While there is no shortage of tools and technology available to help companies collect and analyze social media data, marketers still struggle to truly understand social media’s value. Rather than looking at data itself as the benchmark of success, marketers should expand their idea of what is considered success when measuring their social media efforts. Econsultancy recently put together a list of 11 ways to measure the value of social media:

- Action and Interaction – Are your friends and followers sharing your message? Are they leaving comments or reviews? An engaged customer is a highly valuable one.

- PR – The worlds of PR, customer service and marketing and fusing. Measuring PR could mean measuring social media.

- Retention – The increased level of customer engagement through social media should lead to an increase in customer retention over time.

Read the full list at Econsultancy.