Recently I was engaged on a project for a client evaluating their web analytics efforts including the dashboards that they’ve established as well as a thorough overview of their web analytics implementation. One common thing that I’ve routinely noticed is the lack of tracking of Social Media Marketing efforts. Most companies today are engaged in some type of Social Media Marketing whether it is a cable company and customer service through Twitter, Facebook advertising, groups, etc. or Linked In you can and should be tracking your efforts.
I should preface that not everything is quantifiable but there are specific things that you can do to gain a better understanding of how to allocate your time and marketing dollars. For example this particular company is in e-commerce and focuses on promoting specials and deals that they have on a daily basis through their twitter account. They utilize bit.ly which is a great URL shortening service but could make a simple adjustment to have data flow into their web analytics application, in this case Google Analytics. In this case they could utilize the Google URL Builder and create the following URL as an example:
http://www.amazon.com/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=tweet&utm_content=4-13-10&utm_campaign=123-linksys-router
That condenses down to http://amzn.to/cZPbd2 but when you place it within your tweet will carry over the information pertaining to the product, the date of the deal, the source and other valuable information. You could utilize a similar method by appending a CID or other code in Omniture Site Catalyst. You can then use this to make informed business decisions about which of your Social Media Marketing efforts are really paying dividends and which you could consider re-evaluating the tactic or strategy. As always please feel free to comment and share how you track your Social Media Marketing efforts within your web analytics applications.
One thing that I’m constantly asked about by traditional marketers is the value of social media marketing. They have by now all heard of social media and the corresponding big names Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Myspace, Linked In, etc. What is less clear is how to leverage them effectively to meet their marketing goals. Definition of marketing goals followed by business analysis of who your target customer is, where they are, and how they interact online are some of the fundamental aspects that will help drive your strategy.
All to frequently I’ve seen marketers jump into the social media space without understanding the media and just wanting to be on facebook for example. Starting a group without a strategy with a few posts here and there doesn’t add value to your company or your brand. Knowing that a large potential customer base is active on a social media site is a start for you to establish a dialogue with them and find an ‘in’ for yourself and your products. Another mistake that marketers make is coming off as too corporate. A large majority of users are on social media sites to interact with friends, family, former classmates, etc. They are not actively engaged in searching for your product for the most part. This is not search engine marketing where a customer is typing in a contextualized search term in which you offer a corresponding product. You need to establish a value add for them in this medium.Don’t just build a corporate widget or application, toss it up online and expect the masses to come flocking to you.
Perhaps you sponsor a message board or online forum. Maybe you have a member of your staff answering questions with a signature in your post pointing back to your site from groups on Facebook, Linked In, etc. Large brands have been utilizing social media to offer customer service based activities in a new format different than traditional phone and email. Developing a strategy based upon your customer base and then a short term and long term road map for social media marketing will better serve your goals and objectives. After all you want to enhance not tarnish your brand. Anyone have specific examples that they would like to share about the value that they’re currently seeing when it comes to social media marketing? Please feel free to use the contact form to share.
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