I have been spending quite a lot of time recently looking at the whole subject of listening and monitoring, but more importantly looking at how you can extract business value out of monitoring online conversations. There are just such a bewildering array of tools which churn out huge amounts of data, it is not surprising that so many companies are struggling with it. Here is why in my mind:
Problem No 1: How do you choose the right monitoring technology?
The choice is totally bewildering. Not a week goes by without me learning of the latest magic monitoring solution. I have seen numerous tools and their output as part of trying to identify one which can be used deliver real actionable insights (Visible Technologies, TNS Cymfony, Techrigy, Radian6, Biz360, Buzzmetrics – to name a few). I genuinely believe they have all got real strengths – price in Radian6’s case – and they all have limitations. If you want a much more detailed list of monitoring tools, here is a really good source from Jermiah Owyang.
Answer 1: I really don’t think it matters as long as you solve problems 2 and 3.
Problem No 2: How Do You Make Sense Of All The Data?
Even once you have the right tool, then it is only a piece of technology – however intelligent. You need to have highly trained and skilled people to get the most out of it. How many companies really invest in the manpower to get the return on the platform. I don’t know what the ratio is but if you spend $1 on the technology you should probably spend another $1 on brain power to get the most out of it. To reinforce the point here is an interesting piece from Google making the case that people need to spend more on analysts than analytics technology. (It is worth noting that perhaps they have an agenda get people using their free Google Analytics)
Answer 2: You need to invest in people who really get data analytics and live in the world of monitoring
Problem No 3: Being Clear About What You Are Actually “Listening” For?
This last problem was bought home to me last night by Sabin from Overtone, another monitoring company I met at an event hosted by Nimbuzz last night. You have to go into listening with a very clear intent. There is a very good reason that the secret service doesn’t tap the phones of all American citizens (apart from the legalities). Instead it gets intelligence and then focuses its listening activities into specific areas.
Sabin used the example of doing work for a hotel franchise. If you can see that sales of a Hilton Hotel are down in the San Francisco Hilton, then the answer to the problem may well exist online. In fact, online insights are a hugely powerful tool for any business with a franchise as a way of adding value to the franchisee and protecting the brand.
Answer 3: Have a very specific problem you are trying to solve by listening.
If you have a very specific problem you are trying to solve, it then becomes a lot easier to deploy someone with the right analytical skills and use the right platform to get an answer that has real business value attached to it. If you do this you can truly exploit your social capital. On the other hand if you use listening to show how much stuff you have generated then you will probably drown under the volume of meaningless data.
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Companies still struggle to buy into the idea of having social media in the business mix so monitoring will be equally or even tougher one to get used to.
I have read this posting about ‘ Bite A Global Communication Consultancy’. It gives me clear idea about that. Images also very good. Can you tell me,
Social Networking how much helpful for Global Communication?
Interesting points David, actually exactly the reason why we set up social360. We were fed up with the reams of pointless data and pretty graphs that, whilst looking good, dont exactly get you anywhere as a Comms person. For social media monitoring to be useful it needs an inteligent person to analyse the results to filter out the rubbish and prioritise what is important relative to what is trying to be achieved. Analysis only becomes useful if it is actionable. That’s my tuppence worth anyway.
I haven’t heard of social360 but anything that makes taking action easy and affordable gets my vote!
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