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Is You’re Social Media Marketing Working Out?How to Measure the Effectiveness of your social media initiatives using 5 simple steps

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Complimentary eGuide

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Can SMM Goals be Measured?

Just like there's no cookie-cutter social media marketing strategy for companies to purchase and implement, there's no simple off-the-shelf answer for measuring your success with your social media strategy. But rest assured, there is a way…

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5 Steps to Measure Your SMM

1. Align your objectives with your metrics2. Measure awareness, attention & reach3. Analyze conversions and sales4. Track and measure leads from SMM5. Identify costs savings

“How do I Set up my SMM so I can apply these measurements?”

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Optimal SMM Setup Process Create strong measurement objectives for each goal. Determine which SMM channels are optimal for your biz. Attach a dollar value on SMM metrics. Weave social media into your customer service

approach. Focus on metrics that indicate a shift in consumer

mindshare.

Next you will learn the 5 steps of effective SMM measurement.

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What are the 5 Steps to Effective SMM Measurement?

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Step 1: Aligning Objectives with Metrics

• Specific: i.e.: “Increase brand awareness by 10% in the next six months”.

• Measurable: Benchmark, track progress and calculate value/loss.

• Achievable: Hitting 100% of your target isn’t realistic, set goals you can reach.

• Realistic: Ensure you have the resources, tools and staffing to meet your objectives.

• Timed: Get specific with your objectives and incorporate a time frame.

For measurement to be effective, it has to align directly with the measurable objectives you’ve set.

Using the time tested S.M.A.R.T. approach will ensure a goal you set can be measured.

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Step 2: Measure Awareness, Attention & Reach

Q: How do you measure the effectiveness of Social Media conversations or relationships?

A: You measure awareness, attention and reach, calculating and benchmarking 5 key metric's.

1. Fans, Followers, Subscribers & Potential Reach

• Equation: People who shared content + their networks = Potential Reach

2. Share of Conversation• Equation: Post discussing topic & your brand /

Post discussing topic = Share of Conversation

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Step 2: Measure Awareness, Attention & Reach Cont…

3. Strength of Referrals & Recommendations Monitor mentions of your brand name Look for direct/Implied recommendations Calculate the % of posts that are direct or implied recommendations Reconcile those recipients w/ your prospect/contact database/pipeline

4. Inbound BacklinksInbound Backlinks are online currency, contributing to the prominence of your visibility in Google. Note that not all backlinks are equal in value, as links from authority sites provide greater weighting to your web relevance.

5. Social BookmarksTracking social bookmarking sites like StumbleUpon or Delicious helps establish the resonance of the content you produce, which enables marketers with the ability to study analytics and further understand SMM activity.

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Step 3: Measure Conversions & Sales

Most beginners think social media measurement is about counting the number of eyeballs to a web-page.

But what really matters is the actions those people take as a result of your social media efforts.

This can also be known as a conversion. A conversion means taking action, whether it’s clicking a link/LIKE, filling out a form or making a purchase.

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Step 4: Track & Measure Social Media Leads

Note leads that come from a direct source, like a blog subscription. Follow referral traffic to your site from social networks. Monitor leads that come from offline events. Map a contact form submission or a click on a “Contact Us” link. Track landing pages with the social networks they were shared on. Identify requests for content downloads from email signups. Ensure your website’s contact form asks visitors how they found

you. Overlay names on your follower’s list with your lead pipeline.

Whether you’re using a spreadsheet or a CRM system to keep track of your prospects, you’ll want a way to designate a lead source.

For example:

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Step 5: Measure Costs Savings

“Sometimes, the value in a business endeavor isn’t about what goes up – like revenue – but what comes down, like costs.” --- Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com

Social media can have some very clear efficiencies, most notably on the customer service side, but also in areas like training or communications.

To effectively measure SMM costs savings, you must analyze the following metrics;1. Cost per issue resolution2. Issue resolution time3. Training, Idea Generation, and Employee Education4. CPM/Cost per dollar raised

“I understand the 5 Steps, but what tools can I use to help me to measure?”

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Automated Measurement ToolsThere is no shortage of companies ready to help you measure the success of your social media. Up next, we will review 3 companies that have proven to help businesses with tracking SMM metrics.

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Google AnalyticsAn industry standard, Google Analytics provides the essential suite of tools to analyze activity across multiple media streams.Google Analytics is free and requires that you paste a code in your website source code.

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Campalyst by RackspaceA new option on the market, Campalyst lets you publish and measure your SMM from the same user interface. Prices vary after a 30 day trial.

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Advanced WebrankingsAW helps clients measure and improve organic search traffic and revenue, in addition to monitoring your competitors' market share. Packages start at $99 per month.

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“I’m ready to get started, how soon will I net success?”

Although results vary, the success of your campaigns depend on what and how resources leveraged are deployed. In order to thrive in SMM, most businesses must learn to crawl, walk and run first.

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Summary

The essence of measurement is capturing accurate data and using it to tweak your tactics. There is no universal way to measure each initiative but there are several metrics that can be applied in certain situations.

Equations – like ROI – are more or less fixed, but how you derive the elements of that measurement is dependent on your processes and what you choose to track.

Now that you know you know how to measure your SMM initiatives, your ready to get started.

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Sources: SEO SMOZ, Adobe Insights, Salesforce, Constant Contact, Adwords, Google Engage , Google Insights