Social Media Measurement & ROI: New Tricks for Old Dogs, But Still the Same Old Dogs
I’ve had a bunch of really interesting meetings this week, many of which focused on the good old question of Social Media measurement.
Here’s the view from my seat…
Social Media is not the ‘new marketing’ per se. It’s just a different (exciting, potentially more valuable) way of doing things. The aims remain the largely same in marketing land.
In other words… when it comes to measurement and ROI, teach the Old Dogs new tricks, techniques, metrics, etc. But they’re still the same Old Dogs – acquisition, interactions, awareness, SEO, etc…
As such, for those brands not yet up and running on Social Media, the most sensible way to establish value and ROI are via existing programs. i.e. it’s sensible (and simple) to ask what Social Media can do to help you rank on Google, build marketing ‘lists’, run more effective events, do acquisition campaigns, create better content, etc, etc. If done well, this ought to build the case for going Social across a wider front.
In my experience, many of the barriers to using Social Media sit within an organisation. Social requires more of a focus on content and much more integration across marketing disciplines. There may not be a magic wand to bring all of this together immediately (it’s a big ask for many Marketers to push this kind of thing upstream).
So next year I’d encourage all newbies to focus on what’s at hand and take practical strides to establishing a bigger, bolder business case… rather than looking to a new, all-encompassing, shiny new measurement rubric that will justify the effort before setting sail.
Here’s that in a couple of charts, plus a simple ‘Cut Out & Keep’ measurement diagram to stick on the wall.
NB: I don’t mean to call VPs of Marketing ‘Old Dogs’ (most of them are lovely). I’m talking about the aims.
PS: There are probably a bunch of other metrics to consider for other aims. ‘Support’ probably is the new marketing. But that’s another story…
PPS: I am an old dog. Have spent many an hour creating uber-plans for bold, new-fangled, seemingly world-changing projects as an employee in (very) large organisations. Only one or two of them ever saw the light of day.
Further Reading:
…via MeasurementCamp – an excellent communal effort to make sense of these things, run via Social folks NixonMcInnes.
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