It is no longer enough to just have a social media strategy. Yes, having a strong social media plan is important, but you must be able to gauge the success and measure the “health” of your social media in order to grow and improve your public perception.
Before you can measure the “health”, or effectiveness, of your business’ social media, you must establish a target or goal. Ask yourself why you are participating in social media? Is it to drive awareness, increase customer satisfaction, or obtain marketing research results? Whatever the goal is, big or small, it is important to be specific and define what you want out of your social media experience.
After figuring out what you’re looking to accomplish, you must choose your social media platform. There are factors to be considered when choosing how to reach your intended audience. Look at your strategy again and determine the type of data you are looking for, your current budget for both time and money, and how you want to present information. You should execute your strategy through an efficient, easy to manage platform that provides the necessary data.
Now that you have selected a platform, you must establish specific metrics which you will compare yourself, and your competitors, against month to month. This means auditing your number of current “followers” or “fans”, the quantity and tone of comments and messages, and the overall conversation that exists around your business. If abiding by your strategy, each month you should see improvements in those areas of importance.
A social media audit should also include monitoring conversation around competition. In comparison, are your competitors succeeding on other platforms or in various ways than you? Dig deep, and research what it is they are doing better or different. Use other businesses in your industry, and even non-related businesses, as examples of what can spark conversation and how to handle it. You may be surprised at the little things that can make a difference.
Other helpful hints:
- Your entire business should be aware of and building toward the common goal for your social media strategy. Make sure everyone is on the same page.
- Metrics only work if they are presented in the proper context. Be aware that “25% growth in conversation” means nothing if not compared to your competitors’ growth.
- Use A/B testing. Run different campaigns for a reasonable length of time and compare which works better/worse and why. The most important thing to remember when it comes to social media is to not be afraid to experiment.
Source: http://mashable.com/2010/08/15/measuring-social-media-health/
