The document provides guidance on answering common questions from bosses about social media campaigns. It outlines 6 common questions (How's the campaign going?, Is our audience growing?, How much engagement did we get?, How are people talking about us?, Why aren't we seeing more sales from social media?, How's customer service going?) and provides tips on concisely summarizing key metrics and insights in the response to each question. The tips include using visualizations, comparing metrics over time, benchmarking against goals or competitors, and focusing the response on what matters most to the boss.

1. Answering Your Boss’s Questions
about Your Social Campaigns

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Answering Your Boss’s Questions about Your Social Campaigns
As you work hard to sort through tactics for your next campaign, you begin thinking about
audiences, content types, networks, metrics to track your progress...WHAM! You get pinged
by your boss with a question like:
“No problem,” you think. Why? Because you’re prepared for pop-quiz questions from your
company’s leadership. As social media becomes an essential marketing channel, you must
be able to explain not only what you’re doing but why you’re doing it, and how your team
strategy is being executed.
In this guide to answering your boss’s questions, we’ll walk through six common questions
you’re likely to hear, and how to address them quickly and thoroughly. We’ll also share some
advice from Simply Measured’s best and brightest on reporting efficiently.
#1 How’s the Social Media Campaign Going?
“The” social media campaign? You likely have about five going on with different strategies for
different channels, but okay. Let’s summarize the answer in a way that’s helpful.
At Simply Measured, we think of social campaigns as having six phases from start to finish:
Definition
Research
Planning
Execution
Measurement and optimization
Insight and reporting
Find out more by checking out our Social Media Campaign Checklist.
Your boss is likely looking for a high level review of all this information. Why not organize
your reply accordingly? Provide a summary statement at the top, an overview of your plan
and timeline, any current stats you have, and what you’ve learned so far. Keep this summary
under a page.
ANSWERING YOUR BOSS’S QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR SOCIAL CAMPAIGNS
“Hey, how is our Facebook audience growth
doing this month? That campaign working?”
“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough”
- Albert Einstein

3. Create a template that looks something like this brief example.
Summary - Why and What
“The campaign is designed to increase engagement and web conversions on Twitter
and Facebook. Based upon our research, we’re focusing on discounts with limited time
frames to create a sense of urgency.”
Timeline - When and How
7/10: Launch Facebook Ads
7/17: Promote contest on Twitter
Results - What Happened
10% growth in web conversions between 7/10 and 7/30
125 new page Likes on Facebook between 7/10 and 7/30
Insights - What We’ve Learned
Tighter time frames produce better results, such as “must act in next couple of hours or
today” rather than “act by next week.”
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ANSWERING YOUR BOSS’S QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR SOCIAL CAMPAIGNS

4. In addition, you could use a simple chart, something like a Simply Measured’s Scorecard, to
quickly compare stats from the start date of your campaign to the current date, such as your
engagement rate or audience growth.
Another summary visual to consider is Simply Measured’s campaign “megaphone,” which
shows the initial number of Tweets or ad dollars spent all the way to new Likes or web
conversions.
This Scorecard from the Simply Measured Twitter Account Report compares engagement stats month over month.
The Simply Measured Facebook Insights with Ads report gives a panoramic view of how dollars are spent and the
impact of that spending.
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ANSWERING YOUR BOSS’S QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR SOCIAL CAMPAIGNS

5. #2 Is Our Audience Growing?
The answer to this question should involve more than just a simple audience growth
number. You want to show growth over time and tie any increases to tactics you’ve tried.
You can highlight media pickup, product launches, promotions, live events, and more. We
also suggest that you include a trend line from one date to another to show overall growth
despite any slowdowns along the way.
The Simply Measured Twitter Account Report shows the number of followers over time and whether the follower
count has trended up or down.
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ANSWERING YOUR BOSS’S QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR SOCIAL CAMPAIGNS
“This is the most common question that social marketers get, and
one of the toughest. The most important thing you can remember
when fielding the How’s that campaign going? question is that your
boss may not speak social. You need to translate your answer into
terms and context that he or she will understand.
Before you give your response, ask yourself how your campaign
impacted the things your boss cares about. This could be revenue,
overall share of voice, or website traffic. This could just mean
educating your leadership team about what success on social media
actually means. 347 Retweets might be a good thing, but why?
Level up your reporting to address what the receiver understands
and cares about.”
- Kevin Shively, Manager of Content Marketing

6. In addition to sharing total growth numbers, you can point out that the quality of followers
you’re gaining is improving, as well. Show that you’re attracting new followers and fans who
engage with your brand, share your content, and purchase your products. You can do this
by analyzing the new audience and tracking the percent of web conversions, Retweets, or
purchases among followers over time.
A simple table of audience growth numbers for each of your major networks is
smart to have on hand and ready to share with senior leadership.
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ANSWERING YOUR BOSS’S QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR SOCIAL CAMPAIGNS
“This is a common question, and one that has multiple parts to it.
If you gained 2,000 followers last month, you can show exactly how
that happened with charts.
First, you’ll absolutely want to show fan growth for the reporting
period, but you’ll also want to share the growth rate compared to
the previous reporting period. Are you growing at a steady rate?
Is your growth percentage growing month over month, or are you
starting to level out? A trend line of your follower trajectory shows
overall performance despite any minor dips in follower gain. This is
a great thing to add to your fan growth chart.
You will also want to call out how you gained those fans. For example, perhaps you
launched a contest, put out a press release, had a new product launch, or worked with
influencers to promote content on a specific day and that helped drive your traffic for the
remainder of the month. If you had a large jump in fans because you started or updated
your advertising, that is another thing to highlight, as well.”
- Alyson Andrews, Account Manager

7. #3 How Much Engagement Did We Get?
When talking with your boss about engagement, be sure to offer context. Either compare
your current engagement to a previous time period or a competitor’s. Set some benchmarks
for the types of engagements that matter to your brand on each network over a set period.
If, for example, you’re getting a lot of comments on Facebook but what you really want
are shares, you let your boss know exactly what you’re focused on and the progress you’re
making.
In addition to total engagement, calculate engagement as a percent of audience on every
network. Seeing this number improve over time is a strong sign that you’re producing the
types of content and offers that suit your followers.
The Simply Measured Facebook Fan Page Report shows engagement breakdown by type - Likes, shares, and
comments - over time.
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ANSWERING YOUR BOSS’S QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR SOCIAL CAMPAIGNS
”When your boss asks what your engagement looks like, there’s likely more to the question.
Does she want to know how you’re doing in comparison to your past performance? How it
stacks up to your competition? Is there a brand that she admires that is getting attention and
bringing your engagement under a microscope?
The quick answer is to look at your overall engagement metrics and see how they compare
to those of last week/month/quarter. But does that really tell the whole story?
Take a look at engagement as a percentage of audience for you and for your competitors.

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ANSWERING YOUR BOSS’S QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR SOCIAL CAMPAIGNS
“This levels the playing field so you can see how your engagement as
compared to audience size stacks up across networks -- even those
that don’t have exact engagement rate metrics. You can use this
metric to see how healthy your audience is. As your audience grows,
is your engagement growing along with it?
Dig in deeper with your boss. What type of engagement are you
getting? Are you seeing lots of amplifications (shares, Retweets) or
just interactions (Likes, favorites)? How deep is the engagement -- are
you getting a lot of comments? This might be a great opportunity to
talk about content types -- if photos or videos get more engagement
than text, bring that up! Use this as an opening to discuss which
resources you need to create the types of content that perform well.
Finally, ask your boss about how your social strategy stacks up to your company’s or team’s
overall business objectives. Is there data showing that more engagement equals more
conversions? If not, you’ve got a wealth of information at your fingertips that can help in
creating those analyses.”
- Katy Whitney, Account Manager

9. #4 How Are People Talking About Us?
Your boss wants to know the whole truth and nothing but the truth here. So, share the happy
and harsh chatter to give an honest picture of your reputation on social.
You can focus on certain keywords in the user-generated posts and responses you’re getting,
such as “thank you” and “don’t like” to get a sense of sentiment. This can be more of an
art than a science, but do your best to pay attention to what is typical positive or negative
feedback from your followers. Then, tie those responses to content types or copy you’ve
produced.
The Simply Measured Facebook Insights with Ads Report shows post impressions and highlights specific instances
of negative feedback.
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ANSWERING YOUR BOSS’S QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR SOCIAL CAMPAIGNS
“You want to look both at what people are saying and the
temperature of their comments. What is causing the buzz around our
brand? What about you are people people drawn to and what are
you really getting right, both on social and off? What can we learn by
observing the direction of the conversation - can our audience give
us fresh ideas for our next campaign or ways to improve our offerings
and strengthen our image? Ultimate crowdsourcing.
I really love the Simply Measured Conversation Driver report because
it’s a goldmine for gauging the “what, why, and how,” and often
serves up surprises that can take your marketing to the next level.”
- Christian Brown, Onboarding and Education Specialist

10. #5 Why Aren’t We Seeing More Sales from Social Media?
Answering this question requires reviewing your campaign all the way from post to purchase.
Lay out your metrics and results from initial activity, such as organic posts or ads, through to
web conversions, and any resulting sales. The Simply Measured Twitter Ads Report provides
an example of how to organize your data for this purpose.
The real key here is to look at the points where your strategy is weakest. For example, are
users clicking through from social but not sticking around for a download or purchase?
Check out your bounce rate or average page views and sort out where the web experience
isn’t working.
Are conversions from social to web low? In that case, it’s time to break down your content
types, images, copy, or other factors to figure out what gets your followers and fans to take
action. (We suggest more pictures of puppies.) Be clear about any successes you’re having,
such as a high response to the “one hour or less to purchase” approach, so that your report
to your boss has some positive insights included.
The Twitter Ads Report organizes information about the spend on a campaign all the way through to clicks, leads,
and video views.
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ANSWERING YOUR BOSS’S QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR SOCIAL CAMPAIGNS

11. #6 How’s Customer Service Going?
Depending on your business, the answer to this question requires addressing a few different
strategies. The three most common among businesses are: (1) percentage of customer posts
replied to, (2) response time, and (3) length of conversation with the customer.
Percent Replies to Customer Posts
How often do you reply to a comment from a grumpy customer or cheerful fan on social
media? It’s well known that responsiveness can lead to a more engaged, loyal, and faster
growing audience. Keep track of your percentage of replies to customer posts on every
network so you can report on this number weekly and see if you notice a connection to
audience growth or other KPIs you’re tracking.
How often do you respond to engagement from your audience? You can measure
the percentage of fan wall posts you’ve responded to with a Facebook Customer
Analysis from Simply Measured.
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ANSWERING YOUR BOSS’S QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR SOCIAL CAMPAIGNS
“Social Media is an integral part of any company’s sales strategy.
With 81% of consumers doing online research before buying,
according to a recent AdWeek story, your focus should be around
growing your social presence and increasing engagement.
You want to be top-of-mind for consumers. You want them to already
have a positive sentiment associated with your brand. While you
can always track some of the sales attributed to social, the better
question is: How are you using social to broaden your purchasing
funnel and move consumers through it? That’s very quantifiable.”
- Cameron Voetmann, Account Manager

12. Response Time
When a customer reaches out in the
lightning-speed world of social media, he
or she expects a lightning- speed response.
In our study of customer service among
the Interbrand 100 brands, the number
of dedicated customer service handles
increased 19% between Q1 2014 and Q2
2015 to meet this growing need.
A great way to track your response time is to
break your responses into categories by time
period, such as “Less than 30 minutes,” Less
than one hour,” etc.
Length of Conversation
How long do you correspond with your
followers once a conversation has begun?
In our study of Twitter customer service,
@AmazonHelp had one of the fastest
response times and also directs 80% of
users to online resources. That brand quickly
moves the conversation elsewhere, which is
a very efficient tactic.
Depending on your business, a little more
chatter might be appropriate, but it also
requires time and effort from your social
team. Keeping track of your response times
will help you set your own benchmarks. We
also suggest reviewing your competitors’
habits with customers to make sure your
meeting, if not exceeding, their customer
service performance.
What’s your typical response time? Simply Measured
Customer Service Analysis reports show metrics for
response time.
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ANSWERING YOUR BOSS’S QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR SOCIAL CAMPAIGNS
Do your customers need a short response or an in-
depth conversation? Many brands find the majority of
customer mentions only require one or two replies.
Analyze these conversations using Simply Measured
Customer Service reports.

13. Conclusion
Let’s acknowledge that you just read this guide, you’re awesome, and your boss is lucky to
have you around. And, now you’ll have reports and results ready to prove your awesomeness
at any time.
This month, try to set some goals around creating better reports that are more automated
or include new insights that you didn’t include last month, such as web conversions for a
particular content type on Facebook versus Twitter.
Get creative with your research and you may uncover a new strategy for your brand.
Bridget Quigg is a content marketer who loves how-to guides filled
with practical advice. A 10+ year digital marketing veteran, she most
enjoys coming up with titles and email subject lines. She can be found
on Twitter at @BridgetQuigg.
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ANSWERING YOUR BOSS’S QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR SOCIAL CAMPAIGNS
“Start with the basic metrics, then focus on percentage change to
show how you’re doing what you do better than ever, or to explain
how other factors have affected your work. How many customer
queries are you getting daily or weekly, and what’s your average
response time this month vs. last month? If you’ve set goals
around increasing the number of queries or speeding up response
time, show how you’re measuring up to those goals.
If your goals are centered around response time, look at the
percentage of days each month that you surpassed your goal and
communicate that.”
- Linda Schwaber-Cohen, Onboarding and Education Lead

14. Simply Measured is the most complete social analytics solution, empowering marketers to
more clearly define their social strategy and to optimize their tactics for maximum impact.
Our goal is to put the tools to understand business data in the hands of business users. We
think reporting should be simple, attractive, and accessible for everyone – not just data
scientists. Our software streamlines the process from data to deliverables and eliminates the
countless hours spent on everyday reporting tasks. We do this by putting cloud data sources
at your fingertips, providing a marketplace of best practice reports, and allowing you to
generate beautiful solutions on the web, in Excel, and in PowerPoint with a couple of clicks.
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