Media Rating Council Issues Social Media Measurement Guidelines

Media Rating Council

The MEDIA RATING COUNCIL (MRC) issued the SOCIAL MEDIA MEASUREMENT GUIDELINES today, establishing a detailed set of methods, definitions and common practices for entities that measure social media activity. This version incorporates cross-industry feedback received during a 30-day public comment period.

All measurers seeking MRC accreditation for any Social Media measurement processes will be assessed against the guidelines, which are intended to cover the methods used for measurement of tracking/counting users, interaction or engagement; and consumer listening and sentiment. By outlining definitions and creating standard approaches to measurement, the guidelines aim to improve practices and disclosures to ensure a more standardized environment in which social media can be monetized.

Commented MRC CEO/Exec. Dir. GEORGE W. IVIE: "Social Media Platforms and User Generated Content aggregators are quickly becoming primary avenues for branded or paid content, and therefore establishing uniformity for how we discuss, assess and measure traffic and engagement is critical. These guidelines are also an important step in the mission of 3MS – MAKING MEASUREMENT MAKE SENSE – toward making the digital ecosystem a more valuable medium for everyone involved in brand advertising."

This effort was led by the MRC and co-sponsors including the AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF ADVERTISING AGENCIES' Social Media Committee, the INTERACTIVE ADVERTISING BUREAU (IAB) and WORLD OF MOUTH MARKETING ASSOCIATION (WOMMA).

"Marketers are often leveraging Social Media strategies as a primary home for brand-building content," said ASSOCIATION OF NATIONAL ADVERTISERS CMO DUKE FANELLI.  "Our members were given the opportunity to review and provide feedback on the guidelines and we're confident the latest version serves both the buy and sell side of the industry."

The SOCIAL MEDIA MEASUREMENT GUIDELINES establish definitions and baseline metrics for original content Authorship, subsequent Engagement and resultant Reach, providing guidance for social media coverage and projection, measurement within applications and outside them, measurement of User Generated Content (UGC), collection and use of aggregated social media platform data, filtration, reporting and audit guidelines.

To view the guidelines please go here.

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