Strategic Social Networking - Archive

Podcast Brings Experience to Social Media Questions

Presaging their inaugural Social Media Analytics Summit in April, Text Analytics News has posted the podcast of their recent Social Media Analytics Panel.

The panel brings together Bill Touhig of J.D. Power & Associates, Robin Seidner of Radian6, and Beyond the Arc’s Steven J. Ramirez. The social media analytics experts share their insights in the 55 minute podcast. The description describes the discussion content:

Analytic technologies and techniques being used to make business sense of the flood of user-generated content
The cutting edges of social media and sentiment analysis – what works, where improvements are being made, and which platforms are leading the way
The comparison between proprietary and do-it-yourself tools for social media analysis
Effective ways for leveraging social media information to get a leg up on your competition

I can’t fit my two pages of notes here, so do yourself a favor and check out the podcast for yourself. A couple of observations stuck with me.

First, with social media data, more is not better. This may seem obvious to some, but it is not the case with other data types, where more volume produces more accurate results. Instead, analysts find that they must narrow the data to exclude the vast amounts of irrelevant input that social media provides. That process adds a lot of complexity.

Second, text analytics is experiencing a talent gap. As Ramirez quipped, if you know young people just starting out, advise them to go into this as-of-yet-low-competition field. Many companies would prefer to save the cost of hiring a consultant, and most business users can probably figure things out. If the analysis needs are comparatively simple, that is. However, companies must invest in tools and training for the best in-house results.

Do yourself a favor: invest in attendance to the Social Media Analytics Summit this spring.

Cynthia Murrell, January 10, 2012

Social Media in 2011 and 2012

In an article on the subject of social media, Social Media in 2011, and 2012, last year was summarized and predictions scored. Google+, after repeated failures, seems to have conquered their woes in 2011. And, Linkedln, the world’s largest professional network, is keeping the market happy trading $20 a share higher than their IPO price. Linkedln is well positioned for future hiring with their massive database of resumes. And last, but not least, Instagram made 2011 the year of the photo with a fast, beautiful and fun way to share your life with friends through a series of pictures, sent on the fly via your iPhone – and it’s free!

The following are a few interesting quotes regarding social media: 13 Great Social Media Quotes

“The difference between PR and social media is that PR is about positioning, and social media is about becoming, being and improving.” – Chris Brogan, author of “Trust Agents”

“The value of being connected and transparent is so high that the roadbumps of privacy issues are much lower in actual experience than people’s fears.” – Reid Hoffman, founder and executive chairman of LinkedIn

“How can you squander even one more day not taking advantage of the greatest shifts of our generation? How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be remarkable?” – Seth Godin, Seth’s Blog

Predictions for 2012 are flying in the wind at this time and one in particular is business and media will take advantage of trans-media web publishing for media coverage such as news, ads, and stories to be accessed on one micro-site. I suppose this simplifies things and in turn saves time, and time is money. Also, another prediction is that network and cable TV will remain status quo. I know sometimes change is good, but in this case web TV is just not ready for the TV viewers of the world.

Sandy McIntosh, January 4, 2012

Growing Businesses Struggling to Maintain Brand Loyalty in the Mobile Age

Brand Dossier’s recent article on the increasing presence of social media and mobile devices, “Social media, mobile devices creating brand loyalty challenges for mid-size businesses” deals with new concerns business have in dealing with brand loyalty.

The growth of both social media and mobile devices has lead to a new type of consumer, who can easily compare products and prices, which is making it harder for companies to build up brand loyalty, a new IBM study says. This global study of mid-market chief marketing officers reveals a number of facts about the concerns of CMOs in an increasingly mobile marketplace. According to the study, 72% feel unprepared to “effectively build” brand loyalty, with 70% seemingly placing this unease on the wide availability of consumer-oriented data.

“Mobile commerce is expected to reach $31 billion by 2016, yet 62 per cent of mid-market CMOs report being underprepared to deal with the proliferation of channels and devices. This increase in the mobile shopping trend further increases marketing challenges, complicates data collection and analysis, and threatens both customer service and customer retention.”

In order to deal with the influx of consumer blogs, social media sites, and other sources of information about consumer products, retailers are focusing on marketing analytics in order to more effectively target consumers. The hope is that computers can analyze marketing data and buying decisions more efficiently and more accurately, allowing companies to reach new customers who will stay with the brand, instead of endlessly seeking to save a few cents on their next purchase.

Jody Barnes, December 15, 2011