Marshall Sponder - Social Media Analytics: Effective Tools for Building, Intrepreting, and Using Metrics

Praise for Social Media Analytics

Marshall has long been my go-to guy for the most vexing questions in social media measurement. Social media analytics is one of the most important areas of our industry, with a growing number of vendors and tools. Marshalls knowledge of the players and the landscape is second to none.

Stephanie Agresta, EVP, Managing Director of Social Media, Weber Shandwick

Marshall has a naturally curious mind that often unearths innovative solutions. He also has a way with words that explains how he did what he just did. Its a fascinating combination

Luke Brynley-Jones, Our Social Times

You cant manage what you cant measure. Social media is a loosely defined category of interactive Web sites within the boundaries of netspace. Its numbers are legion, and the experts who say they can tell you what they are about are equally legion. Marshall Sponder stands apart from the crowd with this work. Marshall has managed to cut through the hype and provide a common-sense roadmap to understanding the potential of this genre. His case study approach, borne of real-world experience, provides the expert and the amateur alike with bibliography, tools, links, and examples to shortcut the path to bedrock successes. This is a reference work for anyone who wants to explore the potential of social networks. With the help of this book, you can measure what you need to manage.

W. Reid Cornwell, Ph.D., Chief Scientist, The Center for Internet Research

Its not enough just to listen to or monitor online voices anymore. The challenge of separating the influential signals from noise in the cacophony of voices across social and online communities is too hard to do manually or with traditional monitoring tools. Sponders book makes compelling arguments for why listening intelligence matters and why marketing forevermore is becoming a blur of science and art, with measurement, analytics, and marketing intelligence having an increasingly critical role within the CMOs suite and boardroom.

Gary Lee, CEO, mBLAST

The gap between data and usable information in social media measurement is still quite wide. Many listening platforms and tools attempt to cover that distance, yet come up short. In Social Media Analytics, industry veteran analyst Marshall Sponder effectively bridges that gap and provides useful material to build the skills and understanding you need to extract value and measure the results of your programs.

Valeria Maltoni, Author, Conversation Agent

Marshall is one of the worlds top social media practitioners and thinkers. In this book he accomplishes the rare task of delivering practical advice on social media analytics without getting bogged down in theory. A tour de force!

Sebastian Wenzel, Webanalyticsbook.com

Social media led to a real earthquake in my business, public relations. It also made millions of people start dealing with public communications without even knowing how to do it or what the rules are. And last, but not least, in social media now, when there are more questions than answers. And none of them has provided any answers except for Marshall Sponder. Read this book and keep it next to your desk or on the front page of your Kindle, and you will know the answers too.

Maxim Behar, CEO, M3 Communications Group, Inc., a Hill & Knowlton Associate

Social media has mushroomed to encompass more than a billion people worldwide which leads to a very difficult and interesting questionhow to measure market effectiveness (analytics) of this medium? Marshall has done an excellent job in describing the tools and metrics used by various real world companies to measure the analytics of social media. This book is a must read for a digital marketing professional who plans to maximize marketing ROI in social media space.

Dr. Ash Pahwa, CEO, A+ Web Services

Social Media Analytics is a thoughtful exploration into the evolving landscape of multi-channel social marketing and how to gauge campaign effectiveness and ROI. As social media technologies become more of a pervasive part of consumers lives, techniques presented in this book become invaluable in allowing electronic marketers to master this new medium.

Jared Freedman President, Code4Software & Code4Mobile

Marshalls book helps you cut through the hype of social media to develop a step-by-step plan for identifying the right targets, the right tactics, and then collecting and interpreting the right data. He goes just beyond the normal monitoring recommendations into detail on collecting, understanding, and measuring the illusive ROI that has been missing from most social media books. Marshall uses his industry knowledge and practitioner experience to provide thought-provoking insights, vendor examples, case studies, and actionable advice for chasing the elusive social ROI.

Bill Hunt, CEO, BackAzimuth Consulting;
Coauthor, Search Engine Marketing Inc.

Bouncing off boardroom walls across America is the mostly vacuous question, Whats the ROI of social media? Marshall Sponder adds a necessary context to the question, mixes in a healthy dose of streetwise practicality, and delivers a thorough work to help executives answer the question they really meant to ask: How will we uncover, recognize, and utilize the value of emerging media? Though the ROI question seems intelligent, it hides a consuming fear of impending insignificance. Sponders Social Media Analytics will help address the public question of return and give decision makers the peace of mind they seek before plunging into social media. I especially appreciate Marshalls focus on the value of real-life, human analysts and his unique exploration of the intersection of point-of-sale and social media (theres hidden treasure in those pages!).

Trey Pennington, International Speaker

In Social Media Analytics, Marshall Sponder brilliantly describes the challenges, benefits, and thrill associated with understanding true customer behavior. By melding client case studies with actual data-driven tactics, Mr. Sponder provides the aspiring analytics expert with the tools necessary to be successful. He reviews successful activities at real companies, he interviews thought leaders who are truly in the trenches, and he provides a comprehensive outline of available resources and the analytical approaches they require. This book goes so far beyond the I have 20,000 followers, I am successful mind-set that is so common in social media today. Buy this book, and be prepared to leverage social media in a profitable, actionable, and credible manner.

Kevin Hillstrom, President of MineThatData

Social analytics in 2011 remains a nascent capability, and this is reflected in my wholehearted endorsement of this book despite our different approaches to influence and ROI. Lets get this straightthere is no better independent authority on the tools and techniques of social analytics than Marshall Sponder, and ignoring this book is akin to ignoring your market.

Philip Sheldrake. Founding Partner, Meanwhile; Author, The Business of Influence: Reframing Marketing and PR for the Digital Age, April 2011

Those working in social media, executives, agencies, consultants, take notice! Marshall Sponder has his finger on the pulse of the future of social media measurement and ROI. Social Media Analytics uses case studies, interviews, and multicultural campaigns to answer these questions: Whats the value of a fan? What tools are needed to invest? How should influence and ROI be measured? A must read!

Dr. Ira Kaufman, Visiting Professor of Marketing, Lynchburg College and President of Entwine Digital

Marshall Spenders book,