Any standard- setting process takes an unbelievable number of late night phone calls on top of some solid thoughtful time to sort out just exactly what is going to be a standard or a guideline or a best practice.

For us on the IPR Social Media Measurement Standards Committee, it was a question of starting where the Barcelona principles left off.  We decided that there were five broad categories of standards that needed to be addressed. They were: content; reach & impressions; engagement; influence & relevance; impact & value.

Given the scope of possibilities for Content definition, we felt that vendors owe it to clients to fully disclose how data and content was being collected. 

We concluded that the best approach would be to call for a transparency table, essentially the social media equivalent of a food nutrition label on a cereal box.  The table captures critical information about social media content sources and methods to provide full transparency and easy comparison across analyses. It doesn't recommend one specific way of doing things, but rather provides a reference for the client so he or she knows what is comparable between vendors.

How will you use the Transparency Table?