Evaluation

The final stage in managing a social media campaign is to evaluate what worked, what didn't, and what needs improvement. When evaluating, there are two main components that need to be differentiated; counting and measurements. Counting means to add up numbers to get a total, whereas collecting measurements mean to take the total and analyze what it means. Why did we get the results we did? What swayed the decision? What impacted people? Etc. After counting and measuring the results, there are three steps in the evaluation phase, which are: preparation, implementation and impact.

In the preparation stage, research, listening and strategic designs are all evaluated. This is used to verify whether or not they received the feedback they had hoped to receive. Implementation is evaluated by looking at whether the information was delivered at the right times and whether it reached their intended audience.  This is also known as message reach and engagement. Impact looks at the specific objectives set at the beginning of the campaign and verifying if they had accomplished them at the end of their campaign.

When evaluating, it is also important to look at how preparation occurred. There are three parts to this: the formative research that was gathered in the listening phase, the program’s strategic design, and the presentation content. Formative research helps identify if the information that was collected was enough to reach the objectives made in the beginning. Next, the strategic design must be evaluated through a top-down approach. Ask questions such as were the goals appropriate for the need and purpose of the campaign? Was each objective of SMART reached? Or, were all the tactics identified correctly? It is also important to evaluate the overall tone and persona of the campaign. Lastly, looking into presentation means looking at the creativity of the content that was produced and to comment on any pieces that worked well with the overall campaign.

Since most companies use Facebook to reach their intended audience, it is important to understand their analytics or so-called, insights. There are seven main areas that are used to gather and analyze data: the overview, likes, reach, visits, posts, video and people. Each and every one has a unique purpose and understanding how they all work is important to achieving success of your campaign. When using insights, remember to set the date-range for all components except for overview to get the analysis you wish to see.