SageCircle

Where do social media metrics fit into an AR measurement program? [Practitioner Question]

AR Metrics & MeasurementQuestion: Are social media like blogs and Twitter something we should be measuring or is it too early yet? Where does social media fit in a measurement scheme?

icon-social-media-blue.jpg If your analysts are using social media, then including those sorts of metrics in a measurement program is really not optional. In this case we are putting social media on par with published research, press quotes, and activity counts as something worthy of measuring. While a 140-character tweet does not have the impact of a Gartner Magic Quadrant, it can provide useful information that should be added to the data mix.

Social media has elements of both operational metrics and performance metrics. Some example uses include:

  • Operational
    • Unfiltered opinions feed into plans and briefings
    • Activity insights feed into interaction calendars
    • Tweets and blog comments by AR to an analyst fulfill top-of-mind touches requirements
  • Performance
    • Tonality tracks analyst opinion movement
    • Mentions of company, products, and competitors with opinion can track changes in perception

Social media metrics complement other sources of data. For example, social media can complement Spoken Word Audits because social media-based conversations between analysts and end users are often personal, unfiltered, and off-the-cuff just like a phone-based inquiry, but with the advantage that they are not private.

SageCircle Technique:

  • Determine where in your measurement and reporting program social media metrics are appropriate to add
  • Pilot data collection techniques for new metrics to ensure that it is practical to collect the data
  • Create draft reports and portal pages that illustrate how the new metrics will be distributed
  • Socialize the new metrics with management and other stakeholders to get input and buy-in

Bottom Line: Social media metrics’ relevance to AR measurement programs today will vary greatly because analyst social media usage is still very uneven. That said, it is important for AR teams to add social media to their measurement program now in order to climb the learning curve so that when – not if – social media has more widespread adoption by analysts AR will have the skills to effectively track these critical metrics.

Question: AR – Do you have a formal measurement program? If not, why not? If yes, have you incorporated social media metrics into it?

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