Copyright © 2011, Zanthus. All rights reserved.
QRCA Annual Conference 2011
How to Unlock the Treasures
and Avoid the Pitfalls
of Social Media Listening
Amanda Durkee, Zanthus
No such thing as a ‗social media guru‘
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1. Current state of
social media research
2. Case studies
3. Getting started
Image source: kozinets.net
I‘m here to focus on the listening aspect of social media
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Landscape of qualitative research is always changing
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1960 1970 1980 2020 2010 2000 1990 1950
Focus group image courtesy: triblocal.com
Ethnography image courtesy: carekit.com
Online focus group image courtesy: theblueroomonline.com
Social Media image courtesy: thesocialmetrics.com
iPhone courtesy: yugatech.com
Conditions are right for smooth sailing on the social media
research seas…
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• Quick-turn and lower cost
• Ubiquitous
• Accessible
…but take care to avoid rough waters
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• Information volume
• Rapidly evolving space
• Investment in expensive
tools
• Ethical considerations
Image courtesy: freefoto.com
Lots of tools!! Who do I listen to?
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Sentiment analysis = positive, negative
Some aspects of listening tools—hone in on trends and
themes…
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Influencer analysis
…figure out who to listen to
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…trends and themes of what‘s being said
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Natural language processing (NLP) = trends and insights
How Zanthus integrates social media listening with traditional
research
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Track trends (explore
hypotheses)
Fill in knowledge
gaps (analysis)
Identify themes
(design)
Reliance on free tools, product trials
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Case study #1: home technology convergence OLBBs
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• Study objective: Explore
home control user
experience
• Social media used to
inform discussion guide
• Listen to conversations;
recruit early tech adopters
via Twitter link to screener
Image courtesy: ukhomeideas.co.uk
Case study #1: itracks social media listening tool
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Designed for market research
industry:
• Unlimited search terms
• Customized search
• Data download (daily)
• Support and training
Case study #1: itracks assessment – pros and cons
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What worked well Suggested improvements
Search specific brands, products General search topic ineffective
Consolidated platform Dashboard is too busy
Easy access to original content Mostly from Twitter/140 characters
Data export to Excel Data export volume overwhelming
Customization Time consuming to correct
sentiment analysis,
inclusion/exclusion new blogs
Influencer prioritization Klout score surfaces many
marketers, advertisers
Case study #2: Netflix price hike (SM listening only)
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• Study objective: Explore
hypothesis Neflix users will
defect
• Social media used to
monitor conversation after
announcement through
implementation
• Track discussion about
Netflix, Amazon, Hulu
Image courtesy: kotaku.com
Case study #2: Beevolve social media listening tool
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• Grouped search terms
• Dashboard showing
sentiment, geography, age,
gender
• Data download (daily)
• Insights tool under
development (TBD)
Case study #2: Beevolve assessment – pros and cons
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What worked well Suggested improvements
Search for and compare specific
brands, products
Drill down on one search term at a
time
Consolidated platform Dashboard doesn‘t compare terms
Easy access to original content,
including demographics, sentiment
Data export only Twitter
Data export to Excel Can‘t define time period
Visually appealing Lacking depth
Case study #3: online university satisfaction and needs
assessment
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• Objective: Understand how
public Facebook page is
used
• Facebook audit
• Supplemented satisfaction
study findings
Case study #3: online university satisfaction and needs
assessment
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• Data volume, duplicate info
• Time investment
• Manual customization of
sources (i.e., blogs)
• Automated tools like
sentiment, influencer
analysis not helpful
The pitfalls = the present
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• Download data from
targeted/multiple sources
(beyond Twitter!)
• Accurate sentiment
analysis
• Influencer prioritization
• Text analytics (NLP)
• Qualitative recruiting
The promise = the future
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Steps for setting up your successful social media listening
campaign
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• Choose a tool (or tools) that makes sense to you
• Keep your audience in mind
• Start with objectives; test a hypothesis
• Set time limits, but allow enough time
• Put social media into context
• Just get started!
Issues to avoid to maximize success
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• Distracted by new tools
• Overwhelmed by data
• Sucked into a time vortex
• Reliant on sentiment,
influencer scores
Image source: cathystucker.com
Best practices for listening
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• Track searches in a
spreadsheet
• Put related search terms in
quotes.
– e.g, ―Wal Mart‖
• Exclude terms
• English-only (if possible)
Best practices for sharing results
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• Representative quotes
(remove PII)
• Word clouds
• Charts, graphs
66%
28%
6%
Events
Weather
Books
• Learn from your peers
– Attend webinars (Netbase, AMA)
– Join LinkedIn groups (NextGen MR,
Social Media Today)
– Monitor #mrx on Twitter
• Set up demos, free trials
• Experiment with saved search terms
(Google Alerts, HootSuite)
Get inspired!
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Questions?
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Amanda Durkee
Ph: 971.404.0275 ext: 104
@adurkee, @zanthusresearch
http://www.linkedin.com/in/amandadurkee
+Amanda Durkee
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