The value of social media to businesses can be measured in a variety of different ways, some of which would not suit one business where as they fit perfectly for another. The same goes for the variety of different social media channels available. It’s no good an online business encouraging people to ‘check-in’ via Foursquare.

It’s all about knowing what works for your business. To do that you may want to look at your current social media presence after reading this post and consider how you could measure its value. Its surprising how many people assume they are doing well just by being on social media, when it can soon turn out they had little to no impact all along, either because they were using the wrong channels for their audience or because they were lost and had no idea where to start. This post should bring you up to speed on what you need to be looking at when it comes to your company’s impact on social media, and how you can measure the impact.

The impact of mentions

The statuses, images, videos, etc that you post via your company’s social media channels may just be the beginning of your presence on social media. Because for many consumers social media is where they go to talk about everything from what they just watched on TV to their breakfast this morning, you get a lot of people both posting positive and negative things about products and brands. Both small and large brands do not go untouched. Take this as an example:

I have been having issues with my mobile phone and blame the network, Orange. In my frustration, I might go onto my Twitter and tweet“Phone is down again, stupid Orange!” because I am letting my mates know my phone is down and they might not be able to contact me, and think nothing of mentioning Orange because to me it’s all their fault! But I probably wouldn’t even think about the impact this might have when I tweet this. One of my mates on Twitter may have been going for a new phone contract and have been considering Orange but be put off now because I have had a bad experience.

On the other hand, I could have said “Going to the cinema again tonight, love Orange Wednesdays!” because Orange offer 2 for 1 cinema tickets on a Wednesday to their customers. My friend who on another network might be thinking of switching and think ‘I like going to the cinema a lot, would be worth going for an Orange contract!’ therefore gaining Orange a new customer.

That was just a large scale example, but it’s just as easy for a small local business to get the same negative and/or positive comments, and losing or gaining a customer could have a bigger impact on a smaller business.

The best ways of tracking mentions like this to track this is to:

1. Keep your brand active on social media. If people see your page is regularly updated, they will most likely contact you through it by posting a comment/Tweet rather than calling or emailing you. If you are active you can also pick up quickly on these comments and publicly show off your customer service skills by posting a polite reply and solving issues/thanking them for praise.
2. Regularly use search functions on social media channels to search for your brand name and related keywords or hashtags. Again, issues can be resolved and praise can be thanked, and you may even find a few new customers along the way.

There is no way to crunch the numbers when it comes to the impact other people’s positive and negative comments have on your business, but keeping a regular track on them and being seen to actively solve issues and thank people is good practice and helps publically show that your business values good customer service, which can never hurt.

The Impact and Measurement of Company Pages/Accounts

The company pages and accounts that you control on social media are both valuable and measurable. Some pages, e.g. Facebook company pages, even come with their own analytics function, which is well worth getting acquainted with. As mentioned before, keeping active and updating regularly is key to creating a presence on social media, both as a way of encouraging people to engage with your brand and as a way of keeping tabs on unhappy customers.

The best way to engage people on company social media pages and accounts is to be genuine and human. Put yourself in your target audiences’ shoes when thinking about how your brand’s personality will come across. What would they value, find interesting and want to see more of? Post about topics and share content with them that you know they will want to pass on because they find it useful and interesting, or even humorous. Competitions and exclusive social media offers are also great for encouraging sharing and engagement, as people will often give something (a share) if they feel you are offering something in return (a competition prize or an exclusive offer for those who share).

And when talking to them either through engaging posts that aim to get a conversation going or through joining another ongoing conversation via comments, address them politely but don’t be all business (unless of course you are a business to business company). Be friendly and approachable, and try to be on a par with them so they feel they can relate to your brand.

The impact of your company pages and accounts can be measured in different ways dependant on the platform:

Facebook is great for gaining insights about engagement and how far your reach is, and even offers information on who your page’s demographic is based on your fans’ locations, genders, ages, and more.

LinkedIn is another channel that offers analytics for its company pages, although its not quite as detailed as Facebook. Because LinkedIn is aimed more at business users for professional use, the kind of stats it offers on your demographic are things such as company size, employment rank, etc which may be more useful for B2B companies.

Twitter, Google+, YouTube and various other social networks don’t have the built in tools offered by Facebook and LinkedIn, so it’s advisable to consider an analytics programme that encompasses these when it comes to measuring your impact. Klout is a great one solely for impact measurement, as it gives you a changeable score based on how people have engaged and interacted with your posts. For more detailed analytics, a dashboard such as Google Analytics or a social media management dashboard with built in analytics (with paid service) such as Hootsuite is the best way to measure impact for these channels.

To find out how Mancunian Creative can help you create and maintain an effective social media presence, click here.