Social Analytics Tips
April 21, 2013
Social media analysis has become popular among marketers, but many businesses have no idea what their return on investment is with these tools. In fact, we learn from BtoB‘s “4 Things to Remember About Social Media Analytics,” a recent survey by BtoB found that just 41 percent of marketers even try to measure their social ROI. Why?
Writer Karen J. Bannan cites Altimeter analyst Susan Etlinger, who says the problem is rooted in fuzzy intentions from the beginning of companies’ venture into social media. You have to have a goal before you can measure progress toward it. A related problem lies in deciding how to use the data you collect.
Bannan offers four points to keep in mind when approaching social media analytics. First, she notes that measuring whether a company or product is mentioned means little if you don’t know the sentiment within the comments. Are folks praising or panning? Another point emphasizes the need for careful human judgment. Item number two reads:
“Some of the most important social mentions won’t use your company or product names. The idea of brand monitoring is not as valid as many believe, said David Rabjohns, CEO of MotiveQuest, a social market research firm. ‘When people are talking about something in social, 95% of them aren’t going to mention a product because they are talking about brands as enablers of their passion,’ he said. ‘But marketers think that everyone is talking about their brand.’ Marketing is evolving from storytelling to story listening, he said. Again, marketers need to be on sites where customers are spending time and listen carefully to everything they say—not just pay attention to specific keywords or phrases that show up in reports.”
Ah, but is that too much of a labor investment for most companies?
The article goes on to observe that there is a wide array of metrics tools available, and companies should choose carefully. Look for one that emphasizes insights that can be applied to decision-making. Scalability is another huge plus. Finally, be aware of the differences between social media flavors. For example, while a Pinterest post is nigh eternal, a tweet will lose relevance very quickly.
Cynthia Murrell, April 21, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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