In July, I switched my social media mindset to take on a more professional tone. At this time, I set some goals for myself and decided that I would track my own progress and growth. However, at the same time, I knew what my ideal results would be, and in hindsight, I let this affect how I measured. While it’s always important to understand your goals and ideal results, sometimes we get too focused on these and lose sight of the truth.
Think about it. When you measure, are you thinking of the true results or your end goals?
I am guilty of focusing too much on the end goal. During my first month of blogging and Tweeting, I measured myself based upon the number of followers I gained. During the next month, though, I focused more on the number of @replies I got on Twitter, that is, I focused on how many people were responding or talking to me. But why the change?
Simple. I had far more total @replies than increase in followers during my second month. Is this accurate? Technically, yes. But does it really show the whole picture? Does it honestly track my progress? Of course not.
It’s such an easy trap to fall into. It’s easy to track the metrics which paint the best picture instead of consistently using the same metrics to measure your real progress. Catering to true goals and date, not to results, it the key.
This is not to say that sometimes mid-way through a campaign or program you can’t change your metrics or focus. Sometimes we realize after getting started that there are metrics we hadn’t considered which are much better suited to our needs. In this case, switch! Just be sure to retroactively asses your entire progress and not just recent weeks.
As measurement is becoming thrust on more and more of us, I beg you to think about whether you are truly measuring what you mean to be? Or are you just looking for the results you want?
Tags: Measurement, PR measurement
