Social Interaction Metrics

I recently found this good article on “Measuring Engagement”.

The article discusses engagement goals (what you want people to do) and what key performance indicators (KPIs) are good to measure.

Every client/company may have unique goals but I thought the final list was a good example.

1. Register for Alerts by RSS feed – to get new content
2. Views (videos, rich images, design concepts)
3. Use the design widget
4. Put the widget on their blog or Facebook, etc
5. Feedback (via the site)
6. Email subscriptions
7. Favorites (add an item to favourites)
8. Feedback (via the site)
9. Forward to a friend
10. Invite / Refer (a friend)
11. Social media sharing / participation (activity on key social media sites, e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Digg, relevant design forums, blogs etc)
12. Time spent on key pages
13. Time spent on site (by source / by entry page)

By tracking and measuring your user’s actions you then can start to focus on the user’s needs, likes and dislikes. In the end you give your audience the right tools and content they are looking for.

Custom Tabs on Facebook Fan Pages

Recently for work I built a custom tab page for a client. When you add the tab you can set it as your default page and use it as a landing page for first time visitors. This is a great way to introduce people to your products or company.

It was fairly easy to do with very little coding knowledge. I wanted to share a few links that I found very helpful.

How to add a custom tab to your Facebook fan page – This is a well documented “how-to” resource.

An overview on Facebook Pages – also download Fan Page product overview pdf.

The App Static FBML – you need to add this app to the tab to use FBML.

Wiki documentation on FBML (Facebook Mark-up Language).

iPhone Applications For Web Designers

I wanted to share this great list of 40 Essential iPhone Applications For Web Designers

The code cheats and color tools are great but the monitoring and stats apps are awesome.

A Comprehensive List of Social Media Marketing Tips

I recently stumbled upon a great and comprehensive list of tips for social media marketing.

25 Must Read Social Media Marketing Tips

Respect The Architect

I have been doing a lot of research about the “Conversational Architect.” Ironically I was listening to LastFM and rediscovered an old Guru song “Respect The Architect.”

His lyrics grabbed me. Guru talks about going back to metaphors. “Lame-game, plain-Jane can’t approach these. The architect, selecting the blueprints to rid the game of nuisance. Your concept’s mediocre, plus you’re way too typical. Yeah, never ending, always building.”

So when designing conversations or planning social engagement metaphors work just like good storytelling. I also have seen and heard a ton of lame ideas and more disturbing are “experts” repurposing the same ideas but with different brands. Let’s rid the “game” of nuisance.

So if you consult, art direct or strategize about social media lets raise the bar, go for the fence and dismiss the fakes, cynics and non-believers!

New to Guru? Here you go, enjoy!