Un-Standard for Measuring Social Media
I was scrolling through Twitter the other day and @craigritchie posted a link to an interesting article about a unique take that KDPaine and Partners is taking when trying to measure social media.
It seems that almost all of my conversations lately have been about the need for some sort of standard metrics for social media measurement. My response is always the same as it has been for the last 2 decades of measuring communications: There can be no standard because there is no standard goal for “communications.”
KDPaine and Partners are calling the un-standard for measuring social media, the Optimum Content Score (OCS) . In essence their process is to define what constitutes the perfect article, TV spot, Blog post, Podcast, etc and then clearly define the opposite. Once these lists have been created…
You can then rate each item, posting, article or transcript according on a scale of + 1 to -1 depending on its content. You then average your score for the month/week/quarter (whatever timeframe is most appropriate). You will also need to do the same for your competitor’s items. That way you can quickly see who is doing better or worse depending on your industry.
This doesn’t seem remarkable to me; but I understand the need for such a process as many organizations still fail to define the purpose, and subsequently the scope of content, that is of value to them and / or their clients.
Remember, the medium is the message!
What do you want to communicate to your audience? This will define the medium as well as the scope of the content that is best suited for your company when communicating to anyone within or outside of your organization.
The problem with social media is that hard and fast marketers are trying to quantify the space as a means of determining ROI. I think those who recognize it as a Communications tool rather than a Marketing tactic will find much greater value in terms of word-of-mouth, awareness, and positioning than those who are looking for a direct dollar-for-dollar advertising investment.
Well said, Kristina. I think we need to be re-thinking about what constitutes an ROI when dealing with social media.
I know that I wouldn’t have had the opportunities to travel and learn from others without haven taken up Podcasting. As well, sharing the ideas I have had through conversations has lead me to contracts from clients I would have otherwise never thought about approaching.
As you and I have talked about off line, I believe that the information age has proven that knowledge is no longer the basis for power; relationships are. Social media helps to keep the conversation going, and in the process build strong relationships with colleagues, clients, and other subject matter experts.
There may be no mathematical formula you can apply to the development of such networking and relationship building, but how can one argue against the benefits of working and living in such an environment?