Launched back in 2005, Google Analytics was the first by-product of Google’s acquisition of analytics software maker Urchin, offering users the opportunity to understand how people search. These days, Google Analytics is capable of measuring website traffic, analysing search terms that are effectively driving click-through, tracking data drawn from social media buttons and even highlighting the specific ads or prompts that drive purchase. And whilst Google doesn’t release its user figures, analysts estimate that the free tool has tens of millions of users. The new Real-Time offering is set to be bigger and better, it’s been in beta for the past year but already boasts a host of clients including Travelocity, Gucci, and Papa Johns as paid-up members.

There are additional services available offering tools that work in conjunction with Google Analytics. For example phone call data, AdWords and even your CRM can be integrated with Google Analytics to effectively track website activity and phone call leads from entry to sale completion. So what does all this data tell us? Well, when used correctly it should offer deeper insight into how best to optimise paid search activity, how to target bloggers based on what they are really interested in and which display ads deliver the most traffic through to website or even purchase. However, with so much data to analyse and so many tools to master, many brands only make it so far as evaluating their activity and don’t take learnings forward to deliver real value in future.

It’s not just Google Analytics that recognise the value of such data to consumer brands, Facebook Pages offers a range of Insights designed to better equip marketers in tailoring their Page activity. This week Facebook launched ‘People Talking About’ an application that will measure user-initiated activity related to a Page, including posting to a Page’s Wall, “liking,” commenting, sharing a Page post or content on the Page, answering a Question posed to fans, mentioning a Page, “liking” or sharing a deal or checking in at your Place.

The other metrics, which are designed for administrators of brand and media Pages, include “Likes,” “Friends of Fans” and “Weekly Total Reach.” While “Likes” is self-explanatory, Friends of Fans is the actual number of friends your fans have, and weekly total reach is designed to be an accurate assessment of how many total people have posted something about your Page, how many news organisations (within Facebook) have referenced it and how much viral distribution elements of your Page have received. This should help brands better understand the virility of their activity and caveat the problems experienced in the past in terms of tracking Page content through personal profiles.

Analytics really is big money, and brands are paying out through the nose to track and measure social media activity, in a business environment where many marketers are reluctant to see the value delivered by online community based campaigns. With so much pressure on Social Media Managers to deliver data to support spend, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that the real value in measuring your social media activity is not in justifying last year’s activity but in optimising and delivering great campaigns over the coming years.

Lindsey Reaney
Social Media Consultant, Golley Engage

More than ever, social media sites have opened the door for the general public to become columnists in their own right.  The internet has given your target audience a much bigger platform from which they can voice their opinions, share information and experiences and post recommendations. 

The breadth of conversations taking place on the internet on any given subject is immense and yes, in case you’re wondering, your brand, business and service is a topic of conversation too. 

The fact is you can’t choose not to be involved in social media.  You may not have allocated any of your marketing spend to it, but internet users are having these conversations about you whether you like it or not.  

If you have been marketing your brand or service, especially using the discipline of PR, then it doesn’t have to be a daunting prospect.  It’s a case of adapting your skills and messages to suit the medium.  Like all PR it can’t be fully controlled but it can drive trust and credibility in your brand or service. 

According to a Nielson online survey, 78 per cent of people trust the recommendation of other consumers before any other form of marketing while 68 per cent trust opinions posted online.  These are persuasive statistics that re-enforce the need for a strategically robust PR and social media campaign to be part of your overall marketing plan. 

You need to engage your consumer, help shape the dialogue and be a part of the conversation.  After all, it is about you.

Claire Rushton, Head Of Office (Leeds & Newcastle)