Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Toronto, September 26th, 2012 - Is Social Media actually paying off? Is it worth the effort? To answer this question, you would need to have numbers to back up your claims. Do you?

"Social Media is measurable." Says Randall Craig Social Media and Web expert and author of the Online PR and Social Media series. "Just like the telephone, it is absolutely justified in its use for business. It is justified by how people use it, and the results that accrue from that use."

To help decide which numbers to watch, he offers these possibilities:

1. Volume: The number of fans/followers/subscribers/connections; the number of views/comments/trackbacks on any videos/blog posts, and Retweets on Twitter.

2. Sentiment: Whether the discussion/comments about your organization, brands, and senior leaders are trending positive or trending negative.

3. Topics/Issues: Tracking the context of the conversation: whether the topics where the organization is referred to matches the target topics.

4. Source: Source refers to finding where the conversation is taking place.

5. Authors (influencers): Determining who the thought leaders (or in some cases, the ringleaders) are will allow the organization to directly influence the conversation.

6. Traffic: The use of Google Analytics to keep track of standard web metrics: page views, time on site, click-through-rate, etc.

7. Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube analytics: To use the varied stats from within the Social Media sites to determine user interests.

8. Media Mentions: The number of real-world media comments based on Social Media postings.

9. Number of job or volunteer candidates.

Randall Craig adds: "Set Social Media goals that are tightly tied to your organization's business goals. Then choose measures that allow you to track your progress." And do not forget to ask if the strategy delivered the expected results.



Since 1994, Randall Craig has been advising on web and social media strategy. He is the author of six books including the the Online PR and Social Media series and is President of 108 ideaspace inc. For more information about Randall Craig visit www.randallcraig.com.

For more information contact:

Randall Craig

416.256.7773 x101 / Randall@108ideaspace.com

Carolyn Bergshoeff

416.256.7773 x 103 / Carolyn@108ideaspace.com