I recently participated in the Coremetrics social media webinar on measuring social data. The depth at which this group is able to produce and present social media data is astounding, so it was a little like taking a drink from a fire hose!

The group, led by Susan Etlinger of Altimeter, presented a cogent case for why social analytics are important, but also why there is no clear leader in the field (yet).

Here are some nuggets that hit me the hardest:

1. 90% of Facebook activity is contained exclusively within the news feed. “You NEED to get into the FEED.”
2. Think KPI (key performance indicators) not ROI (return on investment) when measuring social data.
3. Social analytics do not yet truly exist. There is no such thing, but there is one evolving.
4. Social feeds are like today’s newspaper.
5. The basic ability to understand social data will become a critical skill set. (Hint: If you’re wanting job security, this would be a great thing to figure out!)
6. Terms like “social media” and “social analytics” will go away. It will just become the way we do business.
7. Organizations should be measuring the value of social media instead of traditional ROI.
8. Four challenges to measuring social media ROI: Engagement, Reach, Sentiment, Influence.

All in all, this was an amazing event … And free! There are great webinars like this all over the place. We’re even doing a few of our own over at Monk. (The next one is May 6th, by the way. I’d love it if you would attend!)

Bottom line: We’re still in the infancy stage of a larger social movement that will forever change the way human beings communicate. This is a great time to be a pioneer, friends! Who’s going to saddle up with me?

Hey pastors and ministry leaders: Hollow out your schedule for Friday afternoon. You just got plans! Join me for a social media and ministry webinar primer!

I’ll be leading a free webinar in partnership with Monk Development this Friday at 11 am PDT; 1 pm CST. Here’s the description:

Just what is “social media” anyway? Why has it taken the online world by storm? In this webinar you’ll learn why the social web is absolutely crucial to communicating with the next generation. You’ll learn how the up-and-coming generation communicates and why you need to be in those channels, contributing your story to the social media flow. We’ll focus on the “why” and the “how” of social media. If you’re confused by terms like “tweet”, “like” and “blogging”, this webinar is a great place to start in getting a social media education! Join blogger and social strategist Justin Wise to uncover the basic principles of social media and why you need to be integrating it into your ministry work flow.

Hurry up and get yourself registered. Space is limited.