Measuring Social Media has become quite the task since Social Media Marketing has begun to pick up speed and popularity. It generally isn't an easy task to measure, as numbers of friends, likes, followers, etc. can be misleading. So how can we prove that Social Media Marketing is doing it's job?
Page Size Matters- On Facebook
This article is mainly about what it takes to have a successful Facebook marketing strategy and how different approaches are what make the measurements. Its not about likes, and its not about friends... Its about clicks that are derived through comments, sharing, feeds and direct interactions. It showed that the average clicks per like were 3.103; clicks per comment were 14.678; and clicks per impression 0.005. What does it mean? Direct interaction through comments was where the most successful marketing was happening. It also suggests smaller pages with specific target audiences. So a larger company should have different Facebook accounts and groups for the different audiences it is trying to reach. (This definitely ties in with my previous blog post about The Walt Disney World Company). However larger pages can work if they have hybridized feeds through other forms of social media.
This article focuses on how most marketers are novices and have not truly capitalized on the social marketing and all it has to offer. Through a number of surveys conducted by B2B the pitfalls of social media marketing and understanding of the marketing outlet were highlighted. One thing is only 1/3 of companies are aware that people are using social media to comment on or complain about their services or product. Only 8% of companies are regularly responding to such comments and complaints through social media, which means many companies are just letting it hang out in cyberspace unaddressed for everyone to see. Only 8% of companies are actually utilizing social media marketing to its real potential despite the 65% that claim social media marketing is important to their company. Some could even say Social Media Marketing is treated more like a hobby than a necessity. Poor usage has even been attributed to: lack of resources (70%), poorly defined metrics (57%), lack of knowledge (44%) and management resistance (22%). So what does it all boil down to? Lack of understanding and proper usage of this marketing medium.
Measuring Social Media ROI: 3 Things to Consider
This article breaks down Social Media Marketing Metrics in a different perspective. Firstly it states Social Media Marketing is the vehicle not the destination. What that means is that this type of marketing should be used to help market a business, not become the business. So it needs to be controlled and not become a be all and end all. It is essential to ask how a social media marketing plan is engaging customer and what activities have high rates of interaction with the customers. It is also that the company use the metrics to adjust their marketing efforts based on previous performance and current performance. Social media is constantly changing and constantly needs modification and care. This article also states that diversification is key. Having only one or a specific type of outlet can cut out potential and current customers who use other outlets. So measurements and goals need to be set and adjusted in an ongoing fashion to stay relevant.
My Take...
So what all of this says to me is that measuring social media marketing is tricky business and is more involved than people might assume. It involves constant evolution and change to remain relevant and to develop new strategies to reach customers in ways that is comfortable to them. Social media marketing should be treated as any other marketing campaign and be measured in comparison to other mediums in order to see what is most effective, and tailor a companies mediums to reach their customers where they are and how they wish to be reached.
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