Media Guerrilla

The Three O'sof Social Media Measurement

"How do you measure social media programs?"

You know, I try not to, it's a buzz kill. I'm kidding...

This question surfaces all the time. It's hands down one of the biggest challenges we marketers face, but come on, it's not impossible. Yeah, we need better weights and measuring sticks for new media — they will come — but don't let that stop you from adapting and customizing an approach that works for your business.

There are three things you should think about when it comes to measurement, each I'd argue are equally important:

Outputs

Pretty self explanatory, right. Is content being created? It could be a blog post or a forum topic or a video, you get the gist. Try not to get too hung up on the "how much" part of the output. Focus instead on the quality and relevancy of what's being produced and the utility of the medium for you and your customers.

Outgrowths

Again, pretty simple. What stems or grows from the content that was created? It could be comments, links, tags, diggs, votes, etc. How people choose to participate with the content will vary so try to think about the value and weight you place on certain actions — and how you might better enable them.

Outcomes

Basically, the net result or response to the first two things. It could be attention (influencers, media), amplification (memes), engagement (quality/quantity of comments), sentiment (positive/negative), this is where you have to simply interpret and weigh the shake out. And then compare your analysis to whatever the hell your goals were to begin with. Oh, and then pray they line up.

Keep in mind, all of this is just one approach to measurement — an admittedly simple one for an increasingly complex web. I tend to think social media measurement will always be half science/half art, and maybe for that reason, always be a headache too, but hopefully this gives folks a framework to pivot and build on.

Related Post:

Social Media Measurement Deconstructed

Also Read:

PR Measurement Blog (Katie Paine)

Like Nailing Down a Shadow (Brian Oberkirch)

Social Media Measurement (Jeremiah Owyang)

[Cross published on Voce Nation]

"Just Doo It..."

Man, it feels like I've been saying this a lot lately. At times with the Stiller-esq bravado I enjoy, other times with the determination Nike intended, but too often, it's with the crotchety spit of a pissed off superfan.

if you think the PR industry is broken. Fine, do your part to fix it. If you think you're the social media master of the universe. High five, stop blogging about it and go show the world how it's done. And if you think nobody "gets" the importance of 'social graphs' and how they apply to new marketing paradigms, well, you're probably right. Do a better job of explaining things....

I feel better. Normal programming will resume here shortly.

Technorati Tags: humor

"What's the Strategy for Making this Video Viral!?"

Yeah, I get this question from time-to-time, I bet you do too. Truth of it is, by the time this question gets asked, it's often too late. If there's any real "strategic" part of making a video viral these days, it's the making of the frigg'n video, it's the creation of the content - and less the placement and distribution of it, which too many folks seem to believe is the important part.

YouTube is a tactic. Tagging is a tactic. And at least in this case, linking is a tactic too.

Creating a compelling video? Now that's a strategy. Your wannabe viral video will meet with success or failure based largely on the time and effort you put into the concept and execution of the content, and less on the time or energy you put into shlepping it across the web. Put another way, knowing how to distribute something so it's "findable" is a small tactical fix, but knowing how to create something that's "shareable" is a big strategic advantage.

Technorati Tags: marketing, viral, video

A New Media RFP? Not Likely...

Okay, as promised, a quick revisit of the AdWeek piece on RFPs, plus some thoughts on how this sort of thing applies to new media work...

So, here's the thing: RFPs are a pain in the butt no matter how you slice it, for multiple reasons, not least of which is the fact that the average return (i.e., business gained) rarely outweighs the total investment (i.e., time lost, energy spent and the intellectual capital shared). For this reason alone, a lot of people (cough, Tac Anderson) hate them. For me? It's the cost and risk of doing business, nothing more, nothing less. M'kay.

Now, talk about RFPs in the context of new media work and this gets a little more interesting because, well, they're not very common. I'm not sure why exactly this is, but if I had a wager a guess, it'd say it has to do largely with social media literacy levels.

A lot of folks just don't know what they're looking for, let alone how best to ask for it or who to approach.

This being the case, corporate PR and marketing departments interested in new media projects more often than not have the dubious task of manually sifting, identifying and evaluating all sorts of outside experts on things ranging from their credibility and authority with this stuff, to their experience and know-how, to their fees and availability, and the list goes on. You get the picture. I'd argue this process can be, in many ways, as stressful and painful as any RFP.

Unfortunately, this process has very few shortcuts and can be rife with risk and uncertainty. Perform the due diligence and you'll more than likely reap the rewards, but look for the quick fix and, well, be prepared to pay the price.

I'm baking a follow-on post which lists a few ways corporate folks might identify good social media partners and, more importantly, insulate themselves from risk and overcommitment on new media projects, while still experimenting with the YouTube and the MySpace dem kids keep talking about. More to come...

Technorati Tags: marketing, RFP, socialmedia

RFPs, RIP

A friend sent me this AdWeek article, it's a contributed piece from an agency exec on the fleeting utility of RFPs. It's one of those write-ups you read, nodding your head in agreement throughout, only to conclude, sadly, that things will never change....

"The fact of the matter is that the pitch process no longer works, for clients or agencies. As with so many other vestiges of our rapidly changing industry, it is time to abandon the RFP."

This is something I want to dig into more, especially in the context of social media business pitches and projects. More to come once I can clear out all the post-vacation muck.

Technorati Tags: adweek, marketing business, RFP

Joining Social Media Collective...

A quick update:

I'm now participating in the Social Media Collective and contributing to Social Media Today.

"Social Media Today is a collection of the best writing from the Social Media Collective, a diverse group of bloggers, consultants, entrepreneurs, investors, journalists, and analysts who represent the web's best thinking on social media, marketing and Web 2.0."

The group blogroll is just stacked, nuff said, my thanks to Jerry Bowles for the invite.

Technorati Tags: jerry bowles, marketing, socialmediacollective, socialmediatoday, web2.0

Technorati Tags: jerry bowles, marketing, socialmediacollective, socialmediatoday, web2.0

The Power of Trustiness

Reading about DoTheRightThing reminds me of a conversation I had a while back with a friend where we jokingly talked about how ridiculously easy yet powerful it would be to slap a community-driven "trustiness meter" on every company's website.

Think about it...an amazing amount of agony, energy, expense, and burden goes into crafting, shaping and analyzing a brand image and even then, in the end (at best), you really only have a loose interpretation of a brand's perceived reputation, equity and trust.

For the public, it'd be a hellofa lot easier to just glance at the trustiness meter, like you do at the star ratings for a hotel or your gas gauge, to determine if a company deserves your time, money or attention. And for the PR and marketing folks, it'd be a hellofa lot easier to just glance at the trustiness meter to determine whether or not you're gonn'a get out of bed....

NOTE: The trustiness meter should not be confused with the trust barometer. While both are fictional measures of trust, one was created by a real company, the other over beers.

Technorati Tags: pr, trustiness, reputation, transparency

Words From The Trenches

Overheard earlier this week (name removed to protect the guilty):

"We're looking for a viral word of mouth marketing program for online influencers."

The response: Yes, of course we do that! Kidding, kind'a....

Technorati Tags: humor, marketing

BlogOrlando Kicks Off Tomorrow

Josh Hallett has pulled together an impressive lineup of speakers and sessions topics for BlogOrlando — the two-day unconference kicks off tomorrow.  You can soak in all the usual digital detritus via the blog, the tags, the Flickr stream, and I hope, eventually, the podcasts.  I wish I could be there....

Technorati Tags: marketing, PR, blogorlando, socialmedia, unconference

Find Me @ WOMBAT, BloggerCon

Alright, I'll admit it, I'm becoming increasingly apathetic when it comes to industry conferences, particularly those focused on new media.

Too often it feels like the same old A-list blowhards and tool pushers talking about, well, themselves, with just a few minutes of conversation and networking sprinkled in between things to make it bearable for the attendee.

But with that said, I'm holding out hope for two events this week: WOMMA's WOMBAT conference, which kicks off tomorrow at the Hilton in SF, and then BloggerCon, the "unconference," which kicks off on Friday at CNet's offices (also in SF). I'll be at both, looking forward to blogging from each. Email me if you're attending one of these gigs and we'll meetup.

Technorati Tags: Bloggercon, conference, unconference, Wombat, WOMMA