#ISum11

Social ROI: Measuring What Matters

Internet Summit

November 15, 2011

Jill Carlson

Marketing Manager

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@argylesocial@carlsonjill#isum11

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Agenda

• Why am I here?• Why is social media marketing problematic?• How do you measure social ROI?

– Awareness– Interest– Action

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Life, Pre-Argyle

Inputs (books, libraries, students

served)

Outcomes (increased learning, proficiency,

fluency)

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Life, Pre-Argyle

Inputs (books, libraries, students

served)

Outcomes (increased learning, proficiency,

fluency)

The biggest challenge was connecting the inputs to outcomes.

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Oh So Meta…

Social Media Marketing for a Social Media Marketing Management company

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Why is social problematic?

• Real-time• One-to-one• Pervasive• Changing• Complicated

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Why is social problematic?

• Real-time• One-to-one• Pervasive• Changing• Complicated

The biggest challenge facing social media marketers is connecting the

inputs to outcomes.

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Social media should be data-driven

• Social Media Marketing = Marketing• Marketing = Driven By Outcomes

• If A=B & B=C, then A=C.

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Social is difficult to measure

Two Types of Marketing Channels

Intent Generating channels:Build awareness, interest, desire

Intent Harvesting channels:Call to action (purchase, form, etc.)

Two Types of Conversion Tracking

Multi-touch tracking attributes revenue to all of the channels on their path through the funnel.

Last-touch tracking attributes all of the revenue to the last channel prior to sale.

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Social is difficult to measure

Your goal as a social media marketer is to move people down

the funnel.

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You (Probably) Under-Report Social

Day 0: Person follows your company on Twitter.

Day 0-30: Person clicks,

socializes, RTs, posts, etc.

Day 30: Person makes

buying decision, Googles your

company, clicks an ad, converts.

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You (Probably) Under-Report Social

Day 0: Person follows your company on Twitter.

Day 0-30: Person clicks,

socializes, RTs, posts, etc.

Day 30: Person makes buying

decision, Googles your company, clicks

an ad, converts.Social is rarely the last touch.

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For example…

Google Analytics shows 178 social media “assisted conversions” fora time period…

…but we tracked over 1,100 socially Influenced conversions for the same chunk of time.

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For example…

Google Analytics shows 178 social media “assisted conversions” forthis time period…

…but we tracked over 1,300 socially Influenced conversions for the same chunk of time.

Scenario 1: Social media gets scrutinized.Scenario 2: Social media is the hero.

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Social Proof?

20% of total sales to the

social channel

Exclusive online listings drive offline

sales

225% follower growth over 6

months

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HOW DO I MEASURE MY SOCIAL ROI?

Now what?

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Measure what matters

Every single step is measurable:

Awareness: followers and fans

Interest: clicks and engagement

Action: social conversions

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Measuring Awareness: Fans

– B2BCompare total fan count to lead count. Aim for 1:1 ratio.

– Consumer ProductsCompare fan count to customer count. Aim for 1:1 ratio.

– Newspapers & BlogsCompare fan count to website uniques.Aim for 15%.

Flickr user Fe em Brasil

How many do you have?

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Measuring Awareness: Fans

– B2BCompare total fan count to lead count. Aim for 1:1 ratio.

– Consumer ProductsCompare fan count to customer count. Aim for 1:1 ratio.

– Newspapers & BlogsCompare fan count to website uniques.Aim for 15%.

Flickr user Fe em Brasil

How many do you have?

Fans and followers are crucial denominators for other data points.

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The iPad Conundrum

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Measuring Awareness: Fans

Who are they?

Demographics—target and actual

Where are they coming from?

“Like Sources” and “External referrers”

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Measuring Awareness: Fans

Who are they?

Demographics—target and actual

Where are they coming from?

“Like Sources” and “External referrers”

When it comes to your social audience, quality is just as important as quantity.

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Measuring Interest: Clicks

KPIs• Clicks (duh)• Clicks per post• Clicks per follower• Response rate

Key Questions

• What content drives interest?• What are you posting?• How are you posting it?

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Measuring Interest: Clicks

Metrics in Action

Clicks Posts Clicks per Post

Which is better?

Which is worse?

Increase in clicks is driven by increase posting frequency

Increase in clicks is driven by more engaging content

Decrease in clicks is driven by less engaging content

Decrease in posts is driven by fewer posts—easy to fix!

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Measuring Action: Conversions

KPIs• Revenue• Conversion count• Revenue per conversion• Conversion rate

Key Questions

• What is your call to action strategy?

• What offers work best?• Are you using landing pages?

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Measuring Action: Conversions

Metrics in Action

Revenue Conversions RPC

Which is better?

Which is worse?

Increase in revenue is driven by higher conversion volume

Increase in revenue is driven by higher revenue per conversion

Decrease in revenue is driven by lower revenue per conversion

Decrease in revenue is driven lower conversion volume

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Some Insights we’ve gained

• Aggregated and anonymous• December 2010 through May 2011• 70k+ posts• 381 organizations; all industries, all sizes

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Definitions

• Post: a single piece of content published via Argyle Social.

• Click: a redirection from an Argyle short URL, published via Argyle Social.

• Conversion: direct or indirect completion of an Argyle Goal as a result of a click on a post published via Argyle Social.

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Insight #1 RSS Automation Works

RSS Manual0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Clicks by Posting Method

Posting Method

Clic

ks

RSS Manual$0

$50

$100

$150

$200

$250

$300

Revenue by Posting Method

Posting MethodR

ev

en

ue

RSS automation is just as effective as posting manually.

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Insight #2 Scheduled Posts Generate Clicks, Not Conversions

<2min 2-30min 30min-3hrs

3-12hrs 12-24hrs

>24hrs $-

$50

$100

$150

$200

$250

$300

$350

$400

Timeliness vs. Influenced Revenue

Posting Delay

Infl

uen

ced

Rev

enu

e

Posted Immediately Scheduled for Later0

5

10

15

20

25

Timeliness vs. Traffic

Posting Timeframe

Cli

cks Scheduled posts drive traffic.

Timeliness drives conversions.

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Insight #3Curating Drives Clicks…Creating Drives Conversions

Curators

Balanced

Promoters

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Clicks Per Post

Curators

Balanced

Promoters

0.0% 0.5% 1.0% 1.5% 2.0% 2.5% 3.0%

Click To Conversion

Curators

Balanced

Promoters

0.0% 50.0% 100.0% 150.0%

Post Conversion Rate

Sample Breakdown

Over-curating is ineffective.

Over-promoting isn’t as ineffective as you might think.

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How do I manage the fire hose?

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Iterate, iterate, iterate

Define goals/objectives/i

ndicators

Revisit the framework

Test, learn, adjust, repeat

Work towards a small toolbox

Track through to outcome

Learn

Adjust

Test

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Did we cover it?

• Why am I here?• Why is social media marketing

problematic?• How can you measure social ROI?

– Awareness– Interest– Action

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Five things you can do now

1. Aggregate your publishing efforts.

2. Make it a habit to share smart links.

3. Activate Multi-Channel Funnels in GA.

4. Develop a content matrix.

5. Conduct a social media review.

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Social Review Whitepaper

http://ar.gy/review

• Do you have the fans you want?• What content resonates with your audience?• How do you drive more value through social?

Plot your course

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Thank you very much.

Slides at http://ar.gy/isummit11

Jill Carlson

@carlsonjill

http://argylesocial.com