Tangibly Measuring Social Media Success

1. Do you have Campaigns and strategies?
   

This isn’t a number some may say not even tangible, but you won’t get anywhere unless you’ve actually defined some processes that can be measured. A lot of people are just going on these sites, putting up a profile and waiting for something to happen. Having an outline and plan of action is a sign of success, it shows that you have at least a basic understanding of social media and some of its components. This is your first benchmark. It is also important to realize that these plans are not static and require constant appraisal for effectiveness.

2. Getting heard?

   At this point, response means any response at all. Some traffic followers or comments should be coming in. The quality of the response doesn’t matter at this point, you are just checking to see that the ‘broadcast equipment’ is working.

3. Getting response?

   Once the ‘broadcast equipment’ is up and people can hear you, it’s time to draw them in. This is where feedback matters, if people are just stopping by and not commenting. Your media isn’t being very social and you won’t be able to obtain as many viral references as you’d like.

4. Getting useful response?

   Getting ‘thanks’ and ‘very informative’ feels good and will confirm that your efforts are on the right track, but it’s better to get comments that add to the conversation and help point out in which direction(s) you should be heading next. Ask for comments, ask questions and encourage further discussion.

5. Is there is growth trend in followers/readers?

   You should be gaining more interest in your niche via effective targeting, i f not your are shooting in the wrong direction and need to adjust. Coupled with this is that the followers must be the ones you want, not random individuals

6. Is the scope of your followership spreading?

   There is no reason what you are talking about isn’t compelling to other groups. You may have to present it differently in a different context, but there are thousands of other people in interest groups that parallel yours. They are reachable via the change of a few key words and can result in a wider audience.

7. Are others referring to you?

   In any social network, there are people to talk to about a given subject. They are known as experts in that circle of friends or associates. You should be able to count the number of people that name you as a resource, that number should be going up every week.

8. What kind of negative feedback are you getting?

   You will get negative feedback, that’s just how it goes. What is measurable is how you categorize this negative feedback and rate it according to the use it has toward your online efforts. If people are referring to you as a spammer, con or some other such negative association, it it obviously time to rethink a message. There may be other comments as to lack of clarity, completeness or that your are a ‘me too’. Negative feedback that is good to hear it the kind that disagrees politely and intelligently with what you have to say. That is a proper conversation and will bring out a productive discussion.

9. Are click through rates going up?

   If you are running ads, it is essential that you monitor them for how they pull in visitors. When people click on ads it represents interest and can provide you with valuable information as to what you yourself should be providing. The ads may make little money, but they can provide great marketing info.

10. What is the quality of the network around you?

    The individuals connecting to you and following you should be of an increasing caliber:

    1. They should have a healthy network of their own.
    2. They should be people who are actively participating
    3. They should be in a niche related to yours
    4. They should be comminicative

    Having these kind of friends is growable and measurable.

This is no doubt an incomplete list, since other measurable criteria will emerge as the science and technology evolve. Please feel free to comment with your own ideas. I’d love to hear your experiences.