What happened on November 14, 2014? That was the day that Facebook announced changes in how they were going to handle promotional posts (read: most content from a brand page) in the news feed.

Starting in 2015, for brands to get the same efficacy from their Facebook activities they saw just a month ago, social media professionals need to fundamentally change the way they approach the platform. While this is a concern for some, it also serves as an opportunity for us all to review the Art & Science of what we’re trying to accomplish as social media marketers — and how we go about doing it.

Over the next couple months, I plan on sharing my thoughts on the state of social media in 2015 and elaborating on five questions social marketers should consider. I'll be leveraging some of the great insights gleaned in our 2015 State of Marketing report, where we surveyed 5000 marketing professionals for their thoughts and opinions (You can download the report here).

One key question our survey asked was whether marketers planned to maintain or increase their spending in 2015. 84% of marketers said they would, and 34% of them said their budgets would shift from traditional mass advertising to digital channels in 2015. Additionally, of the five areas where marketers said they would increase spending, three of the areas are in social media (with geo-marketing and mobile applications rounding out the top five).

Increased budget for our activities is great, but with it also comes the responsibility to use that money wisely. Here are five questions I hope social media marketers will consider as they execute their programs this year:

1. Are you measuring the right things?
2. Are you being an effective storyteller with "purposeful edutainment?"
3. How are you addressing the “P” in PEOS? (And do you know what PEOS stands for?)
4. How are you balancing your focus on strategies rather than tactics in 2015?
5. How are you ensuring that when you fail, you fail forward?

Question One Preview: Are You Measuring the Right Things?

Facebook's change brings an opportunity to revisit how you are measuring the efficacy of your social media programs. Author and social media marketer Olivier Blanchard shares in his book “Social Media ROI” that, “You can’t measure what you do not value or know how to value.” Olivier is right — and his book goes on to provide keen insight on the nuances of measuring social media’s impact. (Learn more about Oliver's book at www.smroi.net.)

If you walk into any C-suite executive's office, they are probably not going to be interested in social media fans or likes. They're probably not going to be interested in your robust editorial calendar or your social engagement strategy — although both of these are critical means-to-an-end. What will get them interested is your articulation how your social media programs will drive revenue or provide cost avoidance.

Those are the metrics that senior business leaders value — and it's our job to make the connection between those two KPIs and our social media programs. How do you do that? We'll talk more about that in the next blog post.