This week we tried to talk about metrics but ended up talking about listening programs as well, which are indeed related but not the same thing at all. Since the Geek Whisperers gang is focused more on fostering human interaction than counting points, we brought in the smart and capable Kari D’Elia (@karidelia) to walk us through when and what to measure, and how to connect your business objectives with what you’re measuring.
Best quote of the night goes as usual to Amy when askedย “Do you have a favorite metric?”ย “I do. I really like to, number 1, ignore metrics as much as possible.”
Despite our bad attitude, we share with you some of our experiences with metrics, what and when to measure, and when to call it a day on a project. We don’t really go into the tools we use because, well, we don’t appear to be that kind of useful podcast, but among others we use: bit.ly, Sysomos, The Marketing Cloud Formerly Known as Radian 6, TweetReach, and Topsy.
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‘Pat on the back’ measurements is the worst thing happening to marketing departments these days!
@twitter-295803045:disqus These days? Been happening since the first caveman had to show an up-and-to-the-right graph on his cave painting about sales of stone knives and bearskins.
Let me rephrase, the introduction of ROI report requirements to marketing employees who are traditionally not number focused has resulted in a scramble to hit numbers by whatever means possible. This results in number inflation which snowballs into more number inflation and unrealistic goals. Throw in social media ROI expectations and the result is a lot of firing across the channel.
Could not agree more Chris. Add to that the amount of time it takes to pat oneself on the back with inflated numbers, and you’ve got a great case for why marketing as a department gets a bad rep.