Social Media Metrics For Dummies

Meeting Metrics Gurus, not Charlatans

You can easily tell the metrics charlatans out there. They’re the ones working so hard to convince brands that “there is no way to measure ROI of social media.” That’s a bunch of hooey — of course, there is.

In fact, if you tune out the charlatans and incompetents, you find that you can not only measure social media and online metrics in a wide variety of ways, but you can find plenty of smart people that will tell you their biggest secrets of metrics measurement every day!

If you wonder who I consider metrics gurus and recommend following for your continued education in metrics after you’ve mastered what I cover in this book and get hooked on data, at the top of my list is Christopher Penn, author of the Awaken Your Superhero blog, and K.D. Paine from K.D. Paine & Partners. Avinash Kaushik of Occam’s Razor is another great resource for analytics and SEO help.

What do all of the metrics gurus have in common? A focus on deep metrics, an ability to follow the long tail and see extended results, advocacy on comparing data sets and advanced segmentation, and a willingness to share many of the great new discoveries they make and the tricks of their trade every day.