I have read many blog posts and articles that tout a specific number of ways or reasons to change or DO marketing. Hell… I’ve even written a couple here or there. Many consultants create lists on how to make your marketing more creative or how to get your constituent or consumers attention.
Top 10 Ways to Stand Out From the Crowd!!!
I’ll be honest… I’m pretty sure I wrote that post about a year ago. Let’s ignore that small transgression.
Let me be very clear.
I am not saying that the content described above is necessarily a bad thing. Anything that helps us stay on our feet and be more competitive is a good thing. However, I don’t see enough content relating to data and measurement.
We all know that 2011 is the year of measurement. Social media and digital marketing went through the diamond child stage of popularity. Social media is still soaring with social media consultants popping up all over the world.
We need to move on and take this maturing form of communication and utilize it the right way for marketing…. with data.
Data should not only be used to report the success (or failure) of marketing campaign. It should also be used to inform your decision on what to do next time.
So many times we get caught in doing the same thing over and over. When you are looking at your data from vendors, consultants, or even your own marketing department… look at the data.
Honestly, the data reports probably need to mature in order to give you the necessary view of what can be done better. For example, most Facebook or Twitter reports list a couple of things:
- Fan or Follower Growth
- Comments
- Replies
- Retweets
Many companies focus solely on the round numbers of growth and sharing. What the reporting fails to recognize is influence and how man sales actually can be directed back to social media use.
The “brand awareness” excuse can only be used for so long in the world of marketing. We need to start asking pointed questions that bring our hard work to light:
How many fans actually contributed to the rise in sales from the previous quarter?
Who are our influencers on each site and how can we encourage them to share more?
What are our customers and constituents ACTUALLY saying?
Did Customer A and Donor B actually sign up for our enewsletter and purchased/donated because of Twitter or Facebook?
All the questions relating to actual sales data relating to social media and digital technology are key. What questions are you asking to better understand your data and change the way you are marketing to your constituents?
Becky Kate
We usually want to know if people explore other pages within our site or if they navigate away from us…
Chris Heiler
Hi Kyle,
So, how do we identify influencers? Especially those in a small industry like mine?
Second question, somewhat related: What do you use to track/monitor online mentions of your clients? Is there one kick ass service you recommend? It seems like there are a million of them.
Eric Wittlake
Kyle, getting to real business benefit is critical. That said, I think marketers would be foolish to toss current measurements. They aren't wrong, they are just incomplete.
Most current social measurements (numbers and engagement) are about measuring the audience built through social. Unfortunately (and where many get in trouble) is these measurements are easy to game, with a few advertising dollars, giveaways or Twitter mass-follow tools. However, combined with a view on how engaged the audience is and how appropriate they are, this is valuable. Marketers need to develop an audience that consistently follows what they have to say.
The sales, business won, etc are the result of promotions to your audience (old school marketing thinking) or engaging with the audience, or quickly starting conversations and expanding that audience through a listening program. However, the two can be somewhat distinct. A thriving audience of the right people, if not driving sales tomorrow, is a very valuable audience that just may need to be engaged with a bit differently. A low engagement audience pummeled with offers that drive a few sales may be a better short-term ROI, but it undermines the long-term potential of social efforts.
I vote, keep the audience measures, just quite using them all by themselves.