Social Media
Metrics,
Measures,
and Myths
2014
UTEXTENSION.TENNESSEE.EDU
EESD.TENNESSEE.EDU
ADVANCING TENNESSEE
Pursuing 6,495,978 Likes!
Making the Most of Social Media in Extension
Situation
The current situation is mind-boggling and
exciting! Cooper (2013) and Statistic Brain
(2014) have described today’s social media
world with these statistics:
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Of the 1.2 billion Facebook users, 250
million do so only on their mobile
devices.
YouTube reaches more adults in the
United States between 18 and 34 than
any cable network.
People aged 55 to 64 are the fastest
growing demographic on Twitter,
Facebook, and Google+.
2.5 million websites are integrated with
Facebook.
5 billion pictures are hosted by Flickr,
and 3,000 are uploaded per minute.
Our challenge is to understand the return on
investment from our social media work in
Extension. In essence, it’s as if we are
pursuing likes, tweets, re-tweets, follows,
and comments from Tennessee’s 6.4 million
people! An understanding of metrics,
measures, and myths is essential!
Metrics/Measures
What the difference between a measure and
a metric? A measure is a comparison to a
standard. For example, the number of “likes”
a post receives on Facebook. “Likes” are
figured the same way – the number of people
who clicked the thumbs-up icon. A metric is a
composite based on two or more indicators
that shows an attribute. “Of the 110 tweets
about our Extension program, only two
(1.8%) were negative.” Different measures
and metrics can be used to show multiple
aspects of your social media publishing.
Myths
In this session we will discuss a few of the
myths relative to social media in Extension
work. “All Extension stakeholders want
measures of social media” is a common
myth. In reality, our stakeholders want endresults. Another myth is that “Fluff beats
content when it comes to social media.” It is
true that Grumpy Cat is a social media
phenomenon, but our content is different.
Our work reflects research, local needs, and a
commitment to improve the quality of life.
Big Idea 1
A management service can help you track your
social media engagement. One tool is a one-stop
“in-box” to see and respond to social media
across platforms and help you to track your
overall engagement. Some tools are free
(SocialMention) and others require a subscription
fee ( SproutSocial).
Big Idea 2
If you understand some basic measurement
principles, you can apply them to any social
media. One of the basic principles for collecting
impact is to use evaluative questions.
Big Idea 3
Basic tutorials from reputable sources provide
an excellent tool! These tutorials show you
step-by-step how to track social media.
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SOCIAL MEDIA 2014 | Measures, Metrics & Myths
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Case Study: Journal of Extension
Social Media Strategy
The Journal of Extension (JOE) launched its
social media strategy in June, 2013 to coincide
with its 50th Anniversary.
JOE is making extensive use of social media.
The JOE home page now allows readers to
subscribe/follow JOE through Facebook,
Twitter, and Google+. Since June, 2013, links
to all articles have been tweeted via Twitter
and posted to Facebook.
Eric Owens, the web developer for the Journal,
selected SproutSocial http://sproutsocial.com/
to measure the social media program.
SproutSocial is an online software subscription
that tracks various social media metrics, and it
provides presentation-ready reports.
Facebook Impressions
One of the metrics tracked is Facebook
impressions by location. An impression is a
composite of all likes, fans, user posts, page
posts, mentions, shares, etc. The top five
domestic locations for impressions from June
to November, 2013 by location were:
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Knoxville, TN
Columbus, OH
Starkville, MS
Celina, TN
Crossville, TN
The social media report provided by
SproutSocial includes Facebook metrics and
impressions by age and gender, among others.
Free Tracking Tool
One free tracking tool can provide some
fascinating results! SocialMention allows you
to search terms and displays content from all
social media. Interesting measures that could
be used to show reach or quality work:
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Are most posts positive, negative or
neutral? Just look for the “sentiment”
section which categorizes all mentions.
The sources provide a measure of reach
and allow you to see what your target
audience is using (such as Google+, You
Tube, Friendfeed, Twitter, Topix,
Facebook, and more).
The number of unique authors using the
Extension program you specify.
“Passion” is a measure that shows the
likelihood that a given person posting
about your program will do so again!
Comparisons
Why does the JOE home page specifically allow
users to subscribe/follow JOE through Facebook,
Twitter, and Google+ rather than LinkedIn?
According to Cooper (2013), LinkedIn continues
to grow, in fact, two people join LinkedIn every
second. While these users are engaging with
blogs and job postings extensively, LinkedIn has a
lower percentage of active users than Pinterest,
Google+, Twitter, and Facebook. People are using
these platforms in different ways. Facebook and
Twitter would be excellent for a contest or survey
while a blog post would likely work better for
LinkedIn users.
SOCIAL MEDIA 2014 | Measures, Metrics & Myths
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Case Study: Sugar Free with Justin T.
To share information with diabetics, prediabetics, and caregivers, a diabetes
education program was produced and
broadcasted on the Roane County,
Tennessee community cable outlet. The
program was targeted at improving dietary
quality. The production was named Sugar
Free with Justin T. to add local flavor and to
emphasize the show’s host, Mr. Justin
Thomas, who serves as the UT Extension
Family and Consumer Sciences Agent in the
community where the show is broadcast.
Sugar Free with Justin T. provides versatility
with programming and can be used in
multiple communication channels far beyond
the initial broadcast including cable
broadcasts, Facebook promotion of diabetes
programs, and exhibits at health fairs and
professional meetings.
Justin did a simple comparison using a bar
graph to show the popularity of the videos
posted on Facebook.
Facebook metrics show that the Sugar Free
with Justin T. video posting results in
increased visitors to the UT Extension Roane
County page. A random week was selected
for promotion of American Diabetes Month
in November 2013 for posting of video
segments. Three segments were posted in
one week which resulted in 1656 viewers.
The previous five posts on the UT Extension
Roane County Facebook page had a total of
970 views and the five posts after the week of
Sugar Free with Justin T. had 1075 views.
From the five preceding posts, there was a
71% increase during the week when videos
were shown. The week videos were posted
also drew 54% more viewers than the next
five posts in the following weeks.
Evaluative
Questions
The following questions tend to elicit
program results or impact. Make sure to tie
the questions to specific programs. Not all
questions will work for all programs and
audiences. Try posting one or two and see
how they work.
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What skills did you learn today in this
program that you can use?
How will you apply the skills you learned
in this program?
How did this program meet your needs?
In what way was this program useful to
you?
Have you set any goals based on this
program? If so, share one or two.
What changes did you make as a result
of programs you attended in the past
year?
Why did you participate in this
program/workshop?
What are you doing today in your home
or office that you did not do prior to
[this educational program]?
Have you discontinued any behaviors as
a result of this program? If so, please
describe.
What immediate steps/actions will you
take as a result of this program?
What results do you expect from
participation in this program?
What was the result of your
participation?
#Free! #Free!
Measurement
Tools
What if you can only afford free tools for
measuring social media? You have several
choices! Experiment to find the tool that best
meets your needs.
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HootSuite – This tool allows you to
manage multiple social media accounts,
schedule tweets and postings, and it
provides some metrics.
SocialMention – You feed this tool a
search term and it returns content from
all social media.
Facebook Insights – Metrics include page
likes and engagement.
Twitter Analytics – Includes number of
mentions, new followers, tweets that
were retweeted, favorite, etc.
Google Analytics – Allows you to track
which social media tools were used to
access a link, such as a link you used for
one specific program or social
marketing campaign.
Other free measurement tools to
explore include: TweetReach, Keyhole,
and Buffer.
SOCIAL MEDIA 2014 | Measures, Metrics & Myths
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Social Media Measures and
Metrics for Evaluation
We can use the Targeting Outcomes of
Programs Model to organize an evaluation of
social media efforts.
Resources
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Money spent on social media
management services.
Time (money) spent on social media
publishing.
Activities
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Number of surveys, contests, etc.
Number of publications.
Participation
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Impressions by age, gender, or location.
Compare and contrast impressions by
age, gender, and location over time.
Reactions
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Number of likes, shares, comments, retweets, mentions, etc.
Post a picture or article about a recent
program. Ask, “Would you recommend
this program to others? Why or why
not? Please comment.” This data can
provide a measurement of overall
program quality.
Coverage across multiple platforms:
Google+, You Tube, Friendfeed, Twitter,
Topix, Facebook, etc.
“Sentiment” (positive, negative or
neutral).
“Passion” (likelihood that a given
person posting about your program will
do so again).
KASA
Knowledge, Attitudes, Skills, and Aspirations
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See the discussion on evaluative
questions. Those questions elicit
program response, and that response
tends to describe results or impact.
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Try posting one or two to see how they
work. This will be an iterative process.
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Use comments to report program
results or impacts. As always, handle
sensitive information with care. The
impacts you report are used to produce
public documents.
The Survey Pitch
We’re looking for people who participated in
our XYZ Program this year. This includes
taking the classes we offered and reading
these posts! Please click the link to take our
short survey.
Understanding Your Audience
Are you looking for a way to understand
what social media your target audiences are
using? Here’s a quick question you can use.
For which sites do you maintain an active
profile? (Check all that apply.)
__YouTube
__Facebook
__Foursquare
__Google+
__Instagram
__LinkedIn
__Pinterest
__Tumblr
__Twitter
__Other, please list:
__I don’t participate in social media.
Analysis Tools
foller.me (free)
http://foller.me/
Hootsuite (free and paid).
http://hootsuite.com
Mention Map (free)
http://mentionmapp.com/
Social Mention (free)
http://socialmention.com/
Simply Measured (free and paid)
http://simplymeasured.com/free-socialmedia-tools#/
Sprout Social (free and paid)
http://sproutsocial.com/
Tweet Stats (free)
http://www.tweetstats.com/
Application
Our UT-TSU Extension, Example County
Facebook page continues to help us reach
more people where they live, work, and play
with the solutions they need. The total reach
of this page surpassed 15,000 for the first
time in January, 2014, a 20% increase over
the previous year. Total reach is a measure of
the number of people who saw our posts,
check-ins, and mentions. Our most popular
posts include those related to personal
finance, food, fitness, and home lawn care.
We polled the 200 parents attending
Extension parenting education programs this
year, and found that 180 (90%) discovered
our classes, locations, and times via
Facebook and Twitter. Social media has
provided an outstanding outreach tool while
saving substantial public funds. Most
importantly, the vast majority of the parents
served (80%) reported feeling better about
their abilities as parents, feeling less stressed
as parents, and showing increased affection
toward their children as a result of Extension
programs.
Social media influence is difficult to measure,
but a corporation called “Klout” (klout.com)
has quantified influence using what is known
as a Klout score. The Klout score is a number
from 1-100 that considers likes, comments,
retweets, followers, and more. We have been
tracking the UT Extension, Example County
Klout score for the past year, and it increased
from 50 to 65 (a 23% increase). In
comparison, the University of Tennessee,
Knoxville has a Klout score of 87.5.
SOCIAL MEDIA 2014 | Measures, Metrics & Myths
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References
Tutorials
Important Info
Use these references to create your own
tutorial regarding social media metrics,
measures, and myths. Search terms like “social
media metrics” on You Tube to see highquality tutorials from reputable sources.
Use Google Analytics for Tracking Social
Media path to your Website
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sIBrBg
a0fw
Contacts
Cooper, B.B. (2013). Ten surprising social
media statistics that will make you rethink
your social strategy. Fast Company.
Available at:
http://www.fastcompany.com/3021749/work
-smart/10-surprising-social-media-statisticsthat-will-make-you-rethink-your-social-stra
Price, C. (2013). Social media ROI: 11 free
tools for measuring social media success.
Search Engine Watch. Available at:
http://searchenginewatch.com/article/23088
70/Social-Media-ROI-11-FREE-Tools-forMeasuring-Social-Media-Success
Statistic Brain (2014). Social networking
statistics. Available at:
http://www.statisticbrain.com/socialnetworking-statistics/
Thomas, J.B. & Donaldson, J.L. (2014). Sugar
free with Justin T.: Diabetes education
through community partnerships. Journal of
Extension. Accepted for publication.
Using Analytics to Measure Social Media
Engagement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVoD6g
tQoKA
Using Facebook Insights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcyQgn
rxaXo
Learn to Use Hootsuite [Tech Tutorial]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM6hyS
Azueg
Hootsuite Analytics (free & paid versions)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0f1DxJj
LjQ
Sprout Social
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEhmcV
gnFRY
If you have questions, please feel free to
contact:
Dr. Joseph L. Donaldson, Ext. Specialist
Extension Evaluation and Staff Development
UT Extension
865-974-7245
[email protected]
Dr. John J. Toman, IT Specialist
Extension Evaluation and Staff Development
UT Extension
865-974-7245
[email protected]
Disclaimer
Links to commercial sites are provided for
information and convenience only. Inclusion
of sites does not imply University of
Tennessee approval of their product or
service to the exclusion of others that may be
similar, nor does it guarantee or warrant the
standard of the products or service offered.
Joseph L. Donaldson, Ph.D.
John J. Toman, Ph.D.
April 10, 2014
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Justin Thomas for the use of the Roane County data and Eric Owens for
the use of Journal of Extension data.
Notes
Programs in agriculture and natural resources, 4-H youth development, family and consumer sciences, and resource development. University of
Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture and county governments cooperating.
UT Extension provides equal opportunities in programs and employment.