1. Outtakes, Outputs and Outcomes: Social Media Analytics Made Simple
Brian A. Cliette, Instructor of Social Media
& Growth

2. Three Simple Truths About Analytics
Companies invest more money every year in social analytics, because they have realized three simple truths.
First, that incremental growth is unstable and impossible without the proper use of social analytics.
That the key to content engagement & sharability lies in educated decision-making based on real-time data
Finally, that data gives them a competitive edge.

3. What is Social Analytics ?
There are a lot of definitions for social analytics floating on the surface of the cybersea. My definition strikes on a key point many others miss:
“Social analytics is the habit of collecting and analyzing streams of data coming in from targeted social sources, to incrementally improve decision- making for your online business or brand.” – Brian Cliette

4. Why is Social Analytics a Habit?
As you can see, I focus on the habit of social analytics as a defining factor, as opposed to a practice – because data application only remains relevant for short windows of time.
Without continual recollection and reanalysis, your evidence- based strategy or content will lose context, and as a result, potential impact.

5. There Is No Proven Social Analytics Framework
Because social media analytics is a new field, you may be shocked to discover that there is no set-in-stone capability framework for producing results just yet.
Different brands produce different results when using the same strategies. Social media input is extremely varied and audience-specific. Then there is the ‘time’ variable!
The main goal here is to find out how to measure the success of chosen metrics over time.

6. There Is No Proven Social Analytics Framework
To do this, I borrow processes from the PR field, and how they choose to measure impact using the three O’s structure: outtakes, outputs and outcomes.
Once you know how to measure impact, and select the right social analytics tools - life will flow into your content, and engagement will grow.
Sasha Dookhoo, PR Measurement Using The 3 O’s,

7. Outtakes
Most social media marketers begin by measuring the outtakes of their social analytics.
These are the most direct results that their efforts produce.
Known as outtake metrics, this information gives you exact figures on things like post impression count, video views or total engagement level .
Outtakes are found directly on social media platforms, but the data is not usually presented in an analysis-friendly way.

8. Outtakes
An example is Facebook Analytics where you can see the outtake metrics of a key post. Interesting data to be sure, but lacking meaning without any context.
Using third party tools to reorganize and contextualize the data is the most valuable thing you can do with these direct metrics.
Contextual outtakes are superb for market context.

9. Outtakes
If that Facebook post is compared to other brand posts, or to other posts by the same author – it answers questions that may lead to that singular post gaining an edge in relation to its competitors.

10. Outtakes
With contextual outtake metrics, you will improve the performance of your content incrementally by employing habitual comparison analysis, using social analytics on social platforms and with third party tools.
The result is a distinct competitive advantage over time.

11. Outtakes
The areas that are greatly improved by this are customer profiling, customization and personalization of content for your audience, along with community analytics like topic detection.
Raghu Krishnapuram, Jitendra Ajmera, Social Media Analytics, IBM Research India,

12. Outputs
The measurement of your brand team’s activities on social media are called outputs, because they refer to the production output your team was capable of performing.
Known as output metrics, these act as a method of measuring whether or not your team produced their work as your brand has outlined – on budget, on message and on time.

13. Outputs
On the most basic level, an individual might be told to create 10 tweets a day. This number of content pieces will be measured for impact, because output metrics can seriously effect community growth, content reception and reaction.
The sweet spot for a brand might be 10 tweets a day, for ideal growth over time. Any more than that, and output analysis may reveal a loss of engagement and followers.

14. Outputs
Management of output metrics happens on a content marketing platform like Kapost or Percolate, and help teams maintain a consistently beneficial flow of specific content to key platforms and areas.
The ‘time’ metric in this instance is particularly useful, if habitual retesting is part of your brand culture.

15. Outcomes
For long term success with social media, outcome metrics are by far the most important.
These ask the higher level questions that really impact the growth, reputation and progression of your brand.

16. Outcomes
The engagement or actions people performed in response to your social content is where the magic happens.
It’s important to establish these outcome metrics before heading into a full blown social media strategy that has been benchmarked with a hierarchy of different metrics.
These will keep your brand on target and working towards the right kind of content impact for your communities.

17. Outcomes
Measuring whether your sales increased after a specific type of post, if your leads are at the right stage of the buying process, or whether your brand’s customer loyalty improved after a specific amount of time or strategic execution - are all higher level outcomes for your brand.

18. Outcomes
Before outtake or output key performance indicators, your outcome metrics need to be established so that you can apply the data and answer important questions about customer relationship management online.
Outcomes are much, much harder to measure, but when there is clear progress or improvement with these KPI’s, they amount to clear social media success for your brand

19. Social Analytic Tools
The right tools will give you an advantage over brand competitors. Combine and contrast them.
Never stop testing new tools that promise deeper levels of data, analysis and visualization.

20. Social Analytic Tools
Platform analytics are great for outtake metrics. These include Facebook Analytics, Twitter Analytics, Instagram Analytics and Google Analytics.
Third-party management tools are excellent because they allow you to pull in various analytics from your platforms and then give them context and depth, with metrics of their own. My favorites are Keyhole, SocialBakers, AgoraPulse, Buffer and BuzzSumo.

21. Social Analytic Tools
Standalone analytics tools focus on a specific type of platform analytics or give you a certain type of data to assist you in your social marketing pursuits.
Examples are SocialMention, Oktopost and Little Bird.
Leadfeeder.com - Start seeing immediately which companies have visited your website ( Integrates with G/A)

22. The Keys to Success
… is selecting the right tools, having a competent conceptual capability framework in place and understanding your metric hierarchy.

23. The Keys to Success
At the highest level are your brand’s social content outcomes, followed by the contextual outtake metrics from a unique blend of social analytics tools (platform, third-party and standalone)
And the habitual adjustment and reapplication of output metrics to guide your team to social greatness.

24. The Keys to Success
From there, it’s a simple matter of learning how to correctly and creatively interpret your findings so that you can convert them into opportunities and improvements for your brand on social media.

25. References:
DemandMetric, Social Media Analytics Benchmark Report, analytics-benchmark-report
Weiguo Fan, Michael D Gordon, Unveiling The Power of Social Media Analytics,
Batrinca, B. & Treleaven, Social Media Analytics: A Survey of Techniques, Tools and Platforms, P.C. AI & Soc (2015) 30: 89. doi: /s
Karim, Abdul; Khan, Noushad; and Khan, Gohar Feroz, "A SOCIAL MEDIA ANALYTICS CAPABILITIY FRAMEWORK FOR FIRM’S COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE" (2016). PACIS 2016 Proceedings. Paper
Sasha Dookhoo, PR Measurement Using The 3 O’s,
Raghu Krishnapuram, Jitendra Ajmera, Social Media Analytics, IBM Research India, symposium/slides/Krishnapuram%20Social%20Media%20Analytics.pdf
Marcus Guido, The List of The Top 25 Social Media Analytics Tools, media-analytics-tools/
Ian Cleary, The Social Media Analytics Compass: What and How To Measure, analytics-tools/
Matthew Ganis, Avinash Kohirkar, Social Media Analytics, Free Sample Chapter,