Measuring the Effectiveness of Social Media: An Elusive Necessity

There is a growing demand for accountability in many sectors of 

modern American society.  Public school students in many states are required to demonstrate adequate performance on standardized testing in order to receive high school diplomas.  Health and beauty product advertisements often include clinical study statistics that are used to gain consumer confidence.  Many workplaces use employee data to monitor sales, efficiency, and other components of productivity.  With such buzz about “big data,” there are certain metrics that marketers should pay attention to in order to gauge whether their efforts and initiatives in social media are improving the perception of their brands. 

When measuring the effectiveness of social media marketing, it is important to note that many American businesses are in denial about the need to embrace social media.  Some marketing researchers believe that the skepticism of businesses comes directly from the fact that they have not observed data showing the return on investment from social media.  The distrust for social media could be alleviated if there was objective data that shows how investment in social media can produce a business return.  It is imperative for businesses to use strategies that successfully incorporate social media metrics when building a demand for marketing dollars.

A 2011 survey of U.S. marketing professionals showed that most difficult to measure campaign channels included public relations, search engine optimization, social media and trade shows.  The difficulties associated with tracking ROI in social media sites may be due to the limited use of available marketing tools. The survey found that the most-used tools include web analytics (48 percent), email marketing software analytics (47 percent), lead counts from online contact forms (38 percent), social media monitoring (30 percent) and call tracking (27 percent).  Though a majority of the respondents have these tools available, measurement continues to be a significant challenge for marketers.

Google Analytics attempts to show a causal relationship between social media activity and sales. 

We do, however, need to be a little forgiving of these seemingly “math-challenged” marketing professionals.  Social media ROI is far more complex than a simple cost vs. brand lift equation. Social media just doesn't fit in the current marketing-analysis paradigm, so we need to stop trying to force it. It's the classic “square peg/round hole” scenario. While social media certainly affects the consumer process, it proves to be very difficult to measure. There are many exchanges of information in many different places, and too many variables to effectively determine the relationship between social media and customer decision-making.

Participation in social media activity seems to transcend typical marketing techniques, and businesses need to see the ROI as long-term and difficult to quantify.  Social media sites should be used primarily as an outreach tool for listening and engaging customers.  The benefits can be optimized when businesses set clear goals and policies to maximize the impact that social media can have within an organization.