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!

Cupid ♥ Social Media: The Latest Valentine's Day Stats

Obviously, today is Valentine's Day, and love it or hate it, this faux-holiday is responsible for billions of dollars in consumer spending annually: everything from traditional and electronic greeting cards and flowers, to candy, jewelry, cute stuffed animals, and countless other red, heart-shaped gifts and accessories. Frankly, it's just too big to be ignored.

And so it goes in the social media space. With the explosion of social media sites worldwide, and with users frequently discussing the status of their relationships (for better or for worse) openly on these forums, the social media realm provides some unique insights into the nature of today's relationships. In addition, it also yields several interesting perspectives on how social media enhances, or detracts from, Valentine's Day plans and gift-giving.

As explained in this story yesterday in Mashable, a recent study of 400 Facebook and MySpace users by Lab 42 offers a solid overview of how Americans perceive their relationships, use social media to describe them, and summarize their Valentine's Day plans. It's all laid out in this intriguing infographic, which may be clicked to reveal a larger view:

The story astutely points out of telling findings. For example, 16% of singles have their current relationship status on Facebook listed as “dating,” “engaged” or “married.” However, no married respondents called themselves “single.” A staggering 88% would rather receive a Valentine's Day gift at home, which we find funny because our two decades of experience in the workplace has been just the opposite. Why? People like to receive their gifts at work to flaunt them in front of their co-workers. And probably the most compelling result is that 41% of the users polled claimed they said "I love you" to their significant other in three months or less. This figure goes up to 63% when factoring in a timeframe of six months or less. Really?

In any case, whatever your status is, have an enjoyable Valentine's Day, and we hope you're spending it with someone special. If for some reason you're not currently in a relationship, then make sure to treat yourself in some way. You deserve it!

10 PR Measurement Mistakes And How To Avoid Them

Editor's Note: The following is a well-written guest blog post from Katie Delahaye Paine, chief executive officer of KDPaine & Partners, LLC, a New Hampshire-based research consultancy that provides public relations (PR) measurement and accountability for corporations, non-profits, and government agencies worldwide. This article first appeared in The Measurement Standard, a monthly newsletter published by Paine, and generally regarded as the world's first and most comprehensive PR measurement publication.
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Despite the best laid plans, public relations measurement programs can sometimes go awry. You can't always anticipate how everything will go, and your elegant research design rarely seems to play out quite as you planned. Let's face it, unforeseen problems and errors can creep in, and part of your job is to figure out how to get the job done anyway.

But there are certain errors your program just won't survive. These mistakes will ruin your data or analysis and leave you with no options but to learn an expensive lesson and start over. Here are 10 fatal research errors to avoid:

1. Clipping systems that miss clips. We won't name names, but you should regularly test your provider. Do what we call a "Pub/Month" check: Look back over the statistics for the last year and see on average how many articles you get in your key publications. If you are below that for the current month, or if you have zero clips for the month, someone's probably missing your clips.

2. Dirty data from your content provider. This means errors like not differentiating between nytimes.com and The New York Times. Again, check the data on a monthly basis to make sure that it includes what it's supposed to.

3. Bad circulation figures (impressions). It doesn't matter if it's off by 10 or even 100. But we've seen cases where providers have moved commas and made the NY Times circulation 14 million instead of 1.4 million. Do a reality check.

4. Corporate articles that end up in product categories and vice versa. This needs to be checked monthly or even weekly for the first six months to make sure that it reflects reality.

5. An unclear definition of tonality. Ask three people what a positive article is and you'll get three different answers. We define it as "leaves the reader more likely to do business with, invest in, or go to work for the company." How you define it is your own business, just make sure it's consistent.

6. An unclear understanding of key messages. Again, do a monthly reality check.

7. Not comparing apples to apples in a competitive analysis. This includes errors like looking at your own local coverage but not the local coverage of your competition.

8. Not being clear about the universe of publications. Make up a written list of search terms as well as a list of the print/online publications, and social media outlets to be covered.

9. Not having control of the names and mailing list for your survey. Beware of merging lists: You can end up with two surveys in one household just because the middle initial is left off one name but not the other.

10. Not being clear about what social media you want to measure. Are you interested in user reviews, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, Foursquare, or all of the above? Chose the outlets your target audience uses.

© 2010 Ragan Communications, Inc. Reprinted courtesy of Ragan Communications, Inc. and KDPaine & Partners, LLC. All rights reserved.