+

Media Measurement

How smart communicators can use traditional and social media analytics to drive competitive advantage

Five Social Media Insight Challenges

+ 2INTRODUCTION

Five Social Media Insight Challenges

"The only man who behaved sensibly was my

tailor; he took my measurement anew every time he saw me, while all

the rest went on with their old measurements and expected them to fit

me." 

George Bernard Shaw

+Media Measurement in a NutshellINTRODUCTION 3

Media Measurement specialises

in rigorously scanning the

spectrum of traditional, online

and social media with

“Technology Assisted Human

Analytics” to cut through the

noise and provide detailed

analysis, insight and advice,

enabling senior Communications

and Marketing professionals to

make informed decisions.

Key facts:

Established 1991

UK based with global presence

Founder member of Association for the Measurement and Evaluation of Communications (AMEC)

Specialist in aggregating, analysing and making sense of high volumes of media data

Winner of industry awards for traditional and social media in each of the last 10 years

+Some questions on our clients’ mindsTHE INSIGHT CHALLENGE 4

With so much being said in social media, how do I know what stakeholders really feel about my brand and products?

Who are the most influential voices in my communities of interest and what are their interests and motivations?

Which of those should I seek to influence and how could I go about it?

How effective am I in communicating my messages?

How can I as an organisation or individual participate meaningfully in social media?

How does my performance compare to competitors?

What does a best in class approach look like?

Sound familiar?

+Measure what mattersINSIGHT CHALLENGE #1 5

YOU CAN TRACK A WEALTH OF METRICS WITH MONITORING TOOLS… BUT WHICH ONES ARE IMPORTANT TO YOUR BUSINESS?

#1 Easy-to-capture metrics are all about outputs – activity volume, followers, sentiment – but KPIs tend to be sales, leads, conversions, recommendations, engagement… reflecting business KPIs in social media data is a complex but critical task

#2 Monitoring tools don’t track all social media… you need tools to track forums, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and podcasts that social media SaaS can’t give you – start by mapping what matters, and choose tools that can deliver it

#3 “Influence” – don’t believe the hype… the idea that a small number of social media influencers are the key to social media success is seductive, but unsubstantiated – articulate and measure what ‘success’ means to your company

THERE IS NO MAGIC BULLET IN SOCIAL MEDIA MEASUREMENT. TOOLS HELP COLLECT DATA, BUT INSIGHT COMES FROM HUMANS.

+Understanding accuracyINSIGHT CHALLENGE #2 6

“Text analytics is like a dancing bear. You don’t care how good it is, you’re just amazed it works at all” (att: @kurtis_williams)

SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING TOOLS PROVIDE LOTS OF TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS – BUT ARE THEY EFFECTIVE?

#1 Sentiment analysis – out of lab conditions it’s little better than a tossed coin… it is known to struggle with sarcasm, but also fails in other ways – it has its uses, but don’t rely on it for serious opinion research

#2 Social media software is rarely if ever an effective discovery tool… coverage is rarely comprehensive and searched sources often bias toward interests of previous clients – you will always need a separate process to discover sources

#3 Country filters work in unexpected ways, and deliver unrealistic results… site metadata, IP addresses and physical server locations drive country filters, don’t rely on them

UNDERSTAND HOW ‘LABOUR SAVING’ TECHNOLOGIES WORK, AND VALIDATE THEIR RESULTS

+Tracking trendsINSIGHT CHALLENGE #3 7

THE SOCIAL MEDIA UNIVERSE IS IN CONSTANT FLUX – YOU MUST UNDERSTAND “REAL” TRENDS: EARNED, NOT ORGANIC GROWTH

#1 The universe is growing, but by how much?… tracking mindshare in social media is a classic challenge – data from search firms and aggregators provides the answers

#2 People are increasingly comfortable expressing themselves in social media… so an increase in discussion about your brand could be an organic trend that you need to model in to your findings

#3 New ideas; new sources; new technologies; new metrics… sources like Friendster reside in the ‘where are they now?’ file, as new ones like Quora rise to prominence. The market is constantly changing, providing new insight opportunities – look outward as well as inward, and be agile and responsive

TO MEASURE SOCIAL, YOU NEED TO KNOW SOCIAL. ENSURE THAT YOU HAVE ACCESS TO DOMAIN EXPERTISE AND ENTHUSIASM TO HELP SCOPE AND DEVELOP INSIGHT PROGRAMMES.

+Insight beyond buzzINSIGHT CHALLENGE #4 8

COMPARED TO PRESS AND BROADCAST CHANNELS, SOCIAL MEDIA IS THE WILD WEST – COMMENTATOR MOTIVATIONS AND INTENTIONS ARE UNCERTAIN, BUZZ ALONE TELLS YOU VERY LITTLE THAT IS USEFUL

#1 Complement quantitative “buzz monitoring” with qualitative research… qualitative research disciplines provide critical context for buzz monitoring and measurement

#2 Track what people do, as well as what they say… verbatim comment is an important source of insight, but not the only one – pay attention to non-verbal endorsements (likes and links); search trends and frequency of engagement

#3 Break down research silos… social media monitoring and analytics complements other research lines, including web analytics, opinion research and media content analysis – they are all parts of one bigger picture

BUZZ MONITORING IS NOT THE FINISHED PRODUCT, BUT WITH CARE AND ATTENTION IT IS A VALUABLE SOURCE OF INSIGHT.

+Blending disciplinesINSIGHT CHALLENGE #5 9

IN SOCIAL MEDIA, BRAND ENGAGEMENT AND INSIGHT ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN.

#1 Exploit insight opportunities that marcomms activity creates… engagement channels like Facebook include comprehensive and valuable analytics dashboards – be sure you can access and use them

#2 Maintain ethical standards… the etiquette of online monitoring and engagement is not set in stone, but organisations have suffered reputational damage from borderline activity. Monitor, communicate and live your standards

#3 Consider your own engagement… the social media insight opportunity isn’t only about unprompted buzz. Curated engagements like MROCs are an interesting insight prospect

LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO CREATE VALUE FROM SOCIAL MEDIA RESEARCH FOR OTHER PARTS OF THE ENTERPRISE, BUT ALWAYS KEEP REPUTATION RISK IN MIND.

+The case for “Technology Assisted Human Analytics”

RESEARCH PROCESS 10

Human Analysis

+ Advantages:AccurateFlexibleDiagnostic

Automated Analysis

+ Advantages:Fast

InexpensiveConsistent

Combine the best features of automated text analysis with the benefits of human input to enable complex analysis of a high volume

of media items time and cost effectively

+Questions?

Tim Zecchintim.zecchin@mediameasurement.com +44 7872 114 315@timzecchin@mml_research

Copyright Media Measurement Ltd 2011 11