Measuring the Value of Engagement

ROI of Engagement

To date, metrics haven’t been well established for Online Media. Sure there are web analytics that you can quantify: visits, page views, lead generations, or SEO rankings. You can use Feedburner and Google Analytics – two free plug-ins that help analyze your traffic. But what about conversations that occur via social networks?

This is the missing element in measurement. How do you analyze the effectiveness, the engagement, or the ROI of conversations? How are we able to release the marketing power of the web?

The objective of engagement is to create a relationship between the consumer and a product/service, a brand, or a company. How the consumer is involved with the brand is measured on the value of conversations:

Participation – The consumer is involved in the conversation. Are you accessible? For a brand, this needs to become a dialogue. Demonstrate commitment to advancing client interests and opportunities and in turn it shows the value.

Engagement – Are you helping solve any related issues? As a brand it isn’t about telling your consumer it’s about engaging. What are the quality of the conversations? It is vital to the consumer that your brand is seen acting upon comments and helping solve dilemmas. This Forrester article begins a series of diving deeper into the tools and technologies to measure engagement.

Influence/Imagination – By representing your brand in these conversations, you give it a face. As a brand expert, you have the influence as a thought leader and can capture the consumer’s imagination to inspire. You have the ability to improve the relationships with your customers and communities. Think about how they can use the facts of a current case to advocate for favorable future interpretations.

And last, measuring the value of stickiness. Are the conversations sustaining and building over time? The idea must be embedded into the experience of the product/service itself.

The key takeaway is that you define the Key Performance Indicators you want to analyze. Without some sort of benchmark, it would be like throwing darts at an idea board. When you define the expected results (R), you must define the investment (I). With benchmarks set, you can apply intelligence against results and objectives.