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Praise for Social Media Metrics

“When your nonprofit’s executive director is screaming, ‘Show me the

Money’ after you present your organization’s social media strategy, you

no longer have to reply with a blank stare. There is finally a detailed

book that tells you how to gauge the value of social media for your

organization.”

—Beth Kanter, Author, Beth’s Blog and

Visiting Scholar, Packard Foundation

“Jim has always been at the forefront of the web analytics worlds. So, it

makes perfect sense that he now tackles the complex world of figuring

out Social Media. There are millions (probably billions) of conversations

happening online. The big question becomes: what’s a company to do?

This book answers that question. How do you define your business

goals? How do you know if you’re measuring the right parts of the

program? Jim gets you downright dirty in the details. . .and that’s a good

thing.”

—Mitch Joel, President, Twist Image and Author,

Six Pixels of Separation

“For the better part of a decade, Jim Sterne has been advocating and ex-

plaining how to better understand the traffic coming to your website.

In fact he organized the largest organization of web analytics practi-

tioners and companies with me: the Web Analytics Association. He also

organized the most incredible conference on marketing optimization:

the eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit. I can’t think of anyone

better suited to explaining the incredible complexities of measuring

social media than Jim Sterne. If you are measuring it now, this book

will show you how to do it better. If you aren’t, you better be soon

and this book will provide you the roadmap. This book belongs on

every marketer’s desk in this world of expanding digital marketing

opportunities.”

—Bryan Eisenberg, New York Times bestselling Author,

Waiting for Your Cat to Bark and Always Be Testing

“It is entirely appropriate that the man who added clarity and definition

to the topic of web metrics would be the same person to finally enlighten

us about social media metrics. In Web Metrics Jim single-handedly

paved the way for what has become a billion dollar industry, creating

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awareness where none previously existed. Now, with the publication of

Social Media Metrics Jim has faced a more difficult challenge; mining

through mountains of misinformation, disinformation, and flat out crap

to provide the reader with nuggets of tangible, useful, and practical guid-

ance. He has succeeded and I have no doubt Social Media Metrics will

become every bit as important as Web Metrics has been for a decade.”

—Eric T. Peterson, Author, Web Analytics Demystified

“When customers first started visiting your website, Jim was there to

track it. Now that conversations have moved beyond your front door

into myriad online communities, he’s poised to do it again. This book

will change the apparent chaos of social media into a measurable plat-

form businesses can understand and benefit from.”

—Alistair Croll and Sean Power, authors, Complete Web

Monitoring & co-founders, Watching Websites

“For social media to evolve from a trendy buzzword into a sustainable

marketing discipline, marketers need to know how to measure it. Jim

Sterne walks you through the process so that you’ll understand why

you need to measure it, how to do it in a way that matters, and what

it means for your organization. This is one of those books that every

marketer who has any role in planning social media will need to read,

so you might as well sound smarter than everyone else and read it now.”

—David Berkowitz, Senior Director of Emerging Media &

Innovation, 360i

“You’re in good hands with Jim Sterne. I know, I call him the Measure-

ment Man and for over 10 years, I’ve turned to Jim to regularly tell my

audience about the latest trends in Web Analytics. He has an uncanny

instinct for what is worth your time and attention and what isn’t. His ac-

cessible and good-humored style will navigate you through this exciting

and daunting field of Social Media Analytics.”

—Larry Chase, Publisher, Web Digest For Marketers

“Since he won’t say it himself, I’ll say it for him. Jim Sterne is the god-

father of Web metrics. He knows that often the need to measure some-

thing gets in the way of using that something effectively. Social media is

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a great example, and Jim’s clarity and wisdom distill a complex subject

to its essence.”

—Eric Ward, Content Linking Strategist aka LinkMoses

“Social media’s ardent advocates all too often overlook a critical step:

Quantifying their efforts’ impact. Sterne fills this void by providing a

thorough explanation of different measurement approaches and tools,

while underscoring how these metrics can improve social media pro-

grams and achieve business goals.”

—Ellis Booker, Editor, BtoB Magazine

“As marketers move from the one way broadcast medium of old to the

listening medium of now, it’s vital to understand the necessary strategies

to become part of the conversation. But more than that, it’s vital to

understand how to measure the business value of social media. It’s not

just about “the buzz” anymore. Knowing that your audience is talking

about your brand is one thing. Knowing the sentiment is another. Social

networks, social bookmarking ranking and rating sites, social search and

micro-blogging services such as Twitter are now dominating the online

marketing space.

“Jim Sterne has been highly regarded as an online marketing thought

leader for many years. And this long awaited new book sees him firmly

established back at the top of the pile.

“Don’t just talk about social media. Know social media. Measure

social media. Be a master marketer in social media. Read this book.”

—Mike Grehan, VP, Global Content Director,

Incisive Media, Author: Search Engine Marketing

(The Essential Best Practice Guide).

“In this book, Jim Sterne has taken measurement beyond just counting

things and given readers everything they need to do meaningful evalu-

ation. This book is a must read for anyone investing in social media not

just because it will help measure your success, but because it teaches

you how to continuously improve your program.”

—Katie Delahaye Paine, CEO, KDPaine & Partners

“Markets are conversations. People are your greatest asset. Customer-

centricity is the way forwards. Social media is revolutionizing marketing.

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You should already know these things, right? But how do you measure

them? How do you know how well you’re doing? Jim Sterne, as ever, is

the leading thinker and practitioner in answering these vitally important

questions. Read his book. Head his words.”

—Ashley Friedlein, CEO, Econsultancy

“The Imperative: Use Jim Sterne’s guidance to leapfrog your competitors

with the simple fact that you must not only transform your media buys

into social media programs (the new playing field); you must tie them

to the three main goals of business - increased sales, lower costs and

improved customer satisfaction.”

—Susan Bratton, CEO, Personal Life Media, Inc. and host

of the DishyMix show.

“Jim Sterne is a bold-faced liar. This book is FAR more than he makes

it out to be in his over-simplified introduction. It’s not just about measur-

ing the value of social media, but, if read carefully, offers a clear roadmap

to actually implementing an effective social media strategy. No one else

explains it all so simply and common-sensically. Buy, borrow, or steal

this book. Then protect it from office predators.”

—Pat LaPointe, Managing Partner, MarketingNPV

“It’s about time someone did a book on measuring social media. What’s

not terribly surprising is that it’s Jim Sterne who does it. Jim is one of

the foremost analytics experts in the world and he once again proves

why. Not only does he identify the how to measure but also the value

of the measures. This is one of those must reads that you actually must

read—not may read. So go get it. Jim knows what he’s talking about on

this subject—more than anyone I know.”

—Paul Greenberg, President, The 56 Group and Author,

CRM at the Speed of Light

“Jim Sterne continues to blaze new trails—the most incisive mind in

web analytics now decodes social media. Get this excellent roadmap

and start killing your competition!”

—Tim Ash, CEO of SiteTuners.com and author

of Landing Page Optimization

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“The first book I read on web measurement and analytics back in 2002

was Web Metrics by Jim Sterne. That book and the eMetrics Marketing

Optimization Summit conference that followed defined a market and an

industry. With Jim’s pragmatic and commercially focused approach to

understanding the impact of social media on your business this book

will do the same again.”

—Neil Mason, Director of Analytical Consulting, Foviance

“Social media is hot, but is it the right move for your business? Jim Sterne,

the master of emetrics, clearly explains in Social Media Metrics how to

measure the business value of social media and track your success. Buy

it when you’re ready to move from social media hype to social media

ROI.”

—Bob Thompson, Founder and CEO, CustomerThink Corp.

“In Social Media Metrics, Jim Sterne steps outside of conventional think-

ing, offering readers a refreshing and useful methodology for thinking

about the new ways that humans interact with brands and with each

other. Addressing the niche between an obsession with ‘number of

followers’ and mathematical theory, Mr. Sterne provides the business

leader with holistic ways to strategically address this growing but often

misunderstood channel.”

—Kevin Hillstrom, President, MineThatData

“It’s ‘back to the future’ with Jim’s new book. A decade ago (or so) we

built some of the first Web Analytic companies with names like—Net

Genesis, Keylime, WebTrends, WebSideStory, and Ominiture who all had

a vision in mind. Jim was the first expert to recognize and seize upon

that vision - creating the seminal work which explains its value—and in

so doing, an entire sector. A decade later, this new book does the same,

only this time the outcomes are amplified as it involves us all in so many

ways, and in every part of our life.”

—Rand Schulman, Chief Marketing Officer, InsideView

“Having read Jim’s previous book Web Metrics, I have to say this is his

best work yet. Not only does Jim close the gap between financial perfor-

mance and social media engagement but he writes in a language that is

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universally understood by all marketing and business professionals. He

really provides clarity to the importance of the movement at hand. Be-

ing an educator myself, Jim never ceases to impress me with his ability

combine top notch education with engaging and entertaining content

that makes reading this book less like a text book and more like a novel.

Bottom line, you can’t be in marketing and not have read this book.”

—Aaron Kahlow, CEO, Online Marketing Institute

“The continuous multiplication of new marketing channels has never

been greater. Jim Sterne’s new book Social Media Metrics lays out a

framework to measure social media activities to help executives under-

stand how and if social media activities are positively impacting their

business. This timely book unlocks the potential for optimal future bud-

get allocation decisions to optimize business profitability.”

—David Dalka, Marketing Change Management Strategist

“One book got me though 9/11, into Web Analytics and eventually into

Social Media: Jim Sterne’s landmark Web Metrics published in 2002. That

book, along with Jim’s eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summits and

the Web Analytics Association helped found, launch and nurture Web

Metrics and Analytics to be an integral part of many companies and

institutions today. Jim’s new book, Social Media Metrics, promises to be

the capstone manuscript, pushing Social Media into the mainstream of

business - past early adopters that have so far dominated this emerging

field. I’m particularly interested in what Jim has to say about Identifying

Influence (Chapter 3) Sentiment Analysis (Chapter 4) and Hearing the

Conversation (Chapter 6). The whole book, in fact, is a must read. Social

Media Metrics is going to be the manual I give out to all my stakeholders

and clients to read before they engage in Social Media. I believe Jim

Sterne’s Social Media Metrics will become a milestone in moving Social

Media into mainstream business—where it needs to be.”

—Marshall Sponder, Founder, Webmetricsguru.com

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SOCIALMEDIA

METRICS

Chapter = fm01 Date: January 21, 2010 Time: 3:34 pm

Chapter = fm01 Date: January 21, 2010 Time: 3:34 pm

SOCIALMEDIA

METRICSHOW TO MEASURE AND

OPTIMIZE YOUR MARKETINGINVESTMENT

JIM STERNE

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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Copyright ©2010 by Jim Sterne. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, ortransmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of thePublisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to theCopyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978)750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to thePublisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, JohnWiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201)748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used theirbest efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties withrespect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specificallydisclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Nowarranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials.The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. Youshould consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor authorshall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but notlimited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

For general information on our other products and services or for technical support,please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800)762-2974, outside the United States at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content thatappears in print may not be available in electronic books. For more information aboutWiley products, visit our web site at www.wiley.com.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

ISBN: 978-0470-58378-4

Printed in the United States of America

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