A Hammer Isn’t a House – Don’t Confuse Tools with Metrics

I'm currently looking at several solutions for our company and your post reminds me to go back and look at the business plan for our SMM strategy before we buy - should I say "interview." You're right though.... there is a lot of pretty stuff to look at out there. Happy New Year.

Excellent post. It's so true that many business professionals assume that there is a cookie cutter approach to online marketing. Bringing them back to their business goals and objectives is so critical. I love the funnel for the visual analogy! =)

great post! A lot of companies get caught in the social media ecosystem and what it drags along with it, they forget to create a sound CRM and customer centric strategy first; if they had thought of approaching things the right way social media and the metrics-systems would only obey to that defined CRM strategy. The lesson? do your homework first, establish a strategy and then use what the tools social media makes available, for instance: gather customer information and generate customer knowledge.

Jay I don't always agree with you but this post is dead on. Just like Twitter and Facebook are misconstrued as media vs a platform, the same goes for tools that crank out metrics. Each business has unique goals and needs. And as your chart shows they must work forwards not backwards. But I think it is easier for them to work backwards especially when a peer using something then 'I must use it too' or a sales person pitches you the benefits of the tool 'when the sale really benefits the sales person most!'

I work for @Spiral16 (a listening/monitoring tool), and would just like to say, "Thanks!" ~ As your graphic illustrates, choosing how to listen ONLY makes sense when you know what you're listening for, and it's frustrating to have to continually explain that.

This may be a bad analogy, but it reminds me of the sliding scale at http://www.chromoscope.net/ ~ The choice of wavelength you use to look/listen/measure makes a big difference on the results that you get. Imagine if you were looking for hydrogen with the "visible light" tool...you wouldn't be very impressed with the results. (The spectrum of electromagnetic energy also dovetails nicely with the concept that a measuring/listening tool ought to cover the FULL spectrum of online data, not just a segment of it. Unless you're plugged into all the available data, you *will* miss stuff. Maybe it's stuff you need/want, maybe it isn't. Again, back to the point of your post)

A similar comparison might be to the guy that goes fishing with a net that has 2-inch holes, and, after many fishing trips, incorrectly concludes that there aren't any fish in the sea smaller than 2-inches.

Thanks for this article, Jay. I identified with that Director of Soc Media you were talking to, and it inspired me to write a blog post with a slightly contrarian/explanatory view. It's called "Why We'll Always Ask Social Media Strategists About Tools". http://bit.ly/kBBfBB And as I was writing this, you just commented on the post, so thank you, Jay!! I feel like I just rediscovered you after listening to you at the Social Media Summit - many thanks for that preso as well.

So the solid point is know what you're trying to measure first, before you get all "ahhh.. something bright and shiny" with the tools. If so, I get it. Makes sense Jay.

Jay, i like the way you answered to that Social Media Manager lady and i can easily understand that why she was disappointed. After reading your post i can easily say that you're very straight forward and i like this attitude "Don't waste yours and others time" ask or answer to the point and save your time and use it in productive activities. Yup you're right every business is having their own requirements and they can spend some time on a study to which one analytical tool appropriate for their business. I'm a strongly agreed with your example as you quoted above about Mango Eater :)

Great post Jay. Your pyramid is spot on for any communications or marketing strategy. Business goals and objectives dictate tools, uses and measurements - not the other way around. The great race to get in the social game should not derail the business plan but support it.

Great post Jay. When asking prospective clients what their business goals are, they say "More Revenue". So that tells me, "Ok, so your business goal is sales and sales leads". The only tools that I know of that can actually quantify this business goal is 1. HubSpot 2. Klurig Analytics 3. Google Analytics. Am I missing anything? The one problem that I run into is with click and mortar businesses. How the heck do I show that their increased sales are connected to social media? The only ways that I can think of are social media specific coupons, geo-location. Do I really want to urge business owners to give out coupons for the sake of measurement?

JayBaer can you help me knowing some social media software for measurement.

I too recommend social media measuring has to be done first and then start using it in a right way so that the time and money is not wasted.

Great post! I love the graphic. If you don't mind, I'm going to use that to help my clients understand how to align their social media efforts with their business goals (and what order to make decisions about it all).

Great post that gets to a real truth: No tool is a magic bullet to social media nirvana. The best tools in the world can't help you if you don't know what you're trying to measure and how.

However! Once you get your goals and planning in place, the right tools can be a lifesaver to keep your initiatives on track, efficient and accountable while your team stays focused on the bigger, "house-not-hammer" issues.

I tend to be guilty of trying every new tool that comes around (part of the job when you work at raventools ) but the great thing about knowing what you're looking for is that you can immediately tell whether they're any good! A good tool simply makes it easier to do your job; it shouldn't claim to do the job for you.

a tool is a tool is a tool! Technology can be helpful, but only if you know it will actually help you reach your target audience.

Jay, I love love love this post! See I'm all about at least attempting to work with fundamentals. It's a constant challenge to choose the right tools for marketing -- but how can we possibly select them if we don't first know what we need them to do? To me there's not much more fundamental than knowing what tools do and what they're really good for.

Nice post, Jay. Tools for many are a shiny object they cannot resist. As you rightly point out, there are many important measurement decisions that should come before tool selection. Don't lead with your tool!

Here is a link to a post I wrote last year that makes the same general point, but from more of a data-centric view: http://metricsman.wordpress.com/2010/07/19/dont-let-the-tool-tail-wag-the-measurement-dog/

Cheers, Don B donbart

Great post as usual Jay. I particulary like the inverted pyramid, although I'm not sure the Pharoahs would appreciate that much. Businesses have a tendency of buying the expensive tools that answers questions they didn't ask, and miss out on the basics they were looking for, and the reason is simple and reflected clearly in your upside down pyramid ... I should know what I need to measure before finding the tool that would help me do so.
I like redslice's reply ... Most customers tend to do so because they don't know what it is they want; Unfortunately that is a scary thought. However, being an optimist and agreeing with redslice

Do you have certain social media analytic tools that you feel are best for various objectives? Or is it situational.

Sometimes it does get confusing to understand what you want to measure because you don't know what is possible. That's why I think people tend to work backwards: they want to know what types of metrics the tools can measure and that back that into how that can help with business objectives.

I think until you know how the different metrics can ultimately lead to sales, it's hard to know what you should be measuring as it relates to objectives.

Jay, would you agree? Sometimes it's about knowing what is possible and how it links bcak to sales. Not saying it's the right way to do things, but I think that is what many company's are faced with in this unfamiliar landscape. I think that's where social media consultants can add the most value: "Tell me what your objectives re and I can tell you if you can or can't create a path via social media to get there - and what we can measure along the way."

Jay, great take on where social media metrics fit.

There's one piece of the social media metrics puzzle that I wouldn't say is missing from your funnel, but maybe is considered the "hard part" of social media metrics - translating results and transitioning tactics - this is where I think social media consultants need to play a larger role - helping customers understand the metrics and adjust tactics to improve alignment with business goals and objectives. Tools like @unilyzer are only as good as the SMM that uses them.

This is the stuff Jay, so glad to have read this! It just happens too many times that we get caught up in the tools or even Social Media as a tool, without reflecting on what we want as a business irrelevant of Social Media or analytic tools. @SocialMouths wrote a fantastic post in a similar direction recently that resonated very well with me too.

Btw, I love the writing style Jay, those personal experiences really make it very enjoyable! Keep it up. Put this in my Buffer for sure :)