The only metric that ultimately counts is….conversion!
With the emergence of the social web, many people have argued that we need additional, new metrics. Referrals, click-throughs, followers/friends in social networks, unique visitors to a fan page, return visits, quality of comments, requested action taken, subscribers to blogs, time spent on blogs, bounce rates to name just a few. Many tools are offered to analyze brand conversations online. All of this important, relevant and valuable. However it is worth remembering that at the end of the day it is all about conversion and this applies to all media. Let's face it: It is nice if people like a brand and recommend it, but the brand will only stay in business, if it has products that people buy.