Silly Rabbit, Measuring Hits is for Kids
4When you were a kid, heck, even now as an adult, how could you not love the Trix commercials and the famous saying—“Silly rabbit. Trix are for kids.” As a lover of almost any kind of cereal, I can tell you that Trix is one of my favorites. Anyway, down to business…
I saw a tweet come out yesterday that not only made me laugh, but made me think as well. Katie Paine, who is notorious for creating thought-provoking content, was quoted on Twitter as saying—
“Hits stands for how idiots track success.”
Wow! Not only is that funny, but it is also entirely true. Well, let me back up a second. Measuring hits ALONE is how idiots track success. Particularly in social media, it isn’t how many eyeballs you reach, it’s more about how your message resonates with your stakeholders. I would be remiss if I didn’t take a second and give you some metrics (there are obviously others) that I think make more sense than just hits for traditional or social media measurement. So…here you go…Oh, one thing before I give you those metrics—these are just random ideas and shouldn’t be used as a substitute for benchmarking and then setting measurable goals and objectives.
Traditional Metrics:
Opportunities to see (share of voice)
Presence of key messages
sentiment
percent change in awareness
percent change in sales
percent change in market share
cost per message
Social Metrics:
brand loyalty
share of voice
sentiment
total subscribers
comments/engagement
inbound links
sales
percent change in Web traffic
I’m sure you could easily add to both lists, but I want to get your reaction to Katie’s comment. Do you agree/disagree?
The Conversation
Sonny Gill on November 03, 2009
karen on February 16, 2011
I am a member of a local sunday press club and we have had debates on this issue. I can say I can highly relate to this. I have to show this to my club members so they can agree with me as well.
lalaram on March 14, 2011
I always follow all your news but this one I have missed. It is really a new fact for me about Trojans and I will definitely try to find more publications about her. Well, I have to admit that she is really a beautiful woman and personally I think that she is very similar like Alexis Texas! Look at her. Anyway thanks a lot for sharing these wonderful news! kuddfodral :: San Diego Printing
Kamagra on May 27, 2011
I had the pleasure to listen to Katie speak last year at a MarketingProfs event, & he said that exact same line. What came after was a deeper look at what can be measured in social media an even bigger misnomer at the time.
You’re right in your assessment, Chuck. It should never be the sole thing that you measure. It may be how some traditional means have been measured in the past, but that shouldn’t translate in you sticking to that model with every strategy you launch.
I had the pleasure to hear Katie speak last year at a MarketingProfs event, and she said that very same line. What came after was a deeper look at what can be measured in social media (an even bigger misnomer at the time).
Good to see you two are on the same page