Thursday, August 18, 2011

Measuring Social Media Strategy Effectiveness: A Step-By-Step Guide

As with all marketing strategies and supporting tactics, the only tried-and-true means of knowing what works...and what doesn't...is to scientifically measure a program's effectiveness on several different dimensions.

Why on multiple levels? Because a single measurement tool usually does not give the marketer a sufficiently clear picture of a program's impact (or lack thereof). In most cases, it is necessary to employ a variety of metrics, such as unaided brand recall, individual unit sales, leads generated, media placements, website traffic, in-store traffic, coupon redemption rates,  and so on, to deliver a comprehensive verdict on whether a campaign delivered in significant return on investment (ROI).

Measuring ROI in the social media realm has been a much-debated issue now for several years. Not because it can't be done, but because approaches tend to differ dramatically from one company to the next   ― and with varying degrees of clarity. Inevitably, the same measurement-related questions arise. What methodology should be used? How can a social media campaign be directly tied to sales, if at all? Are there automated measurement software applications that can be employed? How can results be packaged and presented so that they're understandable to senior management? Can a "social" marketing channel even be quantified?

If you need help in this area, then look no further than this excellent step-by-step, how-to guide to social media strategy measurement from elisaDBI, a U.K.-based interactive marketing agency which provides cutting-edge digital solutions to European companies:


To view a larger version of this guide, please click here. Good luck with your strategy!

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