Data Driven Social Media MarketingFour data-driven insights to help you turn your social media marketing into a revenue-generating machine.Presented September 6, 2011 at Social Fresh Charlotte
@argylesocial@ericboggs@jthandy
In God we trust.  All others must bring data.W. Edwards Deming
In God we trust.  All others must bring data.There is no “data” confirming that Deming actually said this.W. Edwards Deming
“On the web, (this quote) has been widely attributed to Deming and Robert W. Hayden; however Prof. Hayden told us that he can claim no credit for this quote, and ironically we could find no ‘data’ confirming Deming actually said this.”The Elements of Statistical Learning, 2nd Edition, PrefaceHastie, Tibshirani, Friedmand
“On the web, (this quote) has been widely attributed to Deming and Robert W. Hayden; however Prof. Hayden told us that he can claim no credit for this quote, and ironically we could find no ‘data’ confirming Deming actually said this.”Beware rules of thumb.  Data reveals the truth.The Elements of Statistical Learning, 2nd Edition, PrefaceHastie, Tibshirani, Friedmand
A Delicious Slice of Argyle User DataAggregated and anonymousDecember 2010 through May 201170k+ posts381 organizations; all industries, all sizes
DefinitionsPost:  a single piece of content published via Argyle Social.Click:  a redirection from an Argyle short URL, published via Argyle Social.Conversion:  direct or indirect completion of an Argyle Goal as a result of a click on a post published via Argyle Social.
Conversions?Social Media Marketing = MarketingMarketing = Driven By OutcomesIf A=B & B=C, then A=C.
Insight #1 RSS Automation Works
Insight #1 RSS Automation WorksRSS automation is just as effective as posting manually.
Insight #2 Scheduled Posts Generate Clicks, Not Conversions
Insight #2 Scheduled Posts Generate Clicks, Not ConversionsScheduled posts drive traffic.  Timeliness drives conversions.
Insight #3Hashtag Stuffing Doesn’t WorkDon’t target content to hashtags.Target hashtags to content when relevant.
Insight #3Hashtag Stuffing Doesn’t Work
Insight #4Curating Drives Clicks…Creating Drives Conversions
Insight #4Curating Drives Clicks…Creating Drives Conversions	Over-curating is ineffective.Over-promoting isn’t as ineffective as you might think.
Do or do not.  There is no try.~Albus DumbledoreThank you very much.Eric Boggs@ericboggshttp://argylesocial.com
A Brief Aside Re: ConversionsTwo Types of Marketing ChannelsIntent Generating channels build consumer awareness and interest, creating an intention to purchase a product.Intent Harvesting channels capture consumer intent to purchase and drive them to the cash register.Two Types of Conversion TrackingMulti-touch tracking attributes revenue to all of the channels that touched the consumer on their path through the funnel.Last-touch tracking attributes all of the revenue for a purchase to the last channel that touched the customer prior to the sale.
Data-Driven Social Media MarketingPracticing
The Social Media Marketing FunnelYour goal as a marketer is to move people down the funnel.Key Insight: every step is measurable.Awareness:  FansInterest:  ClicksAction:  Conversions
Measuring Awareness: FansRaw numbers and trends are easy but not very instructive. Compare with something real to make judgments:B2BCompare total fan count to lead count. Aim for 1:1 ratio.Consumer ProductsCompare fan count to customer count. Aim for 1:1 ratio.Newspapers & BlogsCompare fan count to website uniques. Aim for 15%.How many fans do you have?Fan count is important, but it’s just one of many numbers that lead to success in social media marketing.Fan / Follower counts are important for normalizing other social media marketing metrics!
Measuring Interest: ClicksMetrics in ActionIncrease in clicks is driven by increase posting frequencyIncrease in clicks is driven by more engaging contentDecrease in clicks is driven by less engaging contentDecrease in posts is drive by fewer posts—easy to fix!
Measuring Action Requires AttributionSocial media builds awareness and interest in your brand but doesn’t usually lead directly to sales……but you can still measure its impact on revenue!The secret: use multi-touch conversion tracking.
Measuring Action:  ConversionsKPIsRevenueConversion countRevenue per conversionConversion rateKey QuestionsWhat is your call to action strategy?What offers work best?Are you using landing pages?

Data Driven Social Media Marketing Insights

  • 1.
    Data Driven SocialMedia MarketingFour data-driven insights to help you turn your social media marketing into a revenue-generating machine.Presented September 6, 2011 at Social Fresh Charlotte
  • 2.
  • 3.
    In God wetrust. All others must bring data.W. Edwards Deming
  • 4.
    In God wetrust. All others must bring data.There is no “data” confirming that Deming actually said this.W. Edwards Deming
  • 5.
    “On the web,(this quote) has been widely attributed to Deming and Robert W. Hayden; however Prof. Hayden told us that he can claim no credit for this quote, and ironically we could find no ‘data’ confirming Deming actually said this.”The Elements of Statistical Learning, 2nd Edition, PrefaceHastie, Tibshirani, Friedmand
  • 6.
    “On the web,(this quote) has been widely attributed to Deming and Robert W. Hayden; however Prof. Hayden told us that he can claim no credit for this quote, and ironically we could find no ‘data’ confirming Deming actually said this.”Beware rules of thumb. Data reveals the truth.The Elements of Statistical Learning, 2nd Edition, PrefaceHastie, Tibshirani, Friedmand
  • 7.
    A Delicious Sliceof Argyle User DataAggregated and anonymousDecember 2010 through May 201170k+ posts381 organizations; all industries, all sizes
  • 8.
    DefinitionsPost: asingle piece of content published via Argyle Social.Click: a redirection from an Argyle short URL, published via Argyle Social.Conversion: direct or indirect completion of an Argyle Goal as a result of a click on a post published via Argyle Social.
  • 9.
    Conversions?Social Media Marketing= MarketingMarketing = Driven By OutcomesIf A=B & B=C, then A=C.
  • 10.
    Insight #1 RSSAutomation Works
  • 11.
    Insight #1 RSSAutomation WorksRSS automation is just as effective as posting manually.
  • 12.
    Insight #2 ScheduledPosts Generate Clicks, Not Conversions
  • 13.
    Insight #2 ScheduledPosts Generate Clicks, Not ConversionsScheduled posts drive traffic. Timeliness drives conversions.
  • 14.
    Insight #3Hashtag StuffingDoesn’t WorkDon’t target content to hashtags.Target hashtags to content when relevant.
  • 15.
  • 16.
    Insight #4Curating DrivesClicks…Creating Drives Conversions
  • 17.
    Insight #4Curating DrivesClicks…Creating Drives Conversions Over-curating is ineffective.Over-promoting isn’t as ineffective as you might think.
  • 18.
    Do or donot. There is no try.~Albus DumbledoreThank you very much.Eric Boggs@ericboggshttp://argylesocial.com
  • 19.
    A Brief AsideRe: ConversionsTwo Types of Marketing ChannelsIntent Generating channels build consumer awareness and interest, creating an intention to purchase a product.Intent Harvesting channels capture consumer intent to purchase and drive them to the cash register.Two Types of Conversion TrackingMulti-touch tracking attributes revenue to all of the channels that touched the consumer on their path through the funnel.Last-touch tracking attributes all of the revenue for a purchase to the last channel that touched the customer prior to the sale.
  • 20.
    Data-Driven Social MediaMarketingPracticing
  • 21.
    The Social MediaMarketing FunnelYour goal as a marketer is to move people down the funnel.Key Insight: every step is measurable.Awareness: FansInterest: ClicksAction: Conversions
  • 22.
    Measuring Awareness: FansRawnumbers and trends are easy but not very instructive. Compare with something real to make judgments:B2BCompare total fan count to lead count. Aim for 1:1 ratio.Consumer ProductsCompare fan count to customer count. Aim for 1:1 ratio.Newspapers & BlogsCompare fan count to website uniques. Aim for 15%.How many fans do you have?Fan count is important, but it’s just one of many numbers that lead to success in social media marketing.Fan / Follower counts are important for normalizing other social media marketing metrics!
  • 23.
    Measuring Interest: ClicksMetricsin ActionIncrease in clicks is driven by increase posting frequencyIncrease in clicks is driven by more engaging contentDecrease in clicks is driven by less engaging contentDecrease in posts is drive by fewer posts—easy to fix!
  • 24.
    Measuring Action RequiresAttributionSocial media builds awareness and interest in your brand but doesn’t usually lead directly to sales……but you can still measure its impact on revenue!The secret: use multi-touch conversion tracking.
  • 25.
    Measuring Action: ConversionsKPIsRevenueConversion countRevenue per conversionConversion rateKey QuestionsWhat is your call to action strategy?What offers work best?Are you using landing pages?

Editor's Notes

  • #2 Eric doing the intro.
  • #3 Eric doing the intro.
  • #4 Intro slide – Eric frames the presentation.Examples of insights that we’ve gathered from customer data that might change the way you manage social…and as a prelude to a conversation to how you can use data from your own social media marketing efforts to make smarter marketing decisions.
  • #5 Intro slide – Eric frames the presentation.Examples of insights that we’ve gathered from customer data that might change the way you manage social…and as a prelude to a conversation to how you can use data from your own social media marketing efforts to make smarter marketing decisions.
  • #6 Intro slide – Eric frames the presentation.Examples of insights that we’ve gathered from customer data that might change the way you manage social…and as a prelude to a conversation to how you can use data from your own social media marketing efforts to make smarter marketing decisions.
  • #7 Intro slide – Eric frames the presentation.Examples of insights that we’ve gathered from customer data that might change the way you manage social…and as a prelude to a conversation to how you can use data from your own social media marketing efforts to make smarter marketing decisions.
  • #8 Eric quickly explains the data source for the next few slides.
  • #11 Eric – explain context of the data.Jason – suggest the action: use a service to automate posts via RSS. (Note: most RSS posts publish immediately, are not scheduled. Might need to delineate in the next slide.) if possible, schedule homegrown content to post multiple times. consider publishing content from other RSS feeds, can filter by tag or category.
  • #12 Eric – explain context of the data.Jason – suggest the action: use a service to automate posts via RSS. (Note: most RSS posts publish immediately, are not scheduled. Might need to delineate in the next slide.) if possible, schedule homegrown content to post multiple times. consider publishing content from other RSS feeds, can filter by tag or category.
  • #13 Eric – explain the graph.Jason – explain the takeaways:Timeliness premium when it comes to transactions. The further into the future Argyle users scheduled posts, the less influence the posts had on revenue.Suggests a few things:- Marketers aren’t scheduling posts with a strong call-to-action- Followers are less responsive to “planned” content.- Time-sensitive call-to-action is compelling
  • #14 Eric – explain the graph.Jason – explain the takeaways:Timeliness premium when it comes to transactions. The further into the future Argyle users scheduled posts, the less influence the posts had on revenue.Suggests a few things:- Marketers aren’t scheduling posts with a strong call-to-action- Followers are less responsive to “planned” content.- Time-sensitive call-to-action is compelling
  • #15 Eric – explain slide.Jason – commentary:Data suggests that posts with hashtags rarely outperform posts without hashtags.Scenarios that work:- Moderately sized, well-targeted conferences – SocialFresh…not SXSW- Charitable causes- Highly engaged groups and chatsScenarios that don’t work:- Huge conferences- Generic tags- Trending topic spamRemember that your followers are your primary source of attention.
  • #16 Eric – explain slide.Jason – commentary:Data suggests that posts with hashtags rarely outperform posts without hashtags.Scenarios that work:- Moderately sized, well-targeted conferences – SocialFresh…not SXSW- Charitable causes- Highly engaged groups and chatsScenarios that don’t work:- Huge conferences- Generic tags- Trending topic spamRemember that your followers are your primary source of attention.
  • #19 Eric - We’ve walked through a few examples that illustrate how data can drive social media marketing performance and – more importantly – marketing decisions. But we’re just talking about aggregates. The story gets more interesting when you start to look at your data in a similar fashion.
  • #21 Eric - We’ve walked through a few examples that illustrate how data can drive social media marketing performance and – more importantly – marketing decisions. But we’re just talking about aggregates. The story gets more interesting when you start to look at your data in a similar fashion.
  • #22 Eric - Social media marketing is a specialized version of marketing. Marketing is a business function. Business functions to drive outcomes. So by the transitive property you learned in 7th grade algebra, social media marketing is ultimately about driving business outcomes.Jason - Every step is measurable. You can’t optimize a two-step process - by breaking your social audience into segments, you can more easily move people down the funnel and measure your efforts.
  • #23 Eric – audience size is the obvious place to start, but follower counts are often a polarizing metric.Jason – commentary re: follower counts, importance of quality, ratios as a smart way to normalize and benchmark follower data.