The Measurement Standard: Blog Edition

The Measurement Menaces of the Month: Web Analytics Guys Who Fail to Account for Social or “Earned” Media

I was at the OMMA Measurement and Metrics conference this week and heard a number of riveting presentations about the metrics being used by major corporations and research firms to measure the success of online marketing. And, let me say up front, there’s an impressive amount of measurement and analysis going on there. But invariably when I asked these people if any of their metrics take into account the conversations taking place in social media or the earned media coverage their companies get in traditional media, the answer was "No."

Which makes me wonder HOW DO THEY GET AWAY WITH THAT! If someone in PR ever presented data without accounting for the impact of direct mail, or display ads, or SEO, we’d be laughed out of the board room faster than you can say "regression analysis."  So what’s up with their research departments?

Do the folks at SeaWorld or Domino's think that online chatter doesn’t matter? Not likely. I can name a number of companies who know for a fact that it matters, because they measure it: Dell, Southwest, Jet Blue, SAP, Wells Fargo, and Sodexho, and that's just a few. Note what they all have in common: They’re all doing well in a down economy. 

So enough is enough, guys. Anyone within earshot of this post? Next time some web analytics wonk tries to attribute all the marketing or communications success to that banner ad, challenge him or her. Call them on their numbers and point out the inherent flaws in their research. Make them truly measure social media’s impact. And remind them that they have been named The Measurement Menace of the Month. --KDP

 

"Do I Need To Measure Digg, RSS, Twitter and Second Life? And How Do I Do It?"

Ask Dr. Paine

Four Quick Questions on Measuring Social Media:
Digg, RSS, Twitter and Second Life

Q: How do I measure Digg and other aggregators?

A: The reality is that Digg can provide a temporary blip in the number of visits to your site, and in your popularity and possibly your ranking. This is important if you are running your own blog. For corporations, you need to monitor how many people are "digging" your bad news, but in terms of good news it will have less impact.

Q: How do I measure RSS feeds?

A: At the moment there is no accurate method to count the number of subscribers to your RSS feeds. At some point someone will come along and figure it out, but for now your best alternative is to add a question about your RSS feeds into your next customer survey.

Q: Do I need to pay attention to Twitter?

A: It's a way to count "friends," but will it ever have any impact on brands? Hard to tell. I'd say, for now anyway, spend your time on things that matter.

Q: Do I need an island in Second Life?

A: If you have something really interesting to put on it, yes. If you were Coos County, New Hampshire, for instance, and wanted a way to show people what things were like way up there without having them make the 3-hour trip from Boson, then yes. (Coos County is a client of KDPaine & Partners, see the blog we've helped them put together, Coos Conversations.) If you're selling just concepts (without strong visuals), then no.