Ahhh, measurement. This is probably the social media topic that I get asked about the most, and understandably so since it’s a tricky one. There are many issues that make determining social media ROI a challenge. A big one is the accuracy of the data. As those who’ve tried to measure Twitter engagement know, determining accurate user metrics is nearly impossible since Twitter itself only offers access to its API to developers, and only large-scale developers (think Google, Yahoo and  Microsoft), as well as a select group of smaller companies, actually have access to the raw data.

Another issue is that there’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. I’ve yet to find a turnkey platform or set of tools that give you every metric you need right out of the box. But measurement is a key component of a digital media strategy, particularly for those in consultancy roles who have to show the value of their work to clients. So how do you attack this?

1.       Determine the Goal(s)
2.       Design strategy and determine tactics
3.       Identify units of measurement for each tactic
4.       Take a baseline to measure against
5.       Put your plan into action
6.       Measure results and interpret data
7.       Adjust strategy

First, and most importantly, you need to determine what the client’s goals are. What do they hope to get out of a social media program? I can’t stress enough how critical this is as the first step. You cannot prove any sort of success if you don’t know in specific terms what the client wants to see happen.

Once you know what your end goal is, you can begin thinking about the tactics that will help you get there, and subsequently, the units of measurement that you want to track (i.e. Facebook fans in a specific geographical footprint or click-through rates on a bit.ly link). Also key to measuring is sentiment analysis. The numbers of Twitter mentions that a client’s product received on a given day is meaningless unless you know if those mentions are positive, negative or neutral. Usually a measurement program ends up being a combination of a few tools, some manual labor, time spent analyzing and interpreting the data, and then putting it into a format that a client can understand.

This brings us to the final piece of the puzzle. Interpretation of the data is where we show our value as consultants. Anyone can plug their Twitter handle into a free measurement tool and see graphs on follower growth. Our value is in taking this raw data and putting it into perspective for our clients, and then making recommendations for improvement.

This isn’t to say that there aren’t a lot of great platforms out there that make measurement much easier. I just think it’s important not to lose site of the necessary human element. Like most areas of life, a tool only gets you so far.