How to measure social media? Christopher Frank, vice president of global insights for American Express, shared his perspectives at this week’s Conference Board Social Media Meet Up.
“Counting is easy, evaluating the data is hard,” he emphasized. “We don’t lack for data but we lack for asking the right questions so that the data can help us make decisions.”
Social media is like any other data stream, he said, and what you do with that data is the same as measuring other marketing programs: evaluate, assess relative to competitors and track over time. The questions are the same, too.
- What kind of impact are we trying to have?
- At what level do we hold people accountable?
- What time frame should we look at?
- What attributes should we be using, e.g., service ratios, engagement rations
- What do we want to track?
“Marketers spend much too much time on tracking the means — the buzz — and not enough on the ends — perceptions, intentions, advocacy.”
Frank’s ins and outs of measurment:
In’s
- Intent
- Input
- Investment
Out’s
- Output (e.g., buzz)
- Outtake (advocacy)
- Outcome (proactive change)