Social Media Roundup/Measuring success

Social Media Roundup

Measuring SuccessTracking social media analytics to evaluate the strength

of a social media presence


Agenda

This week’s Social Media Roundup will take a look at how to measure the success of a social media presence.

• Introduction• Determining what to measure• Using organic analytics tools• Other analytics programs• Using URL Shorteners• Measuring sentiment• Presenting data


Why measure?People will talk about your organization whether you’re listening or not. By measuring the success of a social media presence and by listening to the online conversation, your organization can effectively determine

how organizational messages are received.


It’s all about measurement Just 10 years ago, the success and reach of a

news story could be measured by the size of a newspaper’s circulation, or by the number of clicks on a website.

Today, measurement is about more than just numbers. It’s about social media trends and human feedback.

Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube allow for administrators to track views, impressions and comments. Many sites provide their own analytics tools.

By analyzing numbers in conjunction with evaluating comments and reader feedback, it’s easy to determine how organizational messages are received and how the audience is responding to the content provided.


Determining what to measureConsidering organizational goals before collecting data


Determining what to measure Before social media managers can evaluate how their content performs on social

media platforms, they need to determine what they intend to measure. Specifying organization objectives, drafting themes and preparing messages help

determine the metrics an organization will focus on and analyze.

Organizational ObjectivesStakeholders & their priorities

Social Media ObjectivesInformation distribution, community building, sentiment, conversation, family connections

After considering organizational objectives, set metrics


Using organic analytics toolsUsing service-based analytics to track and measure success


Using organic analytics tools Nearly all of the most popular

social media platforms offer analytics tools for users.

Facebook does not serve the same purpose as Flickr, so the platforms measure information in different ways. The different representations of information make for a richer and more in-depth statistical analysis.

Using the analytics tools of each platform can help an organization measure and demonstrate the usefulness of a social media platform, or highlight the success of a specific social media campaign.


Using organic analytics tools Facebook provides an “insights”

tab, where page administrators can evaluate how their page, and the content posted to the page, is performing.

In Facebook’s insights tab, an administrator can review total interactions, impressions, number of “likes,” number of comments and a wide variety of other valuable metrics. These numbers help administrators view what messages are resonating and how the page following is growing.


Using organic analytics tools Flickr provides metrics that

help administrators evaluate what photos are performing well. These numbers help administrators get a better feel for what photo subjects pull in views.

Social Media FactFlickr is a great resource for gaining new visitors who are intrigued by a compelling photo and want to learn more. A good way to capitalize on this curiosity is to

provide a link to a related Army story on the organization website or the Army.mil website.


Using organic analytics tools YouTube’s “insight” function helps show more than just how many views a

video receives. It shows what days the video received the most views and it can also illustrate where in the world the video was viewed.


Using organic analytics tools Twitter performs a more basic function, so its metric tools are limited. With each tweet, administrators can determine how many people retweeted the

content, but to truly evaluate the reach of a tweet, one should use URL shortners, or other external measurement programs.


Other analytics programsTaking advantage of free resources to track success


Other resources Social media teams are not

required to rely primarily on organic analytics tools provided by social media platforms.

There are dozens of sites dedicated to helping users find out what people are talking about. These sites can help administrators gauge the success and reach of their social media message.

Researching trends and determining how often your organization’s message is repurposed can be incredibly valuable when measuring the success of a team’s social media presence.


Other resources There are both free and paid measurement

services out there. Some measurement sites help determine how far

a tweet travels, because it’s not about how many retweets a tweet gets, it’s about how many people follow the user who retweeted the content. If a tweet is retweeted by someone with 10 followers, it’s impact is minimal, but if a tweet is retweeted by someone with 30,000 followers, the reach is substantial.

Others sites can help users determine which topics are gaining the most traction online.

The resources both on the left and on the prior slide are some of the more popular external measurement and research applications. Social media administrators are encouraged to check these out in addition to other resources in the social media space.


Using URL ShortenersTracking clicks with Bit.ly, TinyURL, goo.gl


URL Shorteners URL shorteners serve multiple

purposes. URL shortener applications shrink a URL so it’s less cumbersome and more visually appealing. Shortened URLs provide for more space in a post and also help Twitter users to fit commentary within the 140 character limit of a tweet.

In addition to leaving more space on a tweet or a post, websites that offer URL shorteners provide valuable metrics.

URL shorteners like Bit.ly and goo.gl provide detailed analytics that can compliment the metrics collected on social media platforms.


Measuring sentimentListening to the public to determine how messages resonate


Measuring sentiment If properly executed,

organizational messages and themes will appear in all posts, tweets, video posts and photo posts.

While measuring site traffic or photo views is easy, measuring sentiment can be slightly more difficult. Sentiment is more about user feedback than numbers.

When measuring sentiment, administrators need to post content that reflects unit messages and then watch user comments and posts to determine how the messages are resonating with the online population.


Measuring sentiment Listening to the public through

social media platforms can assist administrators in determining what the public is most interested in.

Organizational social media posts should be a balance between “fun” posts and command message posts, but all should contain key organizational themes.

Keep in mind that not all feedback will be favorable. Sometimes, if a message is pushed too hard, the public will kick back with negative feedback. This indicates that it’s time to change a social media approach.


Presenting dataHow to effectively display social media data


Presenting data Collecting data helps social

media managers evaluate the success of their social media efforts, but the real challenge is presenting this data in a digestible and visually stimulating manner.

The social media movement is already generating leader buy-in, but leaders want to see results. Creating an effective social media measurement slide is critical in explaining the results of a social media campaign.

Online and Social Media efforts for SSG Giunta MOH ceremonies

85,914 total page views of microsite

Twitter:

“Giunta” received over 99,000 impressions. U.S. Army was the lead referrer, followed by CBS.

This was lead trending topic on 11/16

Flickr:

Facebook:

Bloggers Roundtable:

Participants included Military Times, Soldiers Magazine and Army Times. 120

users tuned in to hear live audio.

The OSMD team began an awareness campaign on 11/15, with the implementation of MOH Giunta branding on all online and social media sites, as well as awareness posts on social media platforms. The team also reached out to hundreds of bloggers on 11/15 IOT provide information to prepare them for writing blogs and to ask them to help drive traffic to the microsite. Army.mil and all social media sites covered the MOH ceremony and directed viewers on how to view it live. Coverage continues throughout the day and the weekend. Supports: trust and confidence in the American Soldier as the Strength of the Nation. EST

34,753 total views of 27 MOH-related photos; The poster has received 7,475 views.

8 posts on 11/16-17 with an average of nearly 300,000 impressions each. “Likes” and comments are positive, enforcing trust and confidence in the American Soldier.


Presenting data Social media is different than

traditional media. With all the measurement tools at the disposal of social media managers, it’s possible to create a comprehensive overview of all social media efforts.

When creating a social media measurement slide, it’s important to include numbers, but it’s equally as important to explain what the numbers mean. Not everyone digests information the same way, so it’s important to present social media analytics in a clear and concise manner.


Summary Measurement is the key to evaluating social media success. Today, measurement is

about more than just numbers. It’s about trends and human feedback.

Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube allow for administrators to track views, impressions and comments. Many sites provide analytics tools so it’s important to use these resources when evaluating the success of social media efforts.

URL shorteners provide valuable metrics in addition to leaving more space for commentary in a tweet or a post.

Measuring sentiment is an important way for social media administrators to determine how organization messages are resonating with the online population.

Creating effective social media measurement slides and presentations is critical to displaying social media success and generating command buy-in.


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Contact information

Have questions? Please feel free to reach out to us at the Online and Social Media Division

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF PUBLIC AFFAIRSPENTAGON

1/5/2010

Email:[email protected]

To review and download past editions of the Social Media Roundup, visit our Slideshare site at: http://www.slideshare.net/usarmysocialmedia. All Social Media Roundups are authorized to be distributed to a broader audience.

http://www.slideshare.net/usarmysocialmedia

Social Media Roundup/Measuring success

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