Thank you for your comments. I think the KPI’s would be different for each person and each organization. I tried to build a model that allows for variability and flexibility so this was possible. I recently looked at Radian6 and I really like how they measure engagement by using comments and the amount of re-comments by posters. Have you seen it?

Nichole

So I’d include KPI’s for posts read and number of visitors per month, although I accept that in part this would be impacted by the popularity of the articles.

I would also question if the number of RSS followers is entirely relevant for me as I’m more interested in registering users email addresses as part of a list building activity

My concept was to enable exactly what you mention with the KPIs. You select the mix of KPIs that is most useful for your client and/or organization. But there is a model you can use to put some order to it and lessen the confusion.

Looking forward to seeing you at #IMS09!

Nichole

Good to see you posting again

One thing I always focus on for KPIs are integration with other tactics/mediums. For example, how many email opt-ins did I get from active twittering or from my Facebook page, how many white paper downloads/lead captures did I harvest from tweeting, etc.

Obviously these specific KPIs don’t apply to all models, and obviously you don’t want to use Twitter as a white paper advertising platform. Nevertheless, taking the next step beyond followers or followed, into how that “audience” is actually converting is something I always try to measure.

Nice piece btw, you sure do save it all up for long, thought-provoking posts.

To develop the weights and ranks I first went through and determined what I felt were the most important aspects of the mix and assigned the appropriate ranks. I also looked at each and decided which were the most indicative of success and weighted those highest. Once that was done I used my gut-feeling of how much “more” important they were and assigned percentages that I thought best represented that. This will be different for each organization and the KPIs that make up the mix will likely change as well. The hope is that by having a flexible model such as this one, an index can be created regardless of the diversity of company goals across the spectrum. It is by no means a “standard” measure for all organizations that can be compared across the board, rather it represents an individual perspective on the value social media is bringing to a specific organization.

Thank you for your comment. I’ve also sent you the model per your request.

Nichole