Measuring social media and buzz marketing

It’s a great time to be interested in measuring the output of social media marketing (buzz marketing, community marketing, WOM – call it what you will!).

Because so much of it is so new and evolving, and because it’s as much about quality as quantity, essentially it’s like trying to measure magic or trying to turn common metals into gold.

And being part of evolving social alchemy is pretty exciting. Most online measures of success are still evolving – but the basics are well established. Unique Users, Hits, Page Impressions etc are universal enough that everyone understands them. And terms like Bounce Rates are following close behind.

But measuring the value of a company CEO spending time chatting on Twitter, and what benefits that gives the company?

You could measure followers.

You could measure referral clicks to the company website.

You could even measure @replies as a metric for engagement.

And it’s the fact no-one has worked out the right answer (or combination of answers), that makes it so exciting. For the first time since choosing my A-levels, I’m actually using and enjoying maths to uncover the solutions – and working out how to best serve communities that seem determined to surprise and confuse me on a daily basis.

Just wish I’d done a maths/statistics A-level rather than Biology now!