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Executive Tips
Measuring the Success of Your Company’s Social Media
Companies are turning to social media for public relations, marketing and even thought leadership now more than ever. Once you have set your goals and determined how you will define success, it is time to begin evaluating your company’s use of social media.
Keep in mind that measuring results can be a quick number crunch or a thorough qualitative analysis. Here are three tips to help you measure social media success:
Pay Attention to Fans and Followers.
The number of Facebook fans or Twitter followers shows growth or decline of your social media reach. Be sure to record and review these numbers consistently for analysis, making note of unusual fluctuations. Keep in mind that about 90 percent of Facebook users don’t return to a fan page once they “like” it. Aim for interaction and keep track of which posts generate the most activity among from your fans and followers so you can replicate that success more often.
Use Existing Tools.
Check out the tools available to help analyze your social media effectiveness and build them into your evaluation plan. Facebook Insight analyzes trends, such as likes and comments, on a daily basis. HootSuite consolidates all of your social media activity in one central location and even offers custom reports to analyze metrics, such as mentions, comments and “unfollows.” Tools like Topsy and Klout can help measure the influence of your social media efforts.
Read Between the Lines.
Analyze the content of your posts, comments and mentions for a more qualitative evaluation of your brand recognition and thought leadership. Keep track of the number of wall posts and mentions that show positive, neutral and negative sentiment. Also, track the different types of topics discussed: By understanding the kinds of responses you get from your audiences, you’ll have a better chance of stimulating their participation in the future.
Always make sure you’re measuring your social media on a consistent basis. The more you make content changes, the more frequently you should measure.
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