MRC Reviews Social Media Measurement Guidelines

In the US, the Media Rating Council (MRC) has released Social Media Measurement Guidelines for public review and commentary.

The guidelines aim to establish a set of methods and common practices for those who measure social media activity, and to educate users of social media data from all segments of the digital media industry. In addition, they will form a benchmark for audit processes which can be used for validation by third parties.

Along with the MRC the initiative's principal co-sponsors include the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A's) Social Media Committee, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA). The project has also received input from a group of organizations that included media advertising buyers and sellers, as well as measurement vendors and auditing organizations.

David Gunzerath (pictured), SVP and Associate Director at MRC, comments: 'Social media is a growing, viable and powerful medium for advertising and brand message transfer, making it increasingly important for brands to be able to measure the impact of their social media investments. The MRC is committed to continuing to promulgate standards and guidelines for media measurement, for the benefit of all parties in the media industry, which is why we have worked with some of the industry's most knowledgeable experts to create these social media measurement guidelines'.

During the 30-day public commentary period, interested parties can visit: http://mediaratingcouncil.org/Soc%20Guidelines%20v4.1%20Public%20Comment%20Version.pdf and provide commentary or suggested revisions via e-mail.