Two prior posts on this blog have discussed digital experience optimization and methods for appropriately attributing across distributed digital touch-points. Among these touch-points, social media is becoming a significant focus for many businesses, so this post examines how measurement of social media should align with the digital experience delivery process.
Social Media ROI
The previous post in this series addressed how appropriate attribution is essential for establishing accurate ROI for communication though various channels. I’ll pick up again on ROI with this post since this is a strong area of general interest right now. (In fact, I presented on this last week, and have another presentation on the topic this week as part of Social Media Week).
A fact of ROI is that while the formula is simple, the variables can get complicated when multiple investments contribute to a single measured return (i.e. social media’s role in the attribution question) or when a single investment contributes to multiple measured outcomes (potentially as in the social media diagram above), or when the outcomes of an investment are difficult to quantify (as in most “returns” from social media). Unfortunately, any of these can come to bear in measuring social media ROI.
Social Media Outcomes
Since the amount invested in a social media program is usually front-of-mind to management, an important area for clarity is usually the definition of (quantifiable) outcomes. The diagram above aligns key measureable social media outcomes with stages in the digital experience delivery process.
Overview of Measurement through the Process
Social media measurement for research and intelligence involves “Content” and “Context” approaches that give insights into conversation and connections that shape perceptions and behaviors about our brand in social media.
In the awareness generation approach, social media can generate awareness organically within networks and in search, or can involve paid approaches (such as sponsored tweets or Facebook ads). In assessing awareness, we will measure the conversation or buzz generated through organic and paid content, as well as changes in the number and quality of connections in our networks.
In the engagement stage, social media is a powerful tool for generating engagement with all consumers and building affinity and loyalty amongst new and existing customers. In assessing engagement, we will evaluate the ways in which our networks interact with our social media touch-points and with one another in the context of our brand, using signals such as likes, comments, retweets and mentions as basic variables, and refining our understanding through comparative analysis.
In the action and conversion stage, our social media efforts have potentially guided some portion of our primary and secondary networks to take some action on our website. Here we measure the impact of social media on the quality and nature of traffic to our site in terms of new and repeat visitors, and the actions those visitors take on our site.
A Detailed Look at Measurement for Research & Intelligence
Getting into the details of measuring return for each area of measurement would be too much for a single post, so this post will focus on the research stage, and I will address other stages in subsequent posts.
Content Research
Content research is widely referred to as social media “monitoring” or “listening”. First things first; listening through social media is not a replacement for other Customer Insights and market research programs. What Social Media research can provide is a constant stream of feedback about your product and your market, which will be only as valuable as the effort that is invested to collect and analyze the data.
Listening data collected with carefully constructed search strings and analyzed using a combination of text analytics and human review can reveal important insights into trends, preferences, perceptions, issues and risks that can positively or negatively impact a business.
The “return” on these insights will differ based on type of business, but in general, they may be measured in terms of advantages gained in marketing strategy or product design, sales and channel opportunities identified, and issues or risks identified and mitigated.
Context Research
Context research in social media is research into the composition and connections within and across social networks. The primary agenda in context research these days is “influencer” analysis, which seeks to uncover the key “influencers” within social networks that can help to promote and advance the objectives of the social media program.
Influence measures to date have been driven by variables such as “reach” (audience size i.e. # of followers), frequency of posts, and engagement level (# of retweets or other responses). Automated measures of influence are not perfect, although more advanced measures of influence are coming on line which recognize that social media influence is not general but topical, and that credibility and expertise must be weighted along with volume. However, as with content research, context research must augment automated approaches with manual analysis.
The “return” on influence insights comes in more effective targeting and execution of social media communications, and should be valued for ROI in the same way that all other targeting research in the budget is justified.
What’s Next?
Measuring the ROI of social media will be the topic of my Social Media Week session this week with fellow CMer Shaina Boone. I look forward to writing about that session in an upcoming post, where I’ll also complete a detailed look at the stages of social media measurement that weren’t addressed in this post.
