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Given the storm social media marketing has thrown up over the past year, it’s no surprise that many folks have dived in head first without gaining a solid idea of what they’re supposed to be doing. This problem is compounded by the fact that the number of social media networks is on the rise with new formats that take advantage of the dizzying possibilities in Web 2.0. In the B2B sphere, a problem that nearly cripples every social media initiative is the supposed lack of clearly measurable and monetized metrics to track. Clearly, rigid management structures and wary executives are worried about not being able to measure performance that translates into definable ROI. Well, to help address your woes, here is list of the top 6 metrics to track when engaging in a full-blown B2B social media campaign. 1. Engagement Levels And Bounce Rates Sometimes a lot of useless traffic can lead to high bounce rates which in turn will negatively affect your SEO rankings. That’s why it’s always a good idea to monitor the length of time each visitor spends on your site and the specific pages they visit. Do some pages generate significantly more interest than others? Once you’ve analyzed enough data to spot the weaknesses in your SM strategy, you’ll find that optimizing your SM presence to drive more relevant traffic becomes a whole lot easier. 2. Leads And Strategies Different social networks require different strategies. As a B2B company heavily engaged in social media, make sure you track every visitor that is directed to your website from your social media endeavors. Then take it further by breaking down traffic on the basis of specific social networks and analyzing which of your strategies drives the most traffic to your landing pages relative to the strength of your presence on each network. 3. Active Members Track the percentage of your network that plays an active role in interacting and engaging you on each social network. Is this percentage experiencing consistent growth? How many present opportunities for nurturing and eventual conversion? What is the ratio of active vs. inactive members? Measuring activity rates and ratios is a good way to find out how much of a role social interaction plays in lead generation. Note: That non-contributors are not to be discounted as worthless – they’re all out there, watching and waiting for the right stimulus to come along. 4. Cultivate Loyalty Are users repeatedly interacting with your brand? Or are you experiencing a string of one time posts? If you can isolate users that are consistently active on your social media pages, group them together and try to nurture them into brand evangelists. If that seems impossible, the very least you should do is try and get them to drive referrals. 5. Conversion Rates While social media is primarily a place to conduct networking and branding initiatives, it can also be leveraged to generate leads. Track the number and quality of conversions you generate through social media and remember to segregate them on the basis of individual networks. 6. Shares & Tags Monitor everything your users do in terms of sharing and tagging your brand across social networks. This may seem like a Herculean task, but it will give you a reasonably good idea of your social reputation as well the value and impact that your content strategies create. By tracking individual user activity in relation to your company pages, you can also place a finger on the user groups that you are likely to have most influence upon. Above all, remember to have a set of clearly defined goals that can help you establish milestones. Metrics such as the above will not only help you track improvements within and across the various social networks that come under your SMO strategy, but will also allow you to tweak your tactics to quickly achieve your goals and objectives. Sources http://www.theidm.com http://thomsondata.com http://www.marketingprofs.com About the Author John Duff is a published author and senior marketing manager for Thomson Data, a data management company that has helped sell thousands of software products on a global scale. With over 11 years of experience in online marketing techniques, John has authored articles for several leading business journals, worldwide.
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Social Media Tips, Social Media Metrics, B2B Social Media,
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