Katie Paine’s Advice for Measurement Sherpas: Dos & Don’ts for Reporting Web & Social Media Analytics

This article is part of The Measurement Advisor’s Special Issue on the Measurement Sherpa, an in-house data wrangler and measurement resource who organizes, queries, and gains insight from data. Our coverage follows the development of a Sherpa’s skill and experience, from newbie to pro, and is organized in three levels:

Sherpa Level One: Getting Out of Base Camp

• Introducing the Measurement Sherpa
• 10 Signs That You Need to Hire a Measurement Sherpa
• 5 Reasons Why You Really Want to Become a Measurement Sherpa
• The First 5 Steps to Take to Become a Measurement Sherpa
• Learning on the Job: Notes from a Sherpa-in-Training

Sherpa Level Two: Climbing the Mountain

• Must-have Equipment for a Measurement Sherpa
• Commonly Confused PR and Social Media Measurement Terms
• 6 Books That Should be in Every Measurement Sherpa’s Library
• Katie Paine’s Advice for Measurement Sherpas: Dos and Don’ts for Reporting Web and Social Media Analytics

Sherpa Level Three: Peak Operations

• Matt Clement: Fort Worth’s Sherpa
• Lisa Binzel: Measurement Evangelist
• How to Get the Best from Your Measurement Sherpa
• Mastering the 6 Projects a Measurement Sherpa Must Know How to Do, including as separate articles:
  • Measurement Sherpa Skills: 4 Steps to Budget for a Measurement Project
  • 6 Keys to Managing an RFP Process 

You Measurement Sherpas out there live for the data: You gather it, interrogate it, gain insight from it, and finally present it in a way that answers questions and solves problems. When reporting on your analytics you’ve got to pay careful attention to where the data comes from. And you’ve got to respect the terminology that you use to refer to it. Here are my Dos and Don’ts to help all you Measurement Sherpas and Sherpas-In-Training with reporting analytics.

When Reporting Analytics, Please Do:

1. Start with measurable objectives. What is the desired impact of this program on our business? How do the results from this program connect to the business?

2. Use sound data.

• Be consistent and transparent. Explain where the data came from and how numbers are defined.
• Use clear and consistent definitions.
  • Item of content: A story, blog post, Facebook post, Tweet, or video.
  • Brand mention: When your brand appears in an item of content. You may have many mentions in one item, but for measurement purposes you should only count the item once.
  • Positive tonality: Means the item of content leaves a reader or viewer more likely to do business with, support, work for, or invest in  your brand or product.
  • Negative tonality: Means that the item of content leaves a reader or viewer less likely to support, do business with, work, or invest in your brand or product.
• Report results as a percentage of the whole, or a percentage increase.
  • Do report on the percentage of likes that have engaged, i.e., shared content or commented. Don’t report on the total number of likes.
  • Do report on the percentage of follower growth, or the percentage of your followers that retweet use your hashtag of reply. Don’t report the total number of followers.
  • Report reach only if it’s meaningful. Reach refers to the percentage of your target audience that you have actually reached with your message.
  • Report opportunities to see (OTS) only if you know how they impact the business. OTS reflects the total opportunities that you have created with your message, for example, the circulation of a magazine, the number of followers for an influential Tweeter, or the number of subscribers to a YouTube channel. OTS is not the same as reach.

3. Interpret your results. Data without insight is just trivia. Report results that are meaningful and tell a story. Don’t just throw data into a report. In fact, don’t use data at all unless it’s part of the story you are trying to tell.

4. Focus on quality of coverage, not just the quantity. Analyze for message content, presence of spokespeople and desired positioning.

When Reporting Results, Please Do Not:

1. Use the financial term return on investment (ROI) unless you know the financial value of your results as well as the full costs of the program.

2. Use multipliers. In fact, don’t use impressions at all. They can be misleading and incorrectly calculated.

3. Confuse Klout scores with actual influence. Klout is an indicator of activity. True influence comes from human connections that change behavior or beliefs.

4. Use pie charts to show progress over time. Showing trends requires line or column charts.

5. Use Ad Value Equivalency or Earned Media Value. These terms have been rejected by all leading professional organizations and standards-setting bodies. They are false and misleading metrics based on the incorrect assumption that advertising and PR have the same impact on a reader. The numbers on which they are based are frequently inflated and highly unreliable.

6. Forget that engagement happens off line as well as online, and can be both positive and negative. ∞

Thanks to The Clymb for the image.