There is a reason Avinash Kaushik is one of the foremost thought-leaders in the world of digital marketing. With roots in research and analytics, Kaushik quickly cuts to the case, using metrics to quantify the real-world value of specific campaigns.
In his article, “How To Suck At Social Media: An Indispensable Guide For Businesses” Kaushik suggests many firms rush to social media merely because its there, connected to a large audience, without a clear rationale for why it makes sense to do so, resulting in lackluster results. For example:
Google’s Small Business page on Facebook the average “Amplification Rate” (the rate at which their followers share their content with others) is virtually zero – and the “Applause Rate” (Likes per post) is usually under 10. We’re talking Google here, and that’s how low the numbers are.
Google’s AdWords made over $35B last year, and their Facebook page has over 420,000 ‘Likes’, with the team generating new posts every day, yet usually generates zero shares.
Kaushik cites additional examples, including GE, which enjoys KPIs near zero for its own Facebook presence, begging the question, “what business value, brand or performance, was delivered?”
This leads to Kaushik’s proposal of the “MoR Test”, as a first-step in evaluating a firm’s investment in social media strategy, which is defined below.
MoR Test
It is pronounced the more test. It is an acronym for a test I often use in my consulting engagements. It stands for: Money off Roof test.
It is a simple test: Would we create more Social Media activity if we took all the money we are currently investing in Social Media and threw it all off the roof of our office building?
The way it works is that you compute the total cost of your Social Media program: SM employee salaries and benefits, agency fees, content acquisition/production costs, analyst salaries, executive time invested etc. Then, you withdraw that amount of money in $5 bills. Now you take the elevator, or stairs to be healthier, to the roof of your office building. During prime time, say noon, you throw the cash, off the roof. Surely, when cash is floating down from the sky, people will grab it and tweet it, write posts on Facebook, post pictures on Instagram, and of course videos on YouTube. Measure all this Social Media activity.
If the Social Media activity is more than what you are currently getting on your current social platforms, why are you on Social Media? If you simply want buzz, you are better off just throwing cash off your office building once a month. No?
The serious point is that when we choose to invest in Social Media, it comes at a cost. Not just what we are investing on Social Networks, but also what else we are not doing. The opportunity cost . Many companies don’t have mobile friendly websites. Their mobile apps, if they exist, are atrocious. When you search for them, if you find them, you end up on sub-optimal landing pages. Most don’t have decent display advertising strategies with Yahoo!. Their email marketing programs are, literally, leaving money and customer love on the table. Some have the worst lead gen page known to womankind. But. They have a regular presence on Social Networks.
If they fail the MoR test, why not take that money and invest in the aforementioned six ideas? The brand and performance ROI to the company is clear and direct.
Yet Kaushik goes on to highlight a number of cases with companies passing the MoR test including; Innocent, Carphone Warehouse, GoPro, and Mailchimp – providing analysis on each and factors for success (or lack thereof). I highly recommend reading for any social media marketing manager.
Read the full article by Avinash Kaushik “How To Suck At Social Media: An Indispensable Guide For Businesses” (here)
Nick Krueger 