What are metrics of success?

01/13/09 10:40 AM

Burger King's recent "Whopper Virgins" campaign is on track to replicate the online success of the fast feeder's earlier viral success "Whopper Freakout," but its impact on sales remains to be seen. This could be a classic example of implementing a great program but not meeting brand objectives. Let's face it, today awareness does not equal sales and marketers are being held accountable for everything we do. In the end this might win their agency an award but when sales are looked at it had better move the needle.

What happens when your agency presents you with a great campaign that wins awards and cuts through the clutter but sales continue to stay flat or decline? In that case your agency should be shown the door. All social media campaigns regardless of channel have to be tied back to the brand objectives and that objective should not be "increased awareness" unless you're the new kid on the block. There used to a time when awareness equaled increased sales but those days are gone in a era where consumers are reluctant to open their wallets.

Having over 250,000 download a video making it "viral" could be a success but do consumers go to Burger King to get a Whopper when all is said and done? This is a prime example of how you need to hold your agency accountable for objectives. Bring them into the loop and let them know what your overall objective is and how you are going to measure it and then let them implement it. Don't fall for the garbage research either that may say "well according to our research the target audience was 40% more likely to buy a Whopper after watching this video". Research like this does nothing when the numbers come in.

Always get buy in on the objective of your social media program and measurement (metrics) of success.

Tags: Video, You Tube