TOP-DOWN REVENUE MEASUREMENT APPROACHES

1. ANECDOTE
Definition and Usage:
Examples of relationship between social media and sales; information is often shared
verbally, sometimes entered manually into CRM. It is seen in large, often B2B companies with
high consideration and long sales cycles
Considerations
Lightweight and practical for some companies , Manual ,Cannot scale and No ability to
share broadly
Sample Vendors
You can use anecdotes from any and all social media service or product vendors. This may
take verbal or written form, depending on the company. See the SAP case study for an
example.

2. CORRELATION
Definition and Usage:
Correlation refers to the ability to compare one data set with another to identify patterns. It
can be as simple as chart overlays comparing likes and sales to highly complex econometric
models that take into account external data, such as gas prices, interest rates, jobless
claims, etc.
Considerations:
Properly applied, provides insight into the relationship between social strategies/tactics and
business outcomes
Well accepted by the industry
Requires trained analysts who can control for variables and interpret data to minimize
irrelevancies and distortion
Manual (therefore not scalable)
Sample Vendors:
Whatever tool you are using web analytics, email service provider usually imported into
an Excel spreadsheet. Tools such as Market Share and Compass Labs perform more advanced
correlations. Expect this to become more common as tools mature.
3. TESTING (A/B, MULTIVARIATE)
Definition and Usage:
In statistics, multivariate testing or multi-variable testing is a technique for testing
hypotheses on complex multi-variable systems, especially used in testing market
perceptions.
Used by digital marketers to compare performance of tactics across different
populations; examples could include news headlines, social content of any sort (video,
image, text). Also used by multichannel organizations with both online and brick-and
mortar presence.
Considerations
Properly applied, provides insight into the relationship between social strategies/tactics
and business outcomes
Well accepted by digital marketing
Requires trained analysts who can control for variables and interpret data to minimize
irrelevancies and distortion
Manual (therefore not scalable)
Sample Vendors

You can compare the performance of any social content to any other social content, either
within the tool itself or from tool to tool. Note that source data may come from a variety of
tools, such as listening and monitoring, social media management, or any other tool with a
social data output. Some organizations download data into an Excel spreadsheet.

BOTTOM-UP REVENUE MEASUREMENT APPROACHES

4. LINKING AND TAGGING
DEFINITION AND USAGE:
Using a piece of code (a short link, ROI tag, or cookie) to identify the source of a
conversion or sale, at the simpler end: short links; at the sophisticated end, ROI tags, such
as those available as part of web analytics solutions. It is Broadly applicable to any online
property in which an item or service is sold directly to a customer (direct B2C) or a piece of
social content culminates in a desired action, such as a contest entry, white paper
download, application submission, or other desired conversion action/lead
Considerations:
Industry standard for conversion attribution
Enables tracking from click to conversion
Facilitates (measurable) social spreading
Only work on owned online properties
Dont (always) work across screens
Dont account for macroeconomic or business factors (price of gas, earnings, etc.)
Only works for single browser sessions. Links may break easily or may not be passed
through
Sample Vendors:
Vendors below use links, tags, and/or cookies to identify the source of social content.
While revenue attribution is a shared feature, they represent a range of services, from web
analytics and digital marketing optimization to social analytics and social ecommerce.
Adobe Omniture Argyle Social Awareness Inc. Badgeville Bazaarvoice Buddy Media
(acquired by Salesforce.com) Campalyst Exact Target Expion IBM Coremetrics Interpreter
Meltwater Buzz Offerpop Power Reviews (acquired by Bazaarvoice) Revinate ShopIgniter
Vitrue WebTrends Wildfire Interactive
5. INTEGRATED
Definition and Usage:
Analytics integrated into a social media app, widget, SaaS solution, or service installed
on a social platform and it is broadly applicable to any online property but requires
development of an application or purchase/use of a tool/ service, such as those listed
under Sample Vendors
Considerations:
Highly measurable (if the conversion occurs within the app)
Requires development or purchase Managing complexity (multiple apps with different
analytics) Metrics may be siloed or inconsistent with other metrics
Sample Vendors:
Argyle Social Awareness, Inc. Buddy Media Exact Target Facebook (Apps for Timeline)
Lithium Momentfeed Moontoast Offerpop Proprietary Tools Shopkick Webtrends Wildfire
Interactive
6. DIRECT COMMERCE

Definition and Usage:

Addition of ecommerce storefront to a social platform (typically Facebook, fcommerce)
Considerations:
Broadly applicable to any online property
Highly measurable and Limited if you dont track full engagement
Sample Vendors:
8th Bridge Moontoast Offerpop ShopIgniter Spiceworks