Global Executives' Top Social Media KPIs, April 2014 [CHART]

Have corporate marketers figured out social media measurement? Based on April 2014 polling by Useful Social Media, not really. When the study asked corporate executives worldwide—those who said they worked for “brands, end-users and corporations”—if they were confident that they were accurately measuring social media’s effect, fewer than 34% of respondents said they were, a percentage that had changed little over the past four years.

The study said that the latter was likely the case, as more “advanced” metrics had generally seen the most growth. For example, engagement—the top KPI—had jumped 32% in the past two years, while sentiment tracking showed year-over-year growth of 38%. Previously popular, sales conversions and brand ambassadors dropped by 38% and 58%, respectively, between 2012 and 2014. Still, web traffic as well as followers, fans and group size—simple and relatively useless figures—ranked second and third, which Useful Social Media said was “slightly disconcerting.” Read the rest at eMarketer.