Software houses not the answer to smm challenge

Richard Bagnall, Director of Gorkana, is Chair of AMEC's Social Media Measurement Group, who is representing AMEC at a conference in the US as part of the mission to cut through client confusion. Read his blog.

The dawn of a new era in social media measurement

by Richard Bagnall on October 25th, 2011.

I’m excited to be writing this post from  Portsmouth. Not Portsmouth in England, but Portsmouth in New Hampshire, USA. New Hampshire is world-renown for its beauty during Fall when the leaves of the great forests all turn a million shades of reds and brown. So what brings me to such a glorious part of the world in its prime season?  Well, potentially nothing short of a brave new dawn in the era of social media measurement. Read on and I shall explain.

Sun rises at Dawn in New Hampshire, October 24th 2011

As many of you will know, Metrica has been helping our clients manage and measure social media since the mid 2000s – 2005 specifically when we were working with Dell during the infamous Jeff Jarvis / Dell Hell crisis.  We have watched as social media has changed from being an oft-derided form of content, commonly slated as just the ramblings of people with no friends publicising their diaries online, through to a communication channel that is revolutionising the media and marketing industries.  Indeed, revolutionising business itself.

During this time many new companies have come to the market offering social media monitoring, social media planning, and social media measurement services.  Most of these companies are basically software houses building platforms based on a one sized fits all approach that attempt to be all things to all people.  They try to capture all social media conversations and bring meaning to them with basic analytics.  These companies have been attempting to reinvent the measurement wheel and trying to come up with indices and scoring systems to interpret engagement, tone and influence for example. They all lack tailored measurement built around client organisations ‘ actual objectives of course. So it’s no wonder that so many clients are confused by social media, scared of entering the arena, bewildered by how to monitor it, and bamboozled by how to measure it.