The Importance of Evaluation

    Social media experts should conduct thorough evaluation of each champaign as it not only provides evidence and support for the value of social media within a brand’s overall communication efforts, but also because evaluation is a heuristic element that allows for future growth and greater expertise within the social world. To do this, there are three main sections that should each be investigated to determine the total effectiveness of the campaign. The sections are preparation, implementation and impact. Preparation evaluates items from the listening and strategic design stages of the campaign. The goal is to assess whether, prior to the social media campaign being launched, proper information was in place and the strategic design was correctly developed from the data. The elements of evaluation for the preparation stage include formative research review and strategic design analysis. Implementation evaluates the third stage of the social media campaign, examining whether information was delivered at the correct time, whether it reached the identified audiences and the nature of the engagement that occurred as a result of the engagement. The elements of evaluation for the implementation stage include social media dashboard metrics and engagement. Finally, impact relates to the specific objectives that were established for the campaign in order to achieve its overall goal. The elements of evaluation for the impact stage include consumption metrics and sharing metrics. It is important to assess what is most critical for the brand to understand from the campaign in order to not only evaluate the campaign’s impact, but to strategically move forward in future social media campaigns.