Measuring Social Media 

2007 was the year of social media. Thanks to social networks like Facebook and Bebo, real-time social web tools like Twitter and snowballing use of photosharing and other collaborative tools, the landscape changed dramatically. But as marketers’ attention is drawn towards social media, the questions about its effectiveness will inevitably follow.

Measurements of customer satisfaction, engagement, loyalty and participation seem more appropriate for online social activities, but how can these areas of goodwill be measured? And more importantly, how do these relate to the success of a campaign or a community?

Should we establish industry-wide agreement on measurement standards, such as those being developed by JICIMS? Or is innovation perennially one step ahead of those who would seek to neatly order and define it?

If we're living in the era of the promiscuous consumer, does social media hold within its DNA the means to builder longer-term, more nuanced relationships with customers? What happens to all our statistics when people move onto the next hot thing? And is the granular and all pervasive measurement and tracking that is supposedly social media’s strength also eroding and re-shaping our notions of privacy?

Come along to the next Chinwag Live at Internet World and join our expert panel to explore and debate the issues surrounding the next generation metrics that will help us understand and utilise social media.

Speakers:
Nielsen Online, European Internet Analyst, Alex Burmaster    
1000heads, Client Services Director, Robin Grant
Nixon McInnes, MD, Will McInnes
Techlightenment, Co-founder,  Ankur Shah
Last.fm SVP, European Advertising Sales, Miles Lewis
Behindthebuzz, Consultant, Rachel Clarke