A critical skill today’s digital marketers should have is the ability to measure social media campaigns. Virtually every business is on social media, as it’s boomed in recent years and is becoming a breeding ground for advertisements and various creative campaigns. If done correctly, media measurement can be a significant boon for businesses and their overall marketing success.
How to Measure Social Media Engagement
Despite more companies than ever using social media to their benefit, there are still some common pitfalls marketing teams fall victim to when measuring their engagement. For example, it’s wise for marketers to be clear on how they’ll measure their campaigns and design marketing efforts accordingly.
Below is more information on how to measure social media engagement in five simple steps.
1. Determine Measurement Goals
How does one measure their marketing effectiveness without first setting clear objectives? Marketers can generate a list of measurable goals regarding their social media accounts.
- Do they want to grow their following?
- Which channels are most relevant to their aims?
- What’s the ultimate goal of using social media?
Once marketers set their goals, they can figure out the next steps for media measurement.
2. Create Metrics
Next, marketers should determine metrics to measure their marketing success. Which ones will be most useful if the business is trying to increase engagement? If companies want to measure their brand awareness, they should consider using metrics like volume, reach, exposure, and amplification.
Choosing the right metrics for media measurements is critical. With the relevant metrics, marketers will find it easier to determine if their team is getting closer to reaching its goals.
3. Capture Metrics
The following step involves using the best media measurement tools to capture the relevant metrics for media content. In some cases, social media platforms — like Twitter and Facebook — offer various analytical insights to a company’s marketing team. If a business uses other platforms with no analytics, it must research and find the right tools for the job.
4. Monitor and Report Metrics
Companies will often notice trends or patterns as they begin capturing their measurement data. Marketers should use their initial data to set a baseline for future measurements. They should also consider sharing some of their early findings with their marketing team or other company stakeholders.
5. Adjust Marketing Efforts
After completing steps one through four, marketers can review all they’ve done to measure their team’s marketing efforts. If they fell short of their goals, they should try to identify which metrics could improve for next time. Teams should focus on celebrating the small victories and fine-tuning their measurement process to ensure future campaigns are adequately reviewed.
Following these steps allows marketers to learn how to measure social media engagement and other marketing metrics, helping them to improve their marketing efforts continuously.
3 of the Top Social Media Measurement Tools
Consider media measurement while creating marketing campaigns, as it helps marketers analyze the effectiveness of their campaigns. In order to measure various elements of their marketing campaigns, it’s crucial for marketers to use all of the digital tools at their disposal.
Here are some of the top social media measurement tools available on the market.
1. SproutSocial
One significant benefit of SproutSocial’s measurement tools is they can manage all marketing channels for a company, no matter which ones they use for their business. SproutSocial allows marketers to take a deep dive into one network or glance over the performance of all their channels. Some of its best features include customizable reporting templates, Premium Analytics, content performance assessments and more.
2. Hubspot
Another player in the digital marketing space is Hubspot. They offer software, customer relationship management solutions and tools to help businesses manage their marketing efforts more effectively. Hubspot also provides no-code, user-friendly analytical and measurement tools to satisfy even the most entry-level marketers learning campaign measurements.
3. Moz Pro
Moz Pro is another platform to consider using for effective media measurement. The all-in-one tool is helpful for all things marketing — here are some of its key solutions:
- Keyword Research
- Rank Tracking
- Site Crawl
- Link Research
- Custom Reports
- On-Page Optimization
Over 500,000 businesses use Moz Pro, showing how it’s one of the most widely used social media measurement tools available today.
The Four Pillars of Effective Media Measurement
It’s crucial to understand the four pillars of media measurement — they should guide marketers in measuring their marketing success and what aspects of a marketing campaign to look out for. The four pillars include tracking, lift tests, surveying and modeling.
1. Tracking
The ultimate goal of tracking in media marketing is to assign customers, orders and order items to a specific channel, which then receives “credit” for that conversion. The term “conversion” refers to any metric marketers use to measure the effectiveness of a specific marketing effort, whether it be sales or gaining new customers.
Suppose a clothing company markets its merchandise on TikTok and a user purchases an item directly from the link on the advertisement. In that case, the TikTok advertisement gets “credit” for that sale, as it was the main component that “sold” the product.
2. Lift Tests
Lift tests — sometimes called experiments — are another pillar of media measurement. Both intra- and inter-channel tests are viable means of measuring a company’s marketing effectiveness but in different ways.
Intra-channel test results show which ads will perform the best, but only regarding one specific channel. Inter-channel results measure the effect of changing levels of spend between channels relative to each other.
One major benefit of running lift tests is it keeps costs down and prevents wasteful spending within a company’s marketing department. This could be a significant advantage for an organization, considering marketing spend is relatively limited.
3. Survey
A straightforward way to measure marketing effectiveness is to simply ask customers, “How did you hear about us?”. At first, companies can ask this question informally, such as in a brick-and-mortar location or a simple popup on their website. However, it pays to ask customers more formally in an online survey, as it provides more actionable, recorded data.
Surveying can help companies improve their marketing efforts if they’re proving ineffective. If customers do not respond to surveys or give negative feedback, marketing teams can adjust the department’s campaign or strategy accordingly.
4. Modeling
The final pillar of media measurement is statistical modeling, a regression-based approach that works with observational data to estimate causal effects. This approach considers a few factors, including:
- Channel-level spend
- Control variables, like seasonal indicators
- Relevant conversion metrics
The four pillars above guide marketers as they continue learning about media measurement.
Using Media Measurement for Social Channels
In the digitally driven marketing and advertising landscape, the number of channels companies use for marketing campaigns is steadily increasing, making it that much harder to measure their effectiveness. It’s crucial for companies to understand how to effectively measure the quality of their marketing efforts to ensure they’re meeting the needs of current and potential customers. Consider the tips above to use media measurement the right way.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shannon Flynn, Managing Editor at ReHack
Shannon Flynn is a writer with a focus on IoT, cybersecurity, and tech trends. As well as being the Managing Editor for ReHack Magazine, she has been featured on sites like Make Use Of, VentureBeat, and Lifewire.