Mike Delgado

Social Media Metrics That Actually Matter: 4 Ways to Use Social Data to Drive Business Results

Oct 28

When I first started managing social media profiles for brands 15 years ago, we spent a lot of time working to increase our follower/fan counts. It’s what we reported on monthly and what we told leadership was important.

After all, fan count was a measurement of potential reach initially — and brands spent a lot of money to increase that reach count because more social media followers could mean more web traffic, music plays, email subscribers, leads and sales. But, as you know, that fan count metric started to become less important as social algorithms evolved and follower counts didn’t provide the reach and engagement it once did.

Fast forward to today and follower count is mainly just a vanity metric that doesn’t mean much from a social business perspective. It doesn’t guarantee reach or engagement — and it isn’t even a sign that your brand has a legit community. There are too many fake accounts, bots and people who randomly (or mistakenly) followed your page a while ago, but haven’t interacted with your brand in years.

So here are four ways to think about ways to use social metrics for business:

1. Ignore social vanity metrics (e.g. follower counts) and focus on the engagement metrics that impact your business.

There are many social data points that are helpful to analyze in order to improve social campaigns and content strategies, but not all are useful to driving social business results.

It’s important to step outside our social media roles and think about the data sets that are important and actionable for business leaders.

Here are some helpful metrics that you should consider tracking to for business results:

Web traffic from social channels
Revenue and sales
Leads & email subscribers
Reputation, brand sentiment, community growth
Customer care issues & complaints
Competitor analysis and industry issues trending

And, remember, the social data that you have access to evolves so make sure to keep an eye on new data points that can help you and your leaders in the future. For example, video watch times, peak live viewer counts, video CTR and completion rates can inform your future video social strategy on each platform.

How Jews & Christians Read the Bible Differently – Dr. Amy-Jill Levine & Dr. Marc Zvi Brettler

Oct 27

We’re honored to learn from Dr. Amy-Jill Levine and Dr. Marc Zvi Brettler in this week’s podcast about their latest book “The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently.”

They share how Biblical texts can be interpreted in different ways depending on the historical, literary or theological perspective used. And how those interpretations have varied throughout the ages — even within the same religious tradition.

The podcast discussion includes a discussion on the historical model of Biblical interpretation, the doctrine of original sin, the challenges of applying Biblical ethics like Sabbath day observances, and the ways that ancient Israel and Biblical writers expressed monotheism and polytheism in our Hebrew Bible and New Testament.

You can subscribe or download this episode on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also watch or subscribe to the video series on YouTube.

This podcast includes discussions on:

• Jewish & Christian Views on Doctrine of Original Sin
• Creation of Humans: “Let us Make Man in Our Image”
• Monotheism & Polytheism in Ancient Israel
• Jewish Understandings of the New Testament
• Sabbath Day Observances
• Polytheism & Supernatural Beings in the New Testament

EP09: How Jews & Christians Read the Same Stories Differently

Dr. Amy-Jill Levine and Dr. Marc Brettler talk with us about the importance of empathy and growing in awareness for the different biases and filters we all use when reading the Bible (even when we try to be objective). They also share with us about the importance of learning how different religious traditions interpret their Bibles — and why we all need to become more familiar with each other’s perspectives. Dr. Levine also talks with us about how the Bible isn’t just a dialogue to engage in — but a trialogue.

Listen to part one:

Broken Signposts: How Christianity Makes Sense of the World – N.T. Wright

Oct 20

We’re grateful for the opportunity to learn from N.T. Wright about his latest book “Broken Signposts: How Christianity Makes Sense of the World,” which provides us insights into seven ways to read the Gospel of John through the lenses of justice, beauty, love, freedom, truth, power and spirituality.

In the book, Dr. Wright shares ways how each of these themes have become fractured in society (and in ourselves) and ways for us to find healing and redemption amid our brokenness.

We had a chance to talk with Dr. Wright about his motivations for writing this book — as well as a focused discussion around broken spirituality, contemplative prayer practices, the benefits of having a spiritual director, and steps for reading the Bible critically and devotionally.

You can subscribe or download this episode on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also watch or subscribe to the video series on YouTube.

Overview of the podcasts:

Part 1: Self-Knowledge, Gnosticism & Broken Spirituality (EP07)

In this episode, N.T. Wright discusses his motivations for writing “Broken Signposts” and shares insights into ways spirituality has become fractured in society, along with a rise in gnosticism and narcissism. He also discusses ways to practice healthy forms of spirituality — and the importance of regular prayer. At the end of the episode, Wright provides insights into ways to understand our Bible and the need for prayer and guidance from the Holy Spirit.
Listen or download episode:

The God of the Old Testament: Encountering the Divine in Christian Scripture – Dr. Walter Moberly

Oct 08

We’re honored to learn from Dr. Walter Moberly about ways to understand the Old Testament — and to learn about his upcoming book: The God of the Old Testament: Encountering the Divine in Christian Scripture, wherein he writes about eight key Old Testament passages that give us insights into the nature of God in Christian Scriptures.

Dr. Moberly is a brilliant theologian and very humble professor of theology and Biblical Interpretation at Durham University — and it was a thrill to be able to chat with him about his thoughts on the Old Testament and ways to read the Bible critically and devotionally.

One memorable quote from today’s episode is when Dr. Moberly recounted how Keith Sutton encouraged him to explore the Bible:

“The Bible is not a fortress to be defended, but a mansion to explore, to live in and invite others into.”

It’s a powerful way to think about the adventure of reading the Bible. And, Dr. Moberly certainly invites us all in to seek the richness, beauty and mystery of Scripture in this conversation.

You can subscribe or download this episode on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also watch or subscribe to the video series on YouTube.

Here are overviews of the episodes:

New Perspectives on Paul & Letter to Galatians – Dr. Jeremy Wade Barrier

Sep 27

Jeremy-Faculty Honored to talk with Dr. Jeremy Wade Barrier about his twelve-year journey researching ancient manuscripts and writing his latest book “Witch Hunt in Galatia,” a book providing fascinating insights into ways to understand Paul’s letter to the Galatians.

You can subscribe or download this episode on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also watch or subscribe to the video series on YouTube.

Here’s a brief overview of the episode:

Part 1: New Perspectives on Paul

In part one, Dr. Barrier talks with us about his research studying “The Acts of Paul and Thecla,” which was an ancient text passed around in the early churches providing insight into Paul’s travels with Thecla — a woman who preached the gospel and later martyred. It’s a fascinating story that shows the faith and preaching power of a woman in the early church, which many don’t know about. He also shares some of the insights into what motivated Paul to write his letter to the churches in Galatia — and why the letter is much more than just a letter to correct them on their use of the law.

Listen to part one:

A History of the Bible: The Book & Its Faiths – Dr. John Barton

Sep 24

johnbarton-nocredit-20190409162603128_web Honored to talk with Dr. John Barton about his latest book “A History of the Bible: The Story of the World’s Most Influential Book” this week. In this interview series, we learn from Dr. Barton about how the Bible was written, understood and passed along by different religious traditions.

You can subscribe or download these episodes on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe to the video series on YouTube.

Here’s a brief overview of each episode:

Part 1: Introduction to Biblical History

In part one, we talk with Dr. Barton about his purpose for researching and writing his latest book– and also discuss: why the Apocrypha is important, why there are disputes over the canon of scripture, how to deal with discrepancies in the Bible, some of the problems of Biblical authorship, differences between central doctrines of the Bible and essential doctrines in churches, and where to get started reading the Bible.

Listen to part one:

Brands, Focus On Creating More Vertical Videos to Engage Your Mobile Audiences

Dec 07

We spend most of our time holding our phones vertically.

After all, most of our apps are designed for vertical usage. We can read faster and thumb through content easier when holding our phones vertically and texting is much easier with the smaller keyboard. [UXmatters Research].

4 Simple Ways Your Brand Can Use Snapchat (Without Creating Stories)

Nov 30

Many brands are struggling to find value in using Snapchat.

After all, it takes time to create stories (which quickly disappear after 24 hours) — and it’s difficult to grow a following.

That said, if your target audience is on Snapchat (and you don’t have time to create stories), here are four simple ways to leverage Snapchat without being an active storyteller.

7 Keys to Creating Compelling 360 Videos for Your Community

Nov 18

360 video is a powerful way to create immersive content for your community.

The beauty of 360 video is that it puts your viewers in control of the visual experience right from their mobile device. The viewer doesn’t need to use a special headset to get the benefits of watching 360 video.

That said, creating immersive 360 videos that will draw in your target audience requires a new type of storytelling that puts your viewer in control.

Here are seven ways brands are using 360 video to pull in viewers into their stories:

Brands, it’s time to embrace 360 video to help you create immersive content for your community

Nov 14

The adoption of virtual reality headsets is exploding thanks to the gaming community. It’s projected there will be nearly 171 million people using VR by 2018 and 500 million VR headsets sold by 2025.

And Goldman Sachs’ researchers predict that virtual reality and augmented reality will continue to expand beyond gaming and into healthcare, engineering, real estate, retail and live events.

Posts by: Mike Delgado

How Jews & Christians Read the Bible Differently – Dr. Amy-Jill Levine & Dr. Marc Zvi Brettler

EP09: How Jews & Christians Read the Same Stories Differently

Broken Signposts: How Christianity Makes Sense of the World – N.T. Wright

Part 1: Self-Knowledge, Gnosticism & Broken Spirituality (EP07)

The God of the Old Testament: Encountering the Divine in Christian Scripture – Dr. Walter Moberly

New Perspectives on Paul & Letter to Galatians – Dr. Jeremy Wade Barrier

Part 1: New Perspectives on Paul

A History of the Bible: The Book & Its Faiths – Dr. John Barton

Part 1: Introduction to Biblical History

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