Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Yes, in some ways nothing new… but worth restating as we measure new things. And I should maybe refine my statement ‘metrics is not a decision-making tool’ to say ‘metrics should not make a decision for you’… it’s only one piece of the puzzle.

Measurement absolutely IS a decision-making tool. The base metrics you discuss — number of visits, followers, etc. — can help you decide whether your strategies are working, whether you need to alter your social media mix, and myriad other decisions. It’s true that these numbers aren’t the end-all and be-all for effective management, but they do have utility in the proper context.

Finally:
“Combine them with content analysis, the business outcomes you are looking for, and some contextual judgment to make decisions about how and what to change if the numbers are not where you want them to be. ”

It’s how the data interact with other data that is a critical path to enlightenment in this space. Let’s also keep in mind that these metrics (web traffic, followers) are not OUTCOMES — they are either outputs or outtakes (the intermediate step from output to outcome.)

And so, we have to tie everything back to articulating clear objectives. Benchmark, Target, Time Frame — that’s how you make objectives measurable.

“…metrics are essential to understanding if where you are spending your time is working well or not. Is this blogging really worth my time or is my time better used elsewhere, maybe tweeting or cultivating my Facebook presence?”

This really gets to the idea of objectives being at the center of the planning effort. Why did we get into social media in the first place? Was blogging (notoriously hard to attain a mass audience — notoriously subject to misapplication of mainstream media metrics) the right thing to begin with?

“Measurement and metrics tracking is not a decision-making tool. It is a performance indicator.”

It’s both — more on this later.