Do You Measure the Impact of Social Media Marketing? Call for Entries.
Yesterday I spoke with a client about the “Holy Grail” of social media. He shared with me some of the secrets he’s reluctant to share at panels and with the media. Seems some of my videos have generated more engagements than horrific media spending and expensive attempts at building branded content series.
Then I received this invitation from PR News:
- PR News will be publishing its annual Guide to Best Practices in PR Measurement book later this summer and is currently calling for interested contributors to author articles on the topic of PR measurement. Articles on measurement should be pertinent to any one of these areas: Trends, Reputation Management, Media Relations, Marketing, New Media, Sales, Proving Your Worth, Internal PR and specific Case Studies. Please note the audience for the book are mid to senior-level PR professionals and corporate communicators.
That’s when it hit me. The social-media marketplace has been selling “synthetic happiness.” Yet as a former marketer, my career rested on spending smart, not just being innovative and cool. As an online-video advocate, I love the reach and efficiency of the most visceral form of social media: video. But if it doesn’t help brands in measurable ways, then it’s fleeting.
So consider this a “call for entries” to be in a white paper I’m writing that will outline best-of-breed firms that measure social-media… and I’ll share my own model for measuring impact from awareness to purchase. From “top of the funnel” activities like branding, to direct-response tools for making a measurable transaction.
If you play in this place, you’ll want to be referenced in this white paper. And if you “eat your own dog food,” you will have found this post because you’re tracking pieces tagged with ROI, metrics, measurement, social media, online marketing, and video. Please comment below, or contact me on the “contact Nalts” tab.
Please feel free to list your own company, or any good resources on the topic. I plan to engulf them all in the coming week, and publish a free white-paper that can be an uber guide to marketers. They want to engage in social media, but need to convince themselves and their management that it’s not play… it’s going to help them market.
In my opinion, you measure social media reach by how much time is spent interacting.
If you aren’t getting inquirys/messages, you failed.
If you are getting some and you don’t answer them, you’re making a slight impact, but nothing I’d consider successful.
If you are getting some and you do answer them, you’re on the right track.
If you are getting a lot but you aren’t answering them, you either are about to wake up or you won’t be getting a lot for very long.
If you are getting a lot and have someone working full-time answering and interacting, you are running a successful campaign. A lot of people have invested their time in your campaign for one reason or another, and you win.
If you are getting too much to answer and a lot of similar questions (to the point of making FAQ posts), you’ve probably been answering for a while now and your social media campaign is kicking ass.
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Basically, if you aren’t interacting, no one gives a shit. Anyone can make fancy graphics now. We spent all of our time learning that when MySpace first came out. We now are looking for someone to listen to us, because we alienated all of our friends by spending that time learning to make cool graphics.
Contacting you via the “contact Nalts” tab now.
Do wut??
@1 ha! sehr gut mein herr
give um hell Kevin!
White paper? The only paper I’m interested in is green paper.
@5 what about toilet paper? Will be worth more than the green stuff soon enough. My advice, stock up!
I liked Peter Coffin’s answer. Seriously.
While I play here quite often, I got nuthin’.
Boredom consumes them, their own emptiness maddens them; they search out any abnormality in their lust for excitement–drugs, perversion, crime, dogs on skateboards.
That should be a double or triple dash after the word ‘excitement.’
Damn, I’m visceral!
@1
Peter, there IS no spoon!