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By Colin Gilchrist | Digital Strategy Planner

September 2, 2011 | 3 min read

Einstein said “We must remember, not everything that counts can be measured, and not everything that can be measured counts.”

Ok, so I’m about to start harping on about Social Media Monitoring, Measurement and Manipulated data to provide you with an accurate assessment of your online activity… An essential part of the jigsaw.

There’s a fab new Scottish company who have recently won some first round funding which promises to be really exciting (Forth Metrics); I wish them the best of luck and look forward to the imminent launch.

And Gordon McIntyre-Kemp (fellow Drum Blogger) wrote a great piece entitled: “11 Free Social Media Monitoring Tools (and 2 you have to pay for)” and although written on April 1st this year is no joke, it’s a handy resource.

What’s prompted this article is a recent email from Dave Trott (author of Creative Mischief); he was (quite rightly) questioning the timesheet approach to advertising budget management arguing the case for quality versus time. He sums up by saying:

“Measuring has taken over from what counts. And we’ve forgotten the first rule of advertising. It doesn’t matter what went into it. What matters is what people get out of it. Imagine if we judged everything else this way?”

Films:

“No I don’t want to see that film it’s only 97 minutes long. This one is 122 minutes long, that’s a much better film.”

Restaurants:

“Waiter, can I see a menu with information next to each dish about how long it took the farmer to grow the vegetables, and what the chef’s hourly rate is?”

Art:

“I don’t want to go to The Louvre, the Mona Lisa is only eighteen inches square. They’ve got much bigger paintings hanging on the railings outside Hyde Park, let’s go there.”

If we’re looking for a way to judge value for money, monitoring size or quantity is the wrong criteria – it’s the results it creates – that’s the holy grail.

Darren Mcmullen Infographic Social Media

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