Measuring Social Media

Despite the huge success of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, digital marketing, and social media marketing in particular, are still relatively new. A lot of big agencies specialising in this field have sprung up overnight and are doing some really great work. They are building strategies for their clients that allow them greater and more personal access to their customer base. Moreover, these strategies are integrated into other types of marketing in a fun, creative, and seamless way.

Because of the increased amount of time people spend online, because of the influence website visits have on overall profits, and because of the ability to reach so many people at once, social media marketing efforts have been on the receiving end of a lot of hype. As a result, CEOs around the world have been convinced that their companies should be investing in these types of marketing activities.

Some CEOs are keen from the get-go, others require a bit more of a push, but no matter what, they all want a sufficient answer to the million dollar question: How will this make me money?

Valuing the impact of social media marketing in dollars and cents remains difficult. CEOs have been asked to remain patient and trust the power of increased brand awareness, but for most that is simply not enough, and the waiting game is getting old. Many "gurus" of social media have been developing methods of measurement as a way to defend what they believe to be a successful way to market a brand.

When setting out to measure the financial impact of social media, Olivier Blanchard recommends taking these steps:

1. Establish a Baseline ie. growth before and after social media

2. Create Activity Timelines (note things that are happening throughout the weeks ie. Press release, write up from a trusted news source, white paper publication, podcast, invitation to a conference etc. )

3. Look at Sales Revenue and Number of Transactions (before and after social media).
a. How many are Net New Customers?

4. F.R.Y. Frequency, Reach, Yield
a. How often customers transact (per month)
b. How many customers are you reaching (net new customers)
c. How much they spend (£ per transaction)

5. Measuring Transactional Precursors
a. Negative vs. positive mentions
b. Retail store traffic
c. Website visitors; blog visits; blog comments; blog-to-website CTR

6. Overlay All Timelines: Activities>Social Data>Web Data>Transactions>Loyalty Metrics

7. Look for Patterns

8. Prove Relationships

Take these steps and you'll be well on your way to justifying social media marketing to your boss!


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Adaptive Consultancy is an online marketing agency specialising in website design, eCommerce, and internet marketing, including SEO, PPC and SMO. www.adaptiveconsultancy.com/