Social media marketing directors are among the scrappiest and high-performing individuals in digital marketing organizations. The high-pace work environment naturally caters to highly productive on-the-ground commanders. Communicating results among executives is necessary to be recognized for achievements, but unfortunately these skills don't come naturally to many of these individuals. How can you get GI Jane to communicate like Marissa Mayer?
Start with Simplicity
The late Steve Jobs hammered the idea that "simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." Executives don't have the time or patience to dig in and understand the nuances of your team members' daily routine. Executives need simplicity. While GI Jane gets excited about flanking the enemy from the south when least expected, Marissa Mayer just wants to know how much ground was won.
The scorecard method is a great way to communicate KPI results in a clean and simple way that an ultra-competitive executive will love. After being introduced to the scorecard reporting method by a CEO, I have never gone back to standard reporting.
Here's an Automated Social Media Scorecard template to get you started if the scorecard KPI reporting method is a new concept.
If you have KPIs and goals to hit, then you already have the information necessary to get started now. Just plug in your goal & actual numbers, and the scorecard does the rest. Presenting a simple color-coded score and a YTD trend line gives executives the information they need at a glance.
Zero in on Business Results
Executives don't care if you're tracking likes, retweets or emoticons - as long as it supports the brand and drives business results. Tying social media to business results might be the most difficult exercise that most social media directors face, but it is possible if you have the right tools in place.
Conversion tracking at the website level is the most straightforward way to go. Tracking conversions from social network traffic is a breeze with any standard toolset like Google Analytics. A lead nurturing program like Hubspot or Eloqua will allow you to dig even deeper into the value driven by social media. Getting these tools in place is the first step to uncovering the business results driven from social media efforts.
Detailed Analysis Behind the Scenes
Understanding the impact from social media traffic is just the starting point. The scrappy director will dig even deeper to discover what specific actions drive more traffic. Making connections between action and business results, even if they're six-degrees separated, is what develops real organizational competitiveness. These are the types of metrics that get executives to jump out of their seats.
Gathering the data really isn't that difficult. Simply join advertising platforms on social networks to open up analytical data into likes, shares and other social interactions. Even Twitter recently opened up its analytics platform to non-advertisers. Now anyone can track follows, unfollows, and mentions, as well as a meticulous per-tweet count of favorites, retweets and replies.
Connect the dots between these 'micro-conversions' and business results to demonstrate organizational competitiveness and present KPIs that truly move the needle on company marketing goals.
Focus the Delivery
Remember that the boardroom wants to win new ground, not hear battle stories. Keep the focus on business value and what your department did to contribute to the 'big picture' of the organization. I've never met an executive that didn't like the scorecard format, so be confident and energized in your presentation.
Even if you never get the chance to present your scorecard to a board of executives, this process will drive accountability on your team and keep everyone focused on what really drives business results. It also might make your marketing VP's job a little bit easier, which will tie you to closer to their success. Download the Automated Social Media Scorecard template to get a head start on simple & effective KPI reporting.