Social Media – Are You In Or Are You Dead? (Part 4)

Establishing metrics to determine the impact of social media initiatives

If you read my four part series on social media you would agree that social media brings with it a wealth of business opportunities. The majority of businesses and the marketers who work for them are in dire need of social media specialists. Some larger companies even employ social media administrators to help them plan, design and run their social media initiatives.

We are done with the ponderous debate about whether we should consider social media initiatives. Social media is here to stay. The new topic of social media revolves around media platforms and what media channels will be best for your business. Social media presents, in many instances, uncharted territories and leaves the door open to explore and discover new opportunities and ways to improve your brand and level of customer service. Regardless of what you carry out in an effort to perfect your social media strategy, never forget to measure your success along the way.

Without proper metrics to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of your social media initiatives you will not be able to see if your efforts made an impact on whatever it was you were trying to accomplish. Business.com identified the most popular success metrics to measure the impact of social media initiatives in their 2009 social media study, and identified web site traffic as the most popular and easiest method of measuring the impact of social media.

Following is a list, in particular order, of the most popular success metrics used by companies today to measure the impact of social media:

1. Web site traffic (65% of companies could see a positive impact)
2. Engagement with prospects (43% of companies could see a positive impact)
3. Brand awareness (38% of companies could see a positive impact)
4. Engagement with customers (50% of companies could see a positive impact)
5. Revenue (54% of companies could see a positive impact)
6. Brand reputation (38% of companies could see a positive impact)
7. Prospect lead volume (55% of companies could see a positive impact)
8. Prospect lead quality (46% of companies could see a positive impact)
9. Useful product feedback (55% of companies could see a positive impact)
10. Other

The average company in this study used four different success metrics among those listed above. As expected, the success metrics listed above cluster into four major focus areas:

1. Web site traffic
2. Engagement – with prospects and customers
3. Brand impact – awareness and reputation
4. Leads – both quantity and quality

As the experience level in social media rises, so does the ability to identify and measure the impact of social media on success metrics. Bottom line, social media offers great opportunities to improve customer service, brand experience, and revenue.


Pierre Fourie is a leading marketing and advertising consultant based in Johannesburg South Africa. He is highly regarded for his expert knowledge on Digital Out Of Home (DOOH) systems and his ability to conceptualise and execute marketing / advertising strategies. Pierre was dubbed the “digital expert” on developing content strategies and promoting branding concepts for private digital advertising networks, including Planet Fitness Gyms and The More Golf Group. His background in the electronics engineering field of study, combined with more than 10 years experience as a business owner, entrepreneur and media expert is reflected on his personal blog: http://mediamarketingandsales.blogspot.com