it is to drive brand/product awareness, source competitive insights, improve search engine placement, contain call center costs, generate leads, or simply learn - before you approach it from a social perspective.
Step 3 (Organization): Evaluate Your Organization’s Readiness to Measure Social Media.
This is one of the most critical elements of social media measurement strategy. Assess your resources, the level of domain, analytical and tool expertise needed, and the current state of internal collaboration. Many companies lack sufficiently trained staff for social media measurement and delegate it to overcommitted and under-prepared employees - a recipe for failure.
Step 4 (Technology): Choose Tools in Light of Strategy, Metrics, and Organization.
Once you know what you’re trying to accomplish, how you’ll measure success, and what resources you have available, you’re ready for tool selection. This is still a very new industry, so be aware that tools are as yet immature and change quickly. There is no single best tool for every objective or every business.
Although this Altimeter report has been produced with input from large businesses the basic premises should work for most size of business, but as it states in the report, and I paraphrase...
There is no magic bullet and no definitive set of metrics for social media.
Your challenge is to use the this report, your own experience, and the internal resources at your disposal to develop the metrics that best describe and measure value for your business.
