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:

• Of the 1.4 billion Facebook users, 500 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.

• Instagram hit the 300 million user mark with 20 billion photos.

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 end-results. 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.

Page 1

Social Media Metrics,

Measures, and Myths

2015

UTEXTENSION.TENNESSEE.EDU EESD.TENNESSEE.EDU ADVANCING TENNESSEE

Pursuing 6,495,978 Likes! Making the Most of Social Media in Extension

SOCIAL MEDIA 2015 | Measures, Metrics & Myths 2

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:

1. Knoxville, TN 2. Columbus, OH 3. Starkville, MS 4. Celina, TN 5. 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:

• 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.

Case Study: Journal of Extension

SOCIAL MEDIA 2015 | Measures, Metrics & Myths 3

To share information with diabetics, pre-diabetics, 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.

• 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.

• 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.

Case Study: Sugar Free with Justin T.

SOCIAL MEDIA 2015 | Measures, Metrics & Myths 4

We can use the Targeting Outcomes of Programs Model to organize an evaluation of social media efforts.

Resources • Money spent on social media

management services. • Time (money) spent on social media

publishing.

Activities • Number of surveys, contests, etc. • Number of publications.

Participation • Impressions by age, gender, or location. • Compare and contrast impressions by

age, gender, and location over time.

Reactions • Number of likes, shares, comments, re-

tweets, 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 • See the discussion on evaluative

questions. Those questions elicit program response, and that response tends to describe results or impact.

• Try posting one or two to see how they work. This will be an iterative process.

• 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 __ Snapchat __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-social-media-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 Measures and Metrics for Evaluation

SOCIAL MEDIA 2015 | Measures, Metrics & Myths 5

References 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 high-quality tutorials from reputable sources.

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-statistics-that-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/2308870/Social-Media-ROI-11-FREE-Tools-for-Measuring-Social-Media-Success

Statistic Brain (2014). Social networking statistics. Available at: http://www.statisticbrain.com/social-networking-statistics/

Thomas, J.B. & Donaldson, J.L. (2014). Sugar free with Justin T.: Diabetes education through community partnerships. Journal of Extension. Available at: http://www.joe.org/joe/2014december/iw6.php.

Tutorials

Use Google Analytics for Tracking Social Media path to your Website https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sIBrBga0fw

Using Analytics to Measure Social Media Engagement https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVoD6gtQoKA

Using Facebook Insights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcyQgnrxaXo

Learn to Use Hootsuite [Tech Tutorial] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM6hySAzueg

Hootsuite Analytics (free & paid versions) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0f1DxJjLjQ

Sprout Social https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEhmcVgnFRY

Important Info

Contacts If you have questions, please feel free to contact:

Dr. Joseph L. Donaldson, Assistant Professor Extension Evaluation and Staff Development UT Extension 865-974-7245 jldonaldson@tennessee.edu

Dr. John J. Toman, IT Specialist Extension Evaluation and Staff Development UT Extension 865-974-7245 jtoman@tennessee.edu

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. February 9, 2015

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.

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