Google Analytics – Capturing the value of Social Media.
New set of Social Reports released by Google.
In terms of building visibility and authority on the Web, which is what largely determines your search rankings, the value of what I call online PR and within that social media is growing by the day.
Up to now it’s been difficult to measure the effect of social media engagement through Google Analytics but now Google have just announced a new set of reports that will show you which social channels actually help to drive visitors to your site and which are directly or indirectly influential in achieving your goal conversions.
Here’s the Google Analytics Blog announcement about these now essential reports:
‘Measuring the value of social media has been a challenge for marketers. And with good reason: it’s hard to understand exactly what is happening in an environment where activity occurs both on and off your website. Since social media is often an upper funnel player in a shopper’s journey, it’s not always easy to determine which social channels actually drive value for your business and which tactics are most effective.
- Identify the full value of traffic coming from social sites and measure how they lead to direct conversions or assist in future conversions
- Understand social activities happening both on and off of your site to help you optimize user engagement and increase social key performance indicators (KPIs)
- Make better, more efficient data-driven decisions in your social media marketing programs
The Social reports allow you to analyze all of this information together and see a more complete picture of social impact than often used today.’
And here’s a sample of the new Overview Report that shows a snapshot of Social Value: