Social Media Metrics - Research Paper Example

? Social Media Metrics Social Media Metrics In the present-day globalized business environment, organizations that do not take time to comprehend social media and treat social conversations only as opportunities for sales are at a grave risk of alienating their consumers. Positive examples come from companies such as Home Depot that seek to respond to consumer inquiries with regard to social media channels with relevant answers and rapid response. The following paper explores the various metrics that the organization should be tracking so that it can effectively develop its strategy of social media marketing. Firstly, a description of the various types of social media campaigns that the company is currently engaged in is explored. Further, a description of various major metrics that it should be monitoring is provided. The various platforms and tools that it could use to capture data are also described together with ways through which it can use data to develop as well as improve a social media marketing strategy. The Home Depot Inc. is a leading company in the retailing industry headquartered in the Cobb County, Georgia, the United States. The company’s major retailing products and services are in the home improvement and construction fields. By January 2011, Home Depot had 2,248 stores located across the United States as well as in Canada, Mexico and in China. According to the overall revenue reported to the United States S.E.C, Home Depot is the largest retailer in the home improvement field, way ahead of its major competitor Lowe’s (GoogleFinance, 2012). Home Depot has curved a niche in social media marketing. One of the campaigns that the company is engaging in is in the social networking site Facebook where Home Depot has a large presence. Home Depot recently presented a massive check of $250,000 to the Reno’s Veterans Guest House during the company’s Aprons in Action contest. During the contest, which began in early 2011, the Facebook page of the company served as the platform for up to 44 non-profit companies to earn funding totaling to up to $1 million as a result of Facebook votes and to develop more awareness of their community engagement and efforts. The social media strategy adopted by Home Depot is managed by the corporate communications department, headed by Mr. Brad Shaw. The company’s corporate team in charge of social media is tasked with responsibilities of reviewing content and posts that are developed by associates. They also manage the company’s social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube (Zmuda, 2011). The following are the major metrics that the company should be monitoring. The first metric is based on knowing what the company wants out of social media. This involves the following practices: Defining the R in the company’s ROI - For the purposes of proving the ROI, it is important for the company to have a tangible business goal with which to begin with. This refers to the return that the company is looking forward to deliver. The company should also consider the objectives of doing this as well as the problem that it is trying to solve (Lovett, 2011). Establish benchmarks - Researchers agree that there are benchmarks in social media in spite of the popular ideology that they do not exist. Instead of determining how much positive sentiment the company has, it is important that Home Depot determines its share of positive sentiment in the midst of all positive sentiment in its marketplace. On the other hand, if Home Depot operates in any controversial area, it should gauge its relative share of the negative sentiment. Defining the audience – This refers to the market the company’s campaign is trying to reach. It is important for the company’s social media campaign to go out and attempt to reach fifty million people; however, that is not very important if the fifty million people are not really its target market. The company can reach the world with its social media presence; however, if the closest company store is a hundred miles away, it is critical to have a lot of engagement and loyalty to win such part of an audience as consumers. It is, therefore, very important for Home Depot to be extremely honest about its target audience and whether it is in fact reaching them (Powell, Groves, & Dimos, 2011). Making it a two-way conversation - According to marketing scholars, the ‘social’ part of social media calls for a give and take. As online conversations with regard to the company continue, it is important for Home Depot not to just talk about itself, but engage its consumers in a two-way conversation. While the majority of marketers think that social media is about getting the word out, it is, however, a very different thing. It is all about the conversation. There are many ways to use the social media in touching consumers and interacting in methods that one could not do before. The company should use social media to ensure that its consumers feel engaged with the brand on an intimate level, gather feedback, carry out consumer meetings and look for opportunities for development. Another major metric that the company should be monitoring is the referral traffic. Getting people to cooperate with your brand at various social platforms is great although the real goal is supposed to be to drive more and more repeat traffic and sustainable traffic to the website. In order to establish that Home Depot is accomplishing this, they should examine in their web analytics tool and see where their traffic is originating from. In the case of Google Analytics Users, they can view this by going to traffic sources, sources and the referrals page. Once one is in this dashboard, they should review their top performing referral source as well as the respective time on site. The share of voice is another very important metric that the company should monitor. This refers to a measure of how much the company is mentioned when compared to their competitors. If the competitors are mentioned more or even less, this can easily be determined by the share of voice metric. The company should ensure that they are participants in various relevant conversations for the brand irrespective of where these conversations occur although it is more important where the company’s key consumers are located. To determine the share of voice, the company can use tools such as the Socialmention tool that are very affordable. There are other more advanced tools to facilitate this although they could be more costly (like Radian6). The engagement duration is a social media metric that the company cannot afford to ignore. Engagement is recognized as one of the most important areas of social media to determine. These include issues such as if fans are commenting or liking one’s Facebook page, if conversations are happening with the brand after releasing content, or if users are re-tweeting tweets and pinning images of the brand. It is also recommended that one should look at how their competitors are faring across their social outposts and determine if they are receiving any significant level of engagement. An examination of what they are posting that could be different is an important process that can help a company greatly. The membership active network size is another metric that ought to be monitored. This refers to the company’s social networks that are actively engaged with their social media content such as Facebook pages and Twitter. The company should monitor that their followers, fans or collective members network is growing, as well as whether there is any significant interaction about its content. Conversions are a major metric. Every company wants its social network members to convert Facebook application use to monetary value. For example, a subscription to a monthly electronic newsletter can be monetized by providing other companies the access to one’s list in advertising ways. A measurement of all forms of conversions and charting them over time is an important process that can mean a lot to the marketing success of an organization (Powell, Groves, & Dimos, 2011). The other metric is activity ratio. A determination of how active a company’s collective social network is an important social media metric, and one should come up with campaigns to ensure that interaction is increased. Conclusion It is companies such as Home Depot and others that take the subject of social media seriously which will have a resonating impact on the general perception of their brand in the eyes of social consumers. The company should take into consideration each of these key metrics. Various tools and platforms described are also very important for the company to use. These data could be used to develop and make the company’s social media marketing strategy more effective by ensuring that each of these tools and platforms are well understood by every person in charge with the social media success of the company. This calls for training and even retraining when necessity calls. These actions will ensure that the company meets the needs of consumers as well as elevating the experiences of consumers. References GoogleFinance. (2012). 2012 Form 10-K, The Home Depot, Inc. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Lovett, J. (2011). Social Media Metrics Secrets. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Powell, G., Groves, S., & Dimos, J. (2011). ROI of Social Media: How to Improve the Return on Your Social Marketing Investment. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Zmuda, N. (2011). Home Depot's Social-Media Strategy Pays Off. Retrieved from http://adage.com/article/special-report-social-media-guide/home-depot-s-social-media- strategy-pays/229865/. Read More