Analytics Is King

So, this is what a blog looks like? You'll have to forgive the fact that I have not written anything here in almost two months (that's terrible). I've been busy saving the world (slight exaggeration) from misguided social analytics practices, and of course writing a lot for Edelman Digital. Just because I've been busy does not mean I haven't been thinking about what's next for the practice of social (or digital if you prefer) analytics.

Over the course of 2011 we've debated any number of social analytics topics including Klout and online influence more broadly, social media measurement and the role of listening within the large enterprise. Innovative things are happening in all three areas. Maybe not at the same rate of change as the broader social media ecosystem, but change is definitely happening.

I have a feeling we're going to see significant carry over in topics from 2011 to 2012, but I thought I would take a stab at five things you might not be thinking of from a social data perspective that we're likely to be talking about in 2012.

• This is the year Facebook, YouTube and Twitter get serious about its insights platforms. On December 15th, Facebook launched its new Insights platform, which should give brand page owners a better sense for how pages are performing. If you wanted to learn more about those changes, check out the video below from Stephanie Wonderlin of Tweetheart TV. We've also heard in recent weeks that Twitter is going to be launching brand pages, which will most likely be accompanied by an analytics dashboard. YouTube has also recently made changes to its platform as well. One of the reasons we've seen so many analytics tools pop up is because the big three social networks have been awful in keeping up with data needs. I think 2012 is the year we start to see that change.

• A real challenger to Klout will emerge - Lets be honest for a second... Klout isn't doing anything revolutionary, really, with its algorithm. It just so happens that it has greater mindshare than some of the other tools on the market. I think this is the year that we see a true challenger step up that combines a more rigorous approach to online influencer analysis and a user interface that is just as sexy.
• Integrated measurement will start to become a reality - It amazes me that for as much as we talk about integrated communications, we don't talk nearly enough about integrated measurement approaches. I think in 2012 companies are going to be really keen on developing an integrated scorecard approach that brings together all elements of communications.
• Primary research will be a key component of measurement strategies - There are just some elements of a program that we will not be able to measure through free tools. We need surveys. We need focus groups. Surveying online communities and using digital focus groups are going to be big in 2012. If you're not using them right now, you should be. Trust me, my friend Tom Webster will thank you for it. 
• Listening FINALLY goes beyond PR and marketing - More than two years ago, Ken Burbary and I wrote about how social data transcends PR and marketing. The reality is that social data has application to strategic planning, product development and HR as well. Unfortunately, we've not seen this trend really explode as of yet. The progressive brands are starting to use the data in this way. However, I think 2012 is the year we start to more widespread adoption of this idea.

These are just five of the things I'm watching for this year. What about you? What's on your radar?

 

So, we're about five days after BlogWorld and I am just now getting to write my recap. I suppose I could come up with some ridiculous excuse of wanting to gather my thoughts (and I was doing that, actually), but it was mostly because I was trying to enjoy my Memorial Day weekend. Plus, like most of you I'm sure, after five days of talking about social media the last thing I wanted to do was to come here and write more about social media. Enough already!

Anyway, BlogWorld NYC offered much of what I love about this business: an opportunity to interact with some of the brightest minds in this business. I've talked about it before, but these conferences are valuable to me just from a networking point-of-view. If there are a handful of sessions that I get something out of then that is a bonus. And no, I mean actual networking...not just attending every party under the sun and getting hammered.

So besides networking, what did I take away from this year's BlogWorld? Oh, before you ask, no, I didn't take anything away from the closing keynote. Yes, I mentioned to Rick Calvert that it wasn't my favorite part of the conference. No, it's not because I was offended by the content, though I can see how some people took it the wrong way. My bigger beef was with the overall style of the closing keynote. I want to leave on an up-lifting note, and not on a comedic one. But, these are all things I've said to Rick so I'll just leave it at that...On a more positive note...

1. Tactics win out over strategies - With as much as the blogosphere talks about strategy, I think we're in danger of turning it into a buzz word. Most bloggers are actually talking about tactics and not strategies anyway, but I'm not sure how well talking about strategies translates to conferences anyway. Most attendees that I talked to told me they wanted to hear from others about what worked. Sure, there are strategic elements in that, but mostly people are concerned with what tactics worked. They can then take those tactics away, adapt to fit THEIR strategic goals and everybody wins.
2. Tom Webster - One of my favorite sessions (I'm a numbers guy, right?) was Tom Webster's presentation on "The Social Habit." If you missed some of the tweets, or Tom's talk, you can download the research here. It was a fantastic talk with very actionable items coming from the data. Tom delivered the goods...if you have an opportunity to see him in the future, please do so!
3. Cautious optimism about the power of social media - This has something to do with the data Tom presented, but I left the conference feeling only cautiously optimistic about the power of social. Yes, I think social is valuable. No, I don't think that's changing anytime soon. However, Tom presented a data point about the power of social channels in influencing purchasing decisions. In the survey, 72% of respondents said that no social network influenced a purchasing decision. Only one social channel - Facebook - was above 1% (Facebook was 24%). 
4. Is location-based marketing really all we think it is? There were multiple presentations about location-based platforms, including a keynote with Aaron Strout and representatives from very large brands, but I left wondering just how useful these are for the mainstream brand. Tom's presentation mentioned that while a larger percentage of American's are aware of LBS tools, a very small number actually use them daily. I sense, as Tom noted, that this is a great opportunity for other mobile platforms that we've been ignoring in our race to satisfy our shiny new object affliction. We'll see...only time will tell who is right.
5. People are measuring the right things! - I've become overly jaded by case studies. Yeah, there are some fancy, creative ideas floating around, but I could care less about fancy and creative. I care about whether something works or not. To date, I was never sure how often the "right" things were being measured in social media. However, leaving the conference and hearing presentations by Lisa Grimm, Shannon Paul, Jess Berlin and many others I feel better about how people are measuring social. They aren't just looking at reach, but more tangible business metrics that executives care about. Perhaps we're on the right track after all? 
6. Damion White - Damion is a very good friend of mine (we were colleagues at WCG), so I was happy he was able to make it out to the event. I've always known him to be an incredibly smart guy, but seeing him exposed to other smart people pumped me up. He was a huge hit, of course, with his ability to drop beats (yeah, I just said drop beats on a social media blog), but so many people told me after the conference how smart he is. I've always known, but I'm glad everyone else has had the same experience. 

I could go on for awhile, but what were your big takeaways? Anything you'd like to see in LA that wasn't present in NYC? We're going to be starting to plan for LA here in the next few weeks (gasp), so please let me know.

We're all a mixture of different skill sets. Some of us come from an analytical background. Others come from a pure communications background. Still others come from a political science background. The fact of the matter is that we all need to be a little bit of all things. What's the ideal make-up look like?

• Sociologist - Understanding how offline societies interact often helps us determine how online societies will perform.
• Psychologist - This goes without saying, but understanding human behaviors is critical. If I put out a piece of content, how is someone going to "feel" about it? (full disclosure: my dad was a forensic psychologist. I tried to major in psychology but, well, quickly changed after the first class. :) )
• Communicator - Obviously, right? You don't need to come from the traditional PR background, but you need to have strong interpersonal communications skills to succeed in social media (really any profession). This also includes the ability to write, and write well.
• Ambassador - You aren't going to come up with a solution that makes everybody happy. Building on the wisdom of Solomon, finding a way to split the baby is often how you survive in this business.
• Hard ass - I was looking for something creative to say here, but "hard ass" was the only thing that came to mind. Listen, there is going to be someone along the way that challenges you. When that happens, you have to be a mixture of all of these things, including hard ass, to survive.

I hesitate to rank any of those in order of importance because I honestly believe it is a blend of all, but my intuition says, particularly in social media, that being a part-time sociologist and psychologist are most critical (probably followed by communicator). We have to be able to answer the "why." Why is someone talking about our brand online? Why do they have such a negative opinion about a member of our management team? Why are they turning to Facebook instead of a forum where the rest of our community lives? Said another way, we have to understand the motivations of our online community. Nowhere is understanding the underlying motivations more critical than when developing and then implementing an influencer program. This week, I will be participating in the Radian6 Social 2011 User Conference on a panel about the value of influence. We're going to be talking about everything from the metrics used to define influence, to how to utilize an influencer list to even something as fundamental as whether influencer lists are necessary. There has been a lot written on the subject lately, and I'm under no delusion that we're going to solve all of the issues associated with influencer analysis, but hopefully we can make a dent. One of the issues we'll likely be tackling is determining the influencer analysis output. What I mean by that is understanding how we want the list to be used, and what the heck do WE actually mean by influence. In a post a couple of months back, my friend Tom Webster pointed out that one of the ways influencer analysis could be improved is understanding motivations. I couldn't agree more. We have to know what influences people, why they are talking, what messages they respond to and how they want to interact with brands. If you can't answer those, your influencer analysis output is going to be flawed. You'll never completely answer the "why" using listening data, as Tom noted in his post. The only way you truly know is by asking (and yes, I know, people can lie). So, as you start working with influencers what can you do to fully understand the "why" when asking your community may not be practical at that stage? A few things:

1. Use your listening data - Yes, I know I just said you can't rely on this solely, but it can be helpful in gaining a basic understanding of why people do what they do online when referencing your brand.
2. Asking the influencers themselves - In theory, you should know through your research what types of content communities react to from these influencers. But, why (there's that word again) not ask them? You might find a totally different answer from the blogger/forum poster/mainstream press member, etc... then what your research is telling you. That's valuable intelligence.
3. Surveying the online community - No, social media listening is never going to fully replace surveys. They have value. No, they may not be a truly representative sample of your online community. Yes, there is valuable intelligence to be had from using a survey instrument.
4. Knowing your motivations - Why do you want to interact with influencers? Is it to increase awareness in the form of share of voice? Is it to improve sentiment about your brand? Is it to build long-term brand value. Not only should we understand the motivations of our community, but we need to understand why we're doing what we're doing. Only then can you truly grasp the entire landscape.

We have to be one part psychologist, one part sociologist, one part communicator, one part ambassador and another part hard ass to succeed in this social media world. Whether that's participating in social media more broadly, or developing an influencer identification program answering the "why" is critical. We're not going to solve this dilemma during our panel at the Radian6 conference, but likely through more informed conversation online and off. Think back to the programs you've built using social technologies... Have you sufficiently answered the why internally and the why within your community? If not, it isn't too late to course correct depending on your findings.

In my post recapping SXSWi, it should've been clear that the biggest value driver of the conference for me is networking. I love getting a chance to talk with people I don't see that often who are working hard in this business. The content isn't terrible, it just isn't for me. If I'm trying to learn something I'll go to a smaller event, like Blogworld Expo (shameless plug - Arik Hanson and I co-organize the social business track), where I know the content is more focused and practical. That being said, one of the lasting impressions of the event has to be Gary Vaynerchuck's talk. Gary's premise, based on his new book The Thank You Economy, is that brands need to become more "human." The book goes into great detail about how companies can scale that humanization. This isn't a book review (disclaimer: I've not read it, but am planning on it), rather it is me agreeing with Gary's idea that brands need to become more human. After his talk ended I thought about how my clients could achieve this vision, but also how some people in the social media world should start heeding his call. One of the things that drives me nuts are blog posts or tweets proclaiming the death of a particular platform. A common refrain is, "blogging is dead because of Twitter," or "Quora is a Twitter killer." How on earth would anybody know that? Do you have a crystal ball that the rest of us can't see? Those kinds of posts make for excellent linkbait, but the truth is that none of us really know for sure what's coming down the line. This space is expanding so quickly it's hard to know what's going to happen tomorrow, let alone a year from now. Similarly, there are those who are hyper-critical of what social media has become. Let me be clear for a second...constructive criticism about the value of these tools is certainly warranted. Certain technologies are not for every brand, and there are definitely some snake oil salesmen out there who convince companies that they should establish a presence on every network under the sun. However, slamming a social network because it is no longer you and your four buddies is not only dumb, but incredibly shortsighted in my view. Guess what? You owe part of your career to that explosion. And please, spare us the bullshit of "you've worked harder than everybody else." Most of the people in this space who are recognized for thought leadership are working hard. No, the move of social networks toward more mainstream adoption means you have more career options, most likely a cooler job than you had a few years ago and ultimately more money. Its opened doors you never thought could be opened. Hell, this space has created a book opportunity for me that I NEVER thought would've been possible before getting involved in this space. I think it is time for us all to take a moment to be grateful for those who have:

1. Taught us something new about this space - Guarantee there is someone out there who teaches you something on the regular. Have you thanked them for that recently? I know I haven't. With that in mind, I'd like to take a second to thank Tom Webster. Incredibly smart guy, with an eye for numbers that this space really needs. Read him if you don't already.
2. Gave us our start in this business - Chances are good there's someone out there who told you about these platforms. Or, better yet, helped you gain your first real exposure to others working in the space. For me, that guy was Jason Falls. I pitched him a blog topic in 2009 about social media listening and he published it. I don't thank him enough for that opportunity...So, Thanks, Jason. I appreciate it.
3. Challenged us to continue pushing the space forward - There's someone out there who is pushing you to do better. It could be your boss. It could be a friend. Whoever it is, acknowledge them for what they are doing. For me, that guy was Keith Mabee, now Vice Chairman at Dix & Eaton. I owe him so much for his advice that I could never repay him. Thanks, Keith.
4. Encouraged us to be better human beings - At the end of the day, we can always be better human beings. Have we taken the time to help someone less fortunate than us? Bringing it back to this context, have we thanked someone for going out of there way to provide us with a piece of information we were looking for? I know I need to do this more....You?

So, the next time you are planning to trash social media as "not as cool as it used to be," or proclaim the death of blogging (or insert social network here), take a second to realize that the media you are about to trash has a lot to do with where you are in your career. Resist the temptation to be ungrateful or, in more crass terms, an asshole. The traffic to your site isn't worth it. Thanks, Gary, for helping me refocus on what matters.