Science of social media measurement

ddie Chau at Brandtology

(Of course) social media are turning the PR world upside down. Anyone can be a spokesperson – thus influencing brand reputation.
From a PR perspective, see the Barcelona Declaration of Measurement Principles: Validated Metrics, Social Media
Overall buzz counts and general impressions are meaningless.

One example of the Barcelona principles:

Principle 6: Social Media can and should be measured

. SM measurement is a discipline; there is no “single metric”
. Organisations need clearly defined goals and outcomes for social media
. Should be supplemented by web and search analytics, survey data and other methods
. Measurement must focus on “conversation” and “communities” not just “coverage”
. Understandign reach and influence is important
. Experimentation and testing are key to success.

There is a definite movement in the industry towards the qualitiative…

“Like” on FB is more about the success of a campaign, but not about the success of the brand – it’s a slippery slope to just focus on those sorts of numbers. Don’t just focus on ‘the buzz’ – what does it actually mean in relation to the brand sentiment? Is it negative or positive – or is the majority actually neutral? Is it just a few people ranting…?

So: Beyond the buzz – beyond the quantitative

///

Sentiment, engagement, reach and influence

The most important?….

Sentiment

An obvious one but a very difficult one to accuarately understand. With large amounts of data – automated analysis is worse than a coin toss (automated sentiment analysis is only 30% accurate – this is not actionmable
intelligence).

Engagement

How active are discussions surrounding your brand in terms of new articles/threads and netizens commenting within these?

Reach

Where your brand is being mentioned and by how many individuals is very important – you want to be visible and mentioned across as many channels and voices as possible.

Reach also has a direct effect on the consumer info-seeking process.

Influence

Who do consumers listen to? How influential are the people discussing your brand compared to those discussing your competitors? Increase your influence by identifying and engaging with influential positive voices. Encourage them to talk more about your brand.
Look to your competitors’ influential voices, particularly the negative ones.