If you are involved with social media at all, you likely heard the announcement that Salesforce.com has acquired Radian6. It was literally the only thing that was in my Twitter stream for several hours during the day. Rightfully so, by the way, this is huge news for the listening and social media world. It isn't a secret that I'm a big fan of Radian6. They've been very helpful to me in my career, and I think the world of their product and people. There's a reason people call them the "industry leader."
It didn't take long for the posts to come out dissecting the news (more on that in a second), but I wanted to wait a day before diving into it. So, here are some takeaways that I've had from the news:
- Positive news for Salesforce.com - It seems pretty clear that this is going to be a huge value-add for the Salesforce.com product. Further incorporation of social listening data with CRM (notice: I didn't say social CRM) can only be a winner. Our motto should be, "the more I know about my customer, the better." This new relationship should only help that.
- Industry consolidation has started, but should now pick up in earnest - Listen, there's nothing I like more than learning about new monitoring solutions. I'm a data geek. However, in 2009 it became pretty apparent that we had too many players on the stage. When conducting due diligence, companies were looking at dozens of different companies when the differences between them were really miniscule. The same consolidation happened with Investor Relations tools to the point, now, where if you don't use ThomsonReuters or Shareholder.com it's a complete anomaly. That's OK by me. If I can go one place for the entire solution suite I'd consider that a win.
- More resources behind Radian6 - Truth be told, there was a period of time as Radian6 was ramping up where the customer service suffered. It has improved significantly as they've added more people, but the considerable resources of a public company should only help add to the people arsenal of Radian6. For those of us who are heavy users, the more potential touch points we have within the organization, the better.
- Innovation will continue - Radian6 has a long history of product innovation. I remember seeing it in 2007 and thinking that the data was cool, but wasn't entirely there as an offering. Now, it's the industry leader. That growth has happened because they've been diligent about innovating the product. Salesforce.com has that same tradition of innovation. Together, it should be a power house. I don't buy the notion that big public company stifles innovation...at least in this case.
- The cost of the acquisition shows just how big this market has become - $276 million dollars (plus $50 million in stock) is a gigantic sum of money. It's hard for me to wrap my mind around that because I see it as an excellent monitoring solution. Someone paying that much money seems foreign to me, but it's a testament to the work Radian6 has done. It also shows how important listening to social conversations has become for brands. Trust me, Salesforce.com isn't going to spend the money on a solution like Radian6 if they don't think they can turn around and sell it to companies.
- Move toward making social analytics more mainstream - Just so we're clear, I don't view Radian6 as a social analytics tool. I view it as a listening tool, and the "analytics" part comes from an analyst. That being said, the more mainstream we make social analytics/data, the more likely we are to continue advancing the space. Data is an integral part of the strategic planning process in social media. Companies are starting to notice it more, but still not to the level it should be. When they are exposed to that power through a CRM platform like Radian6, adoption rates should go up.
- We're taking the word "analyst" a little too far - Not everybody is an analyst just because they have access to the tool. If an enterprise has heavier data crunching needs, they are not putting Radian6 in the hands of a PR person or marketer. And if they do, that PR person or marketer should be smart enough to involve market research professionals.
- Immaturity of the market doesn't mean consolidation shouldn't happen - The social listening market is very new, and definitely green. However, the race to create a listening platform helped to sufficiently muddy the waters for brands when in truth there was very little difference between the platforms. I'm no economics wiz, but supply had outstripped demand. Consolidation was an inevitable byproduct.
- Innovation will continue - Similar to what I mentioned above, but I dispute the notion that an acquisition leads to the disintegration of innovation within a company. Have you met the guys from Radian6? Ditto Salesforce.com? Those people are always working to perfect the product. I have no concerns there.
