US businesses have definitely accepted that social media has to be a part of their marketing and PR activity – four in five US businesses with at least 100 employees will take part in social media marketing in 2011, says eMarketer. That’s a big jump from the 42% who used social media in 2008.
eMarketer expects the number of marketers using the channel will continue to rise through 2012.
One aspect that will be dramatically different this year is how companies measure their results.
While companies were finding their feet in this new medium, soft metrics such as fans, followers and engagement in conversation have been accepted as a yardstick. Research from BazaarVoice and the CMO Council shows that as social media is maturing the C-Suite wants to see conversions and how it is affecting sales and revenue.
Top 10 Metrics used by CMOs
2010 2011
1. Site Traffic 1. Site Traffic
2. # of fans 2. Conversions
3. # of positive mentions 3. # of fans
4. # of page views 4. # of positive mentions
5. # of contributors 5. # of contributors
6. # of mentions 6. Average order value
7. # of posts 7. # of page views
8. Conversions 8. # of page views
9. Revenue 9, # of posts
10. Average order value 10. # of mentions
PR can measure conversion – they’re just different activities from the ones marketing is tracking. But it is time to go beyond the output and impressions and track behavior and action. We can work with IT and marketing and figure out ways to track the activity that comes from our PR/social media efforts.
As early as 2004 Southwest Airlines used press releases to sell their new route to Philly
Steaz Organic Tea is another good example
Take another look at how you are measuring your social media results this year.
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