“What we are doing is more lively and accessible than developing an exhibit and providing a catalog.” -Michael Edson, NY Times

“It’s not about getting more traffic, it’s about getting traffic that gives a $*!&.” – Jay Baer, Content Rules!

“We are now broadcasters of knowledge. It’s invigorating and a real collaboration.” –Michael Edson, NY Times

“Talk to anyone involved with museum technology and the conversation inevitably boils down to one universal work: engagement.” - Shelley Bernstein, NY Times

“In the end we want people to feel ownership of this museum. We want to engage with our community.” – Shelley Bernstein, NY Times

“Only the clueless are impressed by numbers.” – SEO Book

“Unless we pay attention to external factors, we my be planning for the wrong future.” –Richard Pearce-Moses, The American Archivist

“Internet users with the most influence among peers don’t just have followers, they have engaged followers.” – Evan Kraus, Social Informants

How to Measure Social Media Success: The Smithsonian

Collections Blog, a case study

Rachael Cristine Woody, Freer|Sackler Archivist

Research in Progress Talk

March 23rd, 2011

Preface

• Mandate to get out there, and get online! Be accessible to the users! Generate content! Be Fun! Be Exciting! Be Popular!

• Lack of guidance on the logistics: who/what/where/when/why/how?

Table of Contents

• Definition of Social Media

• Goal of Social Media

• Case Study Introduced

• Definition of Success

• What, How and Where do you Measure

• Google Analytics

• Case Study Success

• Conclusion

Definition

• Social Media: is the process of improving the visibility of

a website or a web page in search engines via the "natural" or un-paid ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results using highly accessible and scalable communication techniques. Social media is the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogue.– Wikipedia

“If it’s not on the web, it doesn’t exist.”- 50 million hits on Google for this quote

Social Media is not the goal, it’s the vehicle to reach your goal!

Goal: Exposure, Engagement, Influence, Action

Case Study: The Smithsonian Collections Blog

Platforms

Goals

Questions

Mission

Set Up

http://si-siris.blogspot.com/

Success

suc·cess Noun /səkses/Synonyms:noun: hit, prosperity, luck, achievement, triumph, speed,

accomplishment

• The accomplishment of an aim or purpose• The attainment of popularity or profit• A person or thing that achieves desired aims or attains

prosperity• The outcome of an undertaking, specified as achieving

or failing to achieve its aims

What do you Measure?

Exposure, Engagement, Influence, Action

How do you Measure?Numbers Trends Relationships Sharing

Google Analytics Google Analytics, Twitter Trends

Google Analytics, Interactions on site

Google Analytics, Google Alerts, Twitter/Hootsuite

Ernst Herzfeld’s drafting tools.

Where and How Often do you Measure?

• Visitors: unique and loyal

• Content: popularity and diffusion

• Traffic: direct and referral

• Geography: target communities with identified interests

“Only the clueless are impressed by numbers.”- SEO Book “Social Media: the need for measurement”

Google Analytics

Visitors

Content

Traffic

Geography

Smithsonian Collections Blog Success?

GOALS

Exposure for collections, projects and professions

Host a place for interaction with visitors

Outreach to and beyond our existing visitors Increase SEO numbers for our collections

Provide a creative outlet for staff

Conclusion

“We don’t really measure it, it’s just another relationship building tool.”

-Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieth

Apple’s only Twitter account (through VP Scott Forstall), has 37,000 followers and 0 tweets. Apple’s twitter account is popular, but it’s not an effective social media endeavor because it’s not exposing, engaging, influencing or inspiring action.

Compare that to Google who has almost 3 million followers and over 2,000 tweets which provide updates on new products, related and helpful links and actively engage with user commentary.

Google is both popular and effective, and I don’t think that’s a coincidence.

Popularity v. Effectiveness