4. Metrics and Indicators

To ensure the greatest success of the project, it is necessary to carry out an analytical follow-up that allows us to make decisions based on objective data and not on intuitions.

This way we will know the results of our strategies on the website, in social networks or with advertising campaigns and the effectiveness of the management of our followers' communities. If we measure from the first moment, we will know the impact of the actions that we carry out and we will be able to improve.

When to measure? It depends on the resources we have; if we have software that, in an automated way, measures our networks and our website, we can monitor more constantly, for example, weekly. If we have to resort to the native analytical tools in each social network we may have to space the obtaining of results each month. In any case, it is advisable to have the help of an expert in digital analytics, who will help us understand what is happening and how we can improve.

Why measure? Do we know what percentage of users come from each of our efforts (from our activity in social networks, advertising or the media)? Do we know how our newsletter works? How much time are users on the web and what percentage of visits participate in the processes?

To answer these and more questions and be able to apply corrective measures, it is advisable to follow these steps:

• Define objectives: the first step is to define the objectives of each media, always aligned with the overall strategy of the project. What do we want to achieve? Depending on the strategy we have set, we will define some objectives or others. The objectives always have to be concrete, measurable and achievable. For example: Increase web participation by 10% compared to the previous year; Achieve a response rate to citizen consultations 15% higher than the previous year; Increase by 5% compared to the previous period visits to social network channels; Get 10% more records on the website compared to the previous year, etc.

• Define metrics and indicators (KPIs): Once the objectives are defined and goals are set, we have to think how we can measure them. It is advisable to define indicators that measure the objectives. For example: bounce rate on the web (quality indicator); scope of our content on social networks (volume indicator); impressions (volume indicator); CTR (quality indicator); etc. In summary, you have to use different indicators (volume, quality, etc.) to describe a problem well.

• Periodically perform an analysis of the data: after the data collection an analysis work is carried out with which it is intended to solve specific problems detected. For example, the analysis seeks to answer questions such as, why do visits go down from mobile devices? There are many options to analyze data: compare periods and trends; segment the data (age, sex, geographic location, etc.); compare variations of a metric for a set of values; perform combinations of metrics, etc.

Below are some examples of indicators to measure the activity of the website, social media channels and advertising campaigns: