Social Media in 2012: It’s All About Social Analytics

“In today’s highly connected global business environment, the way people communicate, find and share information – and work together – has changed dramatically.  In 2012, social analytics tools will become the must-have to gain insight; make better, faster business decisions; and improve customer satisfaction.  Whether it’s [the] analytics of an internal social network, or gaining customer insight through analysis of external social networks, organizations will increasingly rely on social technologies to listen, examine and connect to act.” – Alistair Rennie, general manager of social business at IBM

A recent post from GigaOM noted that many are facing the challenge of measuring social media ROI – but offers help in identifying metrics to evaluate the success of social media campaigns.  As the blogger has made this post a two-parter, we can only mull over the first three metrics for now…

Below, we provide the main point of each suggested metric – check out the full article for more details on challenges/best practices for each here.

1. Social media revenue conversion measures how many people become customers through social media referral channels

2. Facebook engagement measures a brand’s ability to communicate successfully with their customers on the social network

3. Social customer support metrics measure the impact of customer support on brand health and the cost of staffing a social support program

We will keep an eye out for the last two metrics to be posted and share – so stay tuned!

Let us know if/how you are measuring social media…IPRA is hosting a luncheon on March 1 that will discuss this topic.  Learn more and register to attend the event, “Social Media Strategy and Measurement for Success,” here.

The Value of Internal Brand Advocates

A line I’ve been overhearing lately is – “well I shouldn’t complain, at least I have a job.”  While the economy remains unstable, this does not give managers and employees an excuse to disregard the importance of employee morale and the workplace culture.  A recent issue of The Public Relations Strategist, a quarterly print publication of PRSA, included an article titled, ‘Inside Out:  Employees as Our Best Brand Advocates’.  In general, it can be difficult for PR professionals to remember to look inwardly and take note of their most important stakeholders – their employees – but this effort becomes critical to business operations in a time when budgets are shrinking and employees are being asked to wear multiple hats.  It is important to understand the valuable potential of employees and to harness it to build a stronger organization.  The article notes that,

“Empowering employees to act as brand advocates will give them the confidence to reach their potential; likewise, their actions will contribute to the organization’s ability to deliver on its mission and brand promise.”

So, how do we accomplish this?  The article offers the following suggestions:

Value your employees – Actively demonstrate and communicate that “a strong external brand depends on a strong internal culture”

Give employees a sight line to your success – Don’t underestimate how powerful it is for employees to understand how their role contributes to the overall success of the organization

Inform employees with timely, relevant information – Make it a priority to give employees the facts first, whether it’s good or bad, and maintain transparency throughout the organization

If you are interested in reading the full article, visit www.prsa.org and subscribe for The Public Relations Strategist.

Also, we’d love to hear from managers and employees on this – Is your organization building brand advocates?

PRSA-NCC Gets Sporty

Miss our professional development workshop on Tuesday, February 14, “What Sports Team Communicators Can Teach Us”?  Don’t worry, you can check out event recaps and photos here…

Tuning In

Capitol Communicator

If you attended the event, feel free to share the key takeaways you learned from the event.