NATIONAL AND STATE LIBRARIES AUSTRALASIA
Social Media Marketing Performance Framework
November 2014
Prepared by:
Kylie Roots, Marketing and Communications Manager, State Library of Queensland
on behalf of NSLA Communications & Marketing Group
Contents
1.
Executive summary
3
2.
Background and objectives
3
3.
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
Process
Research and development of the framework
Social Media performance measurement framework
Platforms measured
Data dictionary
Data monitoring process
4
4
4
5
6
6
4.
Analysis
6
5.
5.1
5.2
Findings
Overall Summary
Contextual information
6
6
7
6.
Challenges / issues
9
7.
7.1
7.2
7.3
7.4
7.5
7.6
7.7
7.8
Graphs
Social media community
Reach
Interactions
Amplification
Total engagement (interactions + amplification)
Conversion
Outbound activity and engagement rate
Conversion rate
10
11
12
14
16
17
19
21
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1.
Executive Summary
In 2014, the NSLA Communications and Marketing Group (CMG) undertook an audit of social media usage
by NSLA libraries and established a common framework for measuring and comparing performance. Four
social media channels used by almost all member libraries – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr – were
monitored between April and September 2014, with monthly data submitted to the State Library of
Queensland (SLQ) for analysis.1
The framework provides a useful basis for comparison across social media platforms. It consists of eight
categories, each with multiple metrics:
 Community – the size of our direct audience; our social relationships.
 Reach (unique reach and total impressions) – brand exposure / online influence; the number of
times brand messages (promotional and collection content) have been displayed or seen.
 Interactions – conversations with us/to us (on pages) eg comments, messages, check-ins, likes,
favourites, replies and direct responses.
 Amplification – content/conversations shared with others; brand advocates.
 Conversion – prompted actions we want the audience to take eg bookings, sign up to something,
direct traffic to website, visit us, etc.
 Brand equity – brand perceptions; what people think and say about us (including what is said on pages
other than our own). This category was not measured.
 Activity –outbound activity; messages/content posted/uploaded to social profiles/pages.
Communication goals and resourcing allocated to social media vary in each library. As such there is a large
amount of volatility month to month (consistent with the nature of social media), particularly for Facebook
and Twitter. Contextual notes from each library have been included to explain sudden spikes in usage, e.g.
specific campaigns, anniversaries, milestones etc.
The preliminary analysis in this report is designed to assist NSLA libraries in refining strategies to achieve
their communication goals, and to improve the effectiveness of social media as a communication tool for
libraries. Insights gained can be shared across teams within libraries, particularly where they relate to
specific campaigns, content types and mixes. Libraries may choose to adopt the framework for their own
internal reporting.
2.
Background and objectives
The objectives of this stage of this project were to:



Research and establish a framework for comparing social media performance within and across NSLA
libraries ensuring:
o consistency of measurement
o comparability between social media platforms
o meaningful and actionable insights for each NSLA library.
Monitor the agreed metrics (using native analytics for each platform) and record the relevant data on a
monthly basis.
Analyse and compare metric data for all NSLA libraries and report trends, average across all libraries
(benchmark) and identify actionable insights that may assist libraries in improving effectiveness of their
chosen social media channels for promotion and online engagement.
It was important that throughout the project there be no additional cost to libraries, except the staff time
required for monitoring, data collection, analysis and interpretation of the data.
1
Data from the State Library of Western Australia and National Library of New Zealand was not submitted for this trial.
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3.
Process
3.1
Research and development of the framework
Primary and secondary research was conducted into how various industries, cultural organisations, private
sector service organisations and social media strategists within Australia and around the world measure and
evaluate effectiveness of their use of social media. Social media practitioners in each NSLA library also
shared their experience and knowledge. The framework was developed with the following factors in mind:
Audience
Social media and digital platforms are vehicles through which libraries can provide access to digital content
(discovery) and ideas; encourage and facilitate discussion (interaction and sharing); promote events and
communicate with and market to an online audience. Content management teams tend to favour Flickr and
Youtube, while Facebook and Twitter lend themselves both to sharing of collection content and to general
promotional purposes. It was clear that the framework had to be designed to provide insights relevant to
both collections teams and to marketing and communications teams. Ideally it could help libraries to better
understand and leverage the interdependencies between the two.
Theories and models were critiqued and adapted to suit the ‘service-based’ (not ‘sales-based’) objectives of
libraries for which content (collections) and community are core.
Internal capacity
Metrics currently in use by NSLA libraries were considered alongside the available staffing and budget
resources for routine monitoring and reporting, and for making use of insights in communication strategies.
Metrics that could be easily monitored and collected without additional costs and with minimal impact on
staff time were favoured.
Flexibility
The framework had to allow for comparability of data across the four selected platforms, as well as platforms
such as Instagram and Pinterest, and indeed with other marketing and communication channels such as
print, broadcast and online media coverage, electronic direct marketing and digital advertising.
Particular consideration was given to the inconsistency of terms used by each social media platform for the
same piece of data, e.g. ‘reach’ might correspond with ‘unique people’ on one platform, and ‘total
impressions’ on another. Some platforms provide ‘engagement’ statistics, but each uses a different
combination of data. It was important to identify specific metrics on the basis of the data they provided rather
than on their label.
3.2
Social Media Performance Framework
The Social Media Performance Framework consists of five primary performance areas, which can be further
broken down into eight performance categories. Each performance category has a number of specific
metrics.
Up to seventeen metrics were for Facebook and Twitter and up to eight for Youtube and Flickr. Additional
metrics are defined in the framework but have not been collected by all libraries as yet.
The framework established for NSLA libraries is:
o
o
o
o
o
Broad enough to measure and report across distinct performance areas
Granular enough to provide insights for operational activities
Designed to overcome inconsistency across social media platforms
Flexible enough to accommodate changes to the analytics available from social media platforms
Applicable to social media and content sharing platforms eg. Pinterest, Instagram, Vimeo etc
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o
Easy for NSLA libraries to collect.
NSLA Social Media Performance Framework
Performance
Area
Category
Definition
Metrics
Community
Community
o
o
Our direct audience size
People who have actively chosen to
be connected to our brand by
following us
Followers, Subscribers
o
Unique Reach: The number of
unique people reached with our
social media posts/uploads (brand
messages)
Unique users reached
Impressions
o
Impressions: The total number of
times our social media
posts/uploads (brand messages)
have been displayed (chances to
see) and/or seen
Total number of times
our ‘message’ is
displayed
o
e.g. comments, messages, checkins, likes, favourites, replies and
direct response to social media
‘conversation’s on our social profiles
Post Likes
Favourites
Comments
Direct Messages
@replies
Check ins
Our social relationships
Reach
Unique reach (Reach)
Brand exposure and our
online influence
Impressions (Reach)
Brand exposure and our
online influence
Engagement
Interactions
(Engagement)
Conversations with us on
our social profiles
Amplification
(Engagement)
o
Promotional and collections
content conversations on our
social profiles shared by our
audience and by the people we
reach with others.
Brand advocates
Shares
Retweets
o
Traffic directed to a website (URL
clicks) to find out more, visit a blog
site, book an event, sign up to
enewsletter, increase online
visitation, go to an online poll etc
Link (URL) clicks
o
What people think and say about
us including what is said on social
profiles other than our own
N/A for this reporting
period
o
Messages and content
posted/uploaded to our social
profiles
Wall posts
Tweets
Images/videos
uploaded
Conversations shared
with others
o
Conversion
Conversion
Prompted actions we
want the audience to
take, linked to campaign
or organisational
objectives
Brand
Equity
Brand equity
Activity
Activity
Perceptions of our brand
Outbound activity
(outputs)
3.3
Platforms and social profiles measured
Social media – Facebook and Twitter, primary profiles only
Content sharing – Youtube and Flickr, primary profiles only
Not all NSLA libraries use all four platforms. Most have more than one profile/account on each platform, so
for the purpose of trialling the framework only the primary social profiles for each library were monitored and
analysed. Additional platforms (if used by at least three libraries) may be added in the future.
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3.4
Data dictionary
A data dictionary was created to define each metric, set out exactly which pieces of data to extract for that
metric from each platform, and exactly where to source them. This ensures that all libraries report the same
data, and that comparison across libraries is meaningful. It makes data collection more efficient and more
easily understood, avoiding reliance upon a single individual in each organisation.
3.5
Data monitoring and provision to central point
Monitoring across the four selected platforms using the framework was undertaken in-house between April
and September 2014, with data reported to and analysed by a central contact point at SLQ. Data was
extracted using the native analytics of each platform. Brand equity was not monitored or reported as it
required specific monitoring tools and additional staff resourcing
Not all identified metrics were able to be captured as originally planned in this first trial. Given that free
access to Twitter Analytics was introduced in September 2014, with a slow roll-out of analytics across all
accounts, not all libraries were able to source historical Twitter data. Only after implementation of the
framework was it was that a more specific process had to be put in place by each library to gather
comparable Flickr data. Detailed instructions were provided in September and four libraries introduced the
new process from 1 October 2014.
4.
Analysis
Data provided to SLQ was consolidated and used to calculate various totals and averages. Simple data
analysis was completed to identify trends and provide:





Monthly and yearly (to date) statistics for each platform and each library
Month to month change for each platform and each library
Comparison of performance on all platforms across all libraries
Absolute totals and average of all NSLA libraries
Engagement rate and conversion rate for each month for each library, each platform, each platform
group; and percentage change from the previous month.
Additional analysis could yield insights about voice-sharing on each platform, and about performance versus
staff time invested in social media.
It should be noted that limited data was provided for Flickr and Youtube in this trial, and that data related to
advertising through Facebook Adverts Manager is not included. Data relating to boosted (paid) posts directly
through the Facebook page is included.
5.
Findings
5.1
Overall Summary
As insufficient Flickr and Youtube data was provided, the findings in this report pertain to Facebook and
Twitter only. There is a high degree of volatility month-to-month, which is not unexpected given the nature of
social media.
Contextual notes from each library explain peaks in engagement levels and possible drivers for these. There
are distinct variations across libraries in social media communication goals, resourcing allocated to social
media, and length of time that social media channels have been in use.
Due to changes in Facebook’s newsfeed algorithm, most libraries have directed/redirected budget to paying
for visibility (boosting posts or advertising) to achieve the same level of reach they previously experienced.
The findings in this report do not include effectiveness of advertising strategies through Facebook.
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Findings from the available data include:
5.2

All libraries are experiencing a gradual increase in community (number of followers). Further
investigation is required to identify the possible cause of spikes in community growth.

Community size and reach (the number of times a message is displayed) does not in itself result in
higher engagement. Indeed, smaller community size tends to correlate with higher interaction rates different strategies are required to maintain interaction (engagement levels) as community size and
reach increases.

Twitter tends to have a higher conversion (click-through) rate than Facebook, generally because the
Tweet character limit means a link to more information is often included.
Contextual information
State Library of Queensland
 The data indicates that the greater the reach the greater the interactions, amplification and conversions.
The type of content posted/tweeted also affects interactions, amplification and conversions – notably any
employment opportunities shared through social media have recently been generating some of the top
engagement and conversion rates.

There appears to be a relationship between large reach and community growth – as can been seen from
the significantly higher reach in June compared to other months and higher than usual growth in
community in June compared to other month. The spike in June can be attributed to employment
opportunities communicated through Facebook and to Twitter collection and heritage-focussed
conversations leveraging widespread use of #QueenslandWeek hash tag.

SLQ uses Facebook Adverts Manager in addition to paid advertising via ‘post boosts’ which achieves
high reach and good conversion rates, which is not reflected in this performance data (due to the nature
of Facebook analytics).

SLQ’s content strategy for social media is to ensure a balance of promotional and collections related
posts/tweets, as well as sharing partners’ posts/tweets where relevant. SLQ uses Twitter more heavily to
share historical/collections content and Facebook tends to have a fairly even split of historical/collection
posts and promotional posts (notwithstanding adverts).
State Library of New South Wales
 The data shows that the amount of engagement and reach seen on social media channels for SLNSW
tends to reflect the amount of outbound activity - the more content the SLNSW posts the higher monthly
engagement and reach figures appear to be.

The one exception to this trend was in July when there is a significant peak in engagement and reach.
This can be attributed to a promotional campaign which saw paid posts on Facebook generating high
levels of engagement and reach.

SLNSW is seeing an upward trend in engagement on Twitter which can be attributed to additional
resources made available to contribute to this channel.
Libraries ACT
 Libraries ACT have been using social media for a number of years to promote and deliver programs and
services across the nine library branches in the ACT. Social media is used to:
• Broadcast news and logistical branch updates (ie painting, limited access etc.)
• Promote programs and services
• Monitor and respond to feedback and enquiries

Libraries ACT hosts a blog and has active accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Flickr
and Eventbrite.
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
Facebook and Twitter are primarily used. Currently, Libraries ACT aims to post one quarter of its own
content and three quarters shared content from other similar organisations. We are in the process of reevaluating what works and what does not work through our social media channels and adjusting our
communication strategy appropriately.
National Library of Australia
 Overall, degree of interaction and conversion was commensurate with time and resources committed to
particular campaigns. Accordingly, internal events, such as the closure of the NLA’s most successful
exhibition in autumn, Mapping Our World, significant staff movements across the Communications &
Marketing section from April through to July contributed to a dip and subsequent spike, respectively, in
interaction and engagement throughout our social media channels.

There’s little doubt that paid Facebook post boosts contributed significantly to campaigns, in the case of
our Ask a Librarian service, it lead to a doubling of (actual) inquiries (as good as bums on seats as a
measure of success) compared to the average of previous months. Similar campaigns such as
#AskACurator day, and Inside History Facebook Q&A, the 2013 Election Ephemera and Trove 10 million
generated significant public engagement beyond the core community.
State Library of Victoria
 Social media is results-driven at the State Library of Victoria (SLV). Metrics, analysis and evaluation
shape our monthly content strategy. We constantly evaluate reach and engagement statistics to
understand what content our followers are responding to and how we can continually improve our
offering to build a vibrant online community.

SLV operate on an 80/20 rule across all social channels. 80% of our content does not ‘sell’. We share
collections, programs, events and exhibitions related content that doesn’t push for a ticket sale, event
booking, donation or download but fosters a community that want to know, learn or see more. Where we
do need help pushing a message, event or exhibition, we use highly targeted Facebook advertising to
send our messages to those in the wider community that most likely want to hear about them.

At SLV, we try not to share the same content across each channel to ensure our community enjoys a
different experience whether following us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. We also ensure that our
voice remains friendly and language simple. While algorithms are changing, we have tried to follow each
platform’s best practice for retaining visibility in the newsfeed. We also invest a lot of time in researching
content, working with other teams across the Library and a little internal self-promotion so that other
teams know about our social media channels and how to get their content featured on them.

SLV’s Victor Hugo exhibition was the key driver of activity spikes during this reporting period. We had a
detailed organic and paid social content plan to promote this exhibition from April – November 2014. Key
periods of activity took pace in April and July which are represented in spikes seen in these statistics.
State Library of South Australia
 SLSA predominantly use Facebook and to a lesser extent Twitter to promote awareness of collection
items on Flickr and Youtube. SLSA regularly uploads collection (moving) films to Youtube. SLSA has an
ongoing strategy in the Content and Access teams to load Flicker sets of images under specific themes.

Use of Facebook is centred on two distinct approaches - collection information and promotional
/marketing strategies. Facebook posts are regularly boosted for specific topics on collection material
often on themes or topics of popular interest - eg this week on "lost hotels" in the CBD - using images
from the collection. The data indicates that these Facebook post boosts increase our reach and
engagement, but that themes need to be more topical than historic.

Very limited ‘advertising’ is done through Facebook. Facebook posts are also boosted for marketing
promotions, generally for events, but also for improvement to service delivery, new services, new
features on the website, and new service delivery benefits. Targeted posts in relation to the Australian
War Memorial Lost Diggers exhibition and related SLSA collection topics increased social media
engagement. An average of $60-80/month is invested in Facebook boosts. We note and observe shared
tags, shares and posts by collaborative partners.

SLSA has had ever changing staffing resources to focus on social media, and overall our efforts could
be significantly improved. We have a process currently in train to address this, and likely to divide the
tasks and commitment to social media between the two teams - content/access for collections and
marketing, as we will not in the immediate future have a dedicate person strictly for social media.
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LINC Tasmania
 A change in the Facebook algorithm and has seen a dramatic drop in Organic Reach for many FB users,
however LINC Tasmania used paid ads from 27 June – 1 July which seemed to increase our reach
during this period and for a short while after.

6.
YouTube: The higher number of total views for April coincided with LINC Tasmania uploading the Bass
Highway films and the subsequent media coverage received from radio interviews and the associated
page on ABC Online. Higher views in July could be of a similar nature, shortly before this date LINC
Tasmania uploaded the Historic Australian Motor Racing(c1956) film which also received radio and
online promotion through the ABC.
Challenges / issues
In first few month after rolling out the framework, it was noted that the staff time required to complete data
monitoring, collection and reporting was higher than anticipated. The time required to undertake the monthly
data collection and reporting has since been reduced as the work becomes more familiar and routine.
Data for Youtube and Flickr was more challenging to obtain as the communications and marketing teams in
some libraries did not have access to these platforms.
It is anticipated that data collection and reporting should take approximately 1-2 hours each month,
assuming reporting is only for primary accounts. A further 1-2 hours would be required each month to
interpret the analysis, provide contextual information and identify actionable insights.
An investment of approximately 2-4 hours each month in monitoring, analysing, reporting and interpreting
this social media data is manageable by most libraries and yields useful results.
The format and template for providing data could be simplified and continual improvements will be made to
make the process of collating and reporting more efficient.
Due to the volatility of social media at least two years of data is required to identify cyclic trends. Each
participating library should use the data comparisons, analysis and contextual information to identify
actionable insights that will help to improve the effectiveness of their social media activities and strategies.
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7.
Graphs
7.1
Community
Insights:
All libraries are experiencing a gradual increase in community (followers). Further investigation is required to
identify the possible cause of spikes in community growth.
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7.2
Reach
Insights:
State Library of Victoria achieved almost double the reach on average for every outbound post in this period,
due to a concentrated campaign around its Victor Hugo exhibition.
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7.3
Interactions
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7.4
Amplification
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Insights:
State Library of Victoria has a consistently higher number of amplifications in this period, however LINC
Tasmania and ACT have much higher interaction and amplification rates compared to community and reach.
Both ACT and Tasmania have smaller community sizes. This might indicate that the smaller the community
size the higher the interaction rate and that different strategies may need to be used to maintain interaction
(engagement levels) as community size and reach increases.
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7.5
Total engagement (interactions + amplification)
Insights:
Again, State Library of Victoria has a greater number of engagements than most other libraries in this period
due to its concentrated campaign, with interactions rather than amplifications contributing to the majority of
engagements. Again we can see smaller community size and reach correlating with larger engagement; with
different strategies required to maintain this engagement as community size and reach increases.
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7.6
Conversion
Insights:
Conversion (link-clicks) is not always the goal of each communication campaign. Twitter tends to have a
higher conversion (click-through) rate than Facebook, generally because the Tweet character limit means a
link to more information is often included.
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7.7
Outbound activity
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Insights:
Considering Outbound Activity data in the context of other performance category data suggests that a high
number of posts or tweets does not necessarily contribute to high engagement.
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7.8
Conversion Rate
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