What are the best analytic metrics to analyze social media service provider quality?
I am thinking about hiring a social media expert for my business. What metrics should I look at to analyze their progress/abilities? What should I look for in a social media service provider for my business?
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Jul 27, 2014
If you haven't determined WHY you are thinking of hiring a social media "expert," I'd recommend doing that first. The metrics you choose to monitor should be in direct correlation with why you hired them in the first place.
Jul 25, 2014
Hi S. Thomas,
Many of the soft skills that you need in a social media expert are difficult to quantify. These include excellent interpersonal and communication skills, the ability to think on one's feet with a high level of creativity, sound judgement, unwavering integrity and the uncanny gift to remain authentic and engaging while posting to social media.
With that said, it is possible to garner tangible success metrics fro
from your prospective social media pro. I always provide new clients and prospects with a list of my references from current clients. Also, I provide the social media sites that I currently manage so that they can see my work in action. Also, if you could request Google Analytics reports, Facebook insights and reports on how their current clients are doing on Twitter, this can provide you a great deal of insight.
I hope this helps. I also wrote a blog on measuring the ROI of your social media efforts. You can find the article on my website: www.competitivebrand.com.
Thanks,
Shantha Wetterhan
Owner - Competitive Edge Social Media Marketing Management
Jul 25, 2014
Hi S. Thomas!
I'd say, without knowing your social media status, industry or budget, see how many relevant followers (not the number, but the quality) and the number of relevant comments/favorites your social media manager gets you within 3-6 months. Yes, it takes that long.
A lot of people will tell you to look for number of followers, number of conversions (website traffic generated by social media) or revenue generated by social media. In some industries, those metrics may work for assessing expertise, but that has not been my experience for the average company. These goals will push your manager to use social media as a "marketing tool" instead of as a "community/network". This has only really worked (for most industries) to build 'communities' that peak after 3-months with false followers and people who want more freebies.
A professional should advise you of the hard truth that organic growth is best, and that takes time. Hence, the metric of percentage (%) relevant followers they bring in.
Budget would be a separate discussion, but that plays an important role in determining the quality of the service you get from a social media manager.
Hope this helps!
Jul 25, 2014
How developed are your social media pages at the moment? If the expert you hire is starting from scratch, then the basic metrics such as month to month % of followers increase, post reach, and interactions should be enough until you hit around 500 followers.
Once you have consistent interaction on your page you may want to start keeping track of some of your followers (the ones that interact frequently) in your CRM. For branding, I like to take a look at semantics to make sure that a positive identity is maintained. Hope that gives you some ideas.
Jul 25, 2014
Hi Thomas: Social Media strategy is going to be different for every client and business scenario..depending on your goals, and amount of patience you have to allow the science and strategy to IMPACT and make positive IMPRESSIONS with your target audience.
Many clients ask look for metric measures, to gauge progress...but a big piece of the puzzle is creating content that truly ENGAGES your target customer, and once it does, gives them reasons to want to talk about you, share links (to drive traffic and business), and/or positive experiences with your brand. You must first create an atmosphere and community within your social media platforms of transparency, honesty, and show VALUE to the customer of your product/brand (again, give them good reasons to say nice things about you, and they will).
Metrics and analysis will come once you've created a community of 'followers' 'fans' and loyal customers..that comes first...like building a house, you create the 'frame' and build upon your community day by day, post by post...nothing happens overnight....in most cases you're looking at a minimum of 3-6 months to make any sort of impact that can be measured (so keep that in mind-if you don't have the budget to allocate you might reconsider)
How do people (potential customers/target audience) find you now? What 'traffic drivers' are in place to allow mobile smart phone users/social media followers to click a link and buy from you? It's one thing to have a website, and a Facebook/Twitter page..but if people don't know where you are..how will they do business w/ you?
"Fish where the fish are"- identify your target market, define where they are and at which social media network- and position your message and brand where they are-instead of casting the traditional wide net, and wasting marketing dollars pitching to consumers who have no interest..hope this help you..best- g