Chapter 14: Crafting the Social Media Assessment Report

Summary  •  Outline  •  Study Questions  •  Flashcards  •  Quiz

Chapter Summary

This chapter provides guidelines on preparing a social media assessment report to ensure that it provides meaningful information and insights, and is targeted for your audiences.

Several principles are helpful to keep in mind when drafting the report:

  • Know your audiences – think about who will be reading the report or listening to the briefing and adapt the report accordingly
  • Establish the right comparison points – compare your results to organizations of similar size and to those that devote similar resources to its social media presence
  • Focus on the return on investment – determine an appropriate way to measure the benefits gained from your social media efforts compared to the amount invested
  • Highlight connections between your social media platforms and other communications tools – consider what occurred on other channels, and highlight potential correlations between them and your social media platforms
  • Focus on continuous improvement – the assessment report should grow and change to remain flexible to the reporting needs of your organization

Consider the following sections as you draft the report:

  • Introduction
  • Limitations
  • Comparative Framework
  • Data & Analysis
  • Success Stories
  • Conclusions & Recommendations
  • Appendices
Chapter Outline
  • Key Principles
    • Analyze your audiences
    • Establish the right comparison points
    • Spotlight the return on investment
    • Highlight connections between social media platforms, other communication tools, and events
    • Focus on continuous improvement
  • Main Sections of the Assessment Report
    • Introduction
    • Limitations
    • Comparative framework
    • Data and analysis
    • Success stories
    • Conclusions and recommendations
    • Appendices
  • Conclusion

Chapter Deep Dive Study Questions

These exercises are designed to enhance your understanding of the chapter’s key ideas, principles and approaches.

#1
Identify three examples of inappropriate social media comparisons. Explain your rationale. (Remember that inappropriate comparisons are like comparing apples to oranges instead of apples to apples.)

#2
Locate a social media assessment report from an organization. a) Identify and discuss three appropriate features of the report. b) Suggest and discuss three ways to improve the report. c) Provide your rationale based on the discussion in this chapter.

#3
Craft three compelling arguments about why an organization that does a good job reporting on daily/weekly analytics should still develop a social media assessment report like the one described in this chapter.

Chapter Flashcards

[qdeck] [q] Assessment Report
[a] A document that presents an in-depth look at the effectiveness of an organization's social media strategy. A social media assessment report typically reveals changes that have occurred since the last report, focusing on the main platforms that the organization is utilizing. It could reveal factors such as growth (or loss) in followership, reach and different types of engagement and an explanation of potential factors influencing the numbers.
[q] Comparison Point
[a] A basis or standard against which you can measure something.
[q] ROI
[a] Translates into return on investment. In the broadest sense, this financial measurement compares the benefits gained to the costs incurred.
[q] Success Stories
[a] Examples of content that produced the intended effect and accomplished your social media goals.
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Chapter Quiz

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