5 Social Media Metrics You Should Be Watching Over the last few years, the practice and discipline of measurement has taken huge strides forward. Not only are there some incredibly knowledgeable digital marketing analytics professionals out there, but a vast array of tools can help you monitor and measure your activity. Still, many smaller businesses, non-profits and startups don’t have the luxury of being able to hire experienced data analysts or invest in costly tools. If you’re in that situation, you may struggle to know where to start. Here are five of the most important digital marketing metrics: 1. Reach & Engagement Each social platform has its own specific metrics e.g. Facebook Insights, YouTube or Twitter analytics – but regardless of the nuances of way its presented, the most important aspects to look at are reach and engagement. You can think of these two elements as a measure of the ‘health’ of your social media profiles. Are you being seen? And are your online communities interacting with your content? Choose a period of time – a week or a month – and measure accordingly. On Facebook, for example, 28 days post reach and engagement rate can amount to Engagement Rate = Engaged Users/Reached Users x 100. 2. Total Conversions For all organizations, Google Analytics will be one of your most important measurement tools. However, there are two common mistakes people make with GA. First, many only look at overall site averages and second, they fail to set up goals. You can look at total conversions or break them down by audience segment type, in order to identify any differences in customer behaviors but looking at conversions will always help you to focus on what matters. 3. Conversion Rate by Channel As a marketer, you want to know which activity is having the greatest impact. Measuring conversion rate by channel will help you calculate your Return On Investment or ROI. In order to do this you must be using campaign tracking so that you get accurate data on which channels are performing best. Even alternating between using uppercase and lowercase will mean you end up with two separate lines in reports even if it’s the same source/medium 4. Cost Per Sale/Acquisition Whatever your business model, once you start using campaign tracking, it should make it easier for you to work out the cost per sale or acquisition (CPA). Sometimes this is used interchangeably with cost per conversion but whereas a conversion can be non-revenue based i.e. sign up to newsletter, an acquisition is about a customer spending money. A simple way to start out with this is to work out the average revenue per customer and from that you can see how much you’re spending (on average) to obtain a customer. 5. Return on Investment ROI is usually expressed as a percentage. While a high ROI is good, it should always be considered alongside other metrics, such as cost per sale and overall conversions. When developing your approach to digital measurement, think carefully about the specific goals and objectives of your business. The biggest mistake people make is to get blinded by the numbers and kid themselves that it all must be useful. It’s only useful if it helps to tell you and others within the business that your activity is contribute genuine value. Read more at thenextweb/socialmedia/2014/12/27/5-metrics-every-marketer-watching/
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 14:26:09 +0000
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