Even before reading the chapters, I knew “Measure What
Matters,” by Paine would be far different from the other two we have read for
class. Leafing through the book, I saw a serious lack of pictures, graphs, and
humorous interjections. I suppose this means we are diving into the more
serious aspects of understanding how to use social media. It is probably
necessary in order for us to learn important information but still a bummer.
One of the first things Paine mentions is the fact that
social media has completely changed the way we need to run a successful
business. It is because of social media that we must rethink ways to approach a
business, the marketplace, and customers. Paine is, without a doubt, correct.
The best way for a business or individual to reach a large audience is by using
social media. People, today, spend a lot of time on the various platforms. They
also heavily rely on these platforms to get news and discover new interests. If
your business or self is not on social media, customers are less likely to
discover you.
Another important tidbit Paine has to offer from Chapter 1
is that measurement is more than simply counting. You can count your followers,
retweets, likes, and comments, but those collections do not give you an
understanding of how you are doing on social media. Paine explains, “Counting just
adds things up and gets a total. Measurement takes those totals, analyzes what
they mean, and uses that meaning to improve business practices.” In this
statement, Paine is stating that in order to fully capture how well your
business is doing. This is crucial for anyone running a business or trying to gain
attention on social media.
While not immediately attention-grabbing or interesting, I
do believe this book has a lot of useful and practical information.
