Social Media Metrics For Dummies

Determining Which Measurements Matter and Which Ones Are Junk

It’s human nature to want things to be easy and to take little time. Busy people have important things to do! Be careful, however. Some of the junk metrics available online rely on folks who are looking for a quick fix.

Luckily, you aren’t one of those people, or you wouldn’t be reading this book right now. The following sections help you separate the measurement pitfalls from the measurement gold mines.

Beware of single-metrics services providers

That is, beware of services like Klout and Grader. Setting aside the scary privacy issues some of these services have (I’m looking at you, Klout — see the upcoming “Safeguard your privacy!” section) any metric that measures only volume or quantity can tell you only one part of the whole story. These metrics work best when considered alongside other metric indicators, such as reach, conversion, sentiment, click-throughs, views, location data, device data, demographics, and more.

Know which measurements are important

Measurements that matter are the ones that tell you clearly what people are doing to interact, engage, and use your stuff online. Are you getting forms filled out, tweets and retweets, comments, newsletter subscriptions, sales, sales leads, and more? Or are you being ignored in the sea of online brands? Even if you’re getting results, you should also be tracking what kind of online person, site, or brand is getting you the most sticky results. Retweets are nice, ...