(www.inkthinkerblog.com) — I’m at SOBCon09 in Chicago with @lizstrauss and @starbucker. I’m taking notes as people talk, so there will be typos; deal with it. KD Paine (@kdpaine) is going to talk about the ROI (return on investment) of relationships.
You can’t manage what you can’t measure.
Reasons people don’t measure:
- You’re afraid it will show that what you’re doing doesn’t work.
- You’re afraid of what you’ll hear, but if you don’t listen, your enemies will hear.
- You’re afraid you can’t justify your existence, but it’s not about justifying so much as improving.
- You’re afraid you’ll be fired for presenting the wrong numbers… but if you present the wrong numbers you should be fired anyway.
Now it’s not about just one-way communication. It’s about listening to your customers. All research and measurement are are listening better.
MSM > Eyeball Counting
It’s not about the number of eyeballs; it’s about being found by the people you want to find you.
Online > Hits
Hits means How Idiots Track Success. They are stupid things people count that raise expectations inappropriately
Social Media > Engagement
Social media enables you to go to people who need your help and tell them you’re there in a much more cost-effective way than old ways.
You really want to be measuring relationships, not engagement. The ROI is not about exposure; it’s about the return on the effort. The measurement fork in the road is between selling stuff and improving reputation and relationships. Once you decide what you want to measure, you can then set goals. Goals set metrics and metrics drive results. Then you can see if those things are moving up over time and what it’s costing you to move them up. You need to decide up front which road you want to take.
The basics of measurement
Outputs (activities) – Did you get the coverage you wanted? Did you produce the promised materials on time and on budget?
Outtakes (feeling and perceptions) – Did your target audience SEE and BELIEVE the message?
Outcomes (actions) – Did audience behavior change? Did the right people show up? Did your relationship change? Did sales increase
These are 3 legs of a stool, and you need all three of them.
- What are the results you want or expect?
- What is the investment?
- Who is the audience and what motivates them?
- What are your metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs)?
- Define your benchmarks and base your measurement tool on your KPIs.
Um, okay, there was more but my eyes glazed over and I needed snacks. Sorry, peeps. The presentation’s on SlideShare.
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