Asking the ‘So What?’ of Social Media Monitoring Reports
Ever been at a party when a person recites some interesting stats?
"Did you know that Washington DC has the largest disproportional number of females to males of all major US cities?" "Did you know that 47% of all ventured-back American startup companies had a founder or co-founder who was born outside the US?"
Sure you have. Most react to such insights with genuine initial interest, but then quickly move onto other topics. The stats serve mainly as entertainment value.
Well, some of the social media monitoring reports come off the same way. Initially, they are interesting tidbits and fun to review, but the takeaways are at times very shallow. The reviewers of such information don't always have the time or the proper structure to dig deeper to find actionable results.
Pretty graphs and reports are only worth the paper that they are printed on unless that information provides actionable insights that lead to moving toward a desired goal. This could mean asking more penetrating questions that once answered lead to such compelling insights. This is a fluid circular process of gathering data, analysis, aligning with marketing goals, filtering out actionable insights, implementation, measurement. Standard reports, therefore, generally fall short as it only gathers data with cursory insights.
That is why when I really want to have a meaningful conversation, it is usually one-on-one or in small groups, and not at a party. For social media reports, ask the "so what?" and make the information come alive and actionable.
CMO’s and Social Media
A very interesting survey was released by PR Week and communications firm, MS&L today, 2009 Social Media Survey. In online interviews with over 200 CMOs, the survey found that most companies did not act upon social media feedback or research to improve their campaigns or products. 70% of senior marketers said that they have never made changes to their products or campaigns in response to their listening efforts. As if that wasn't shocking enough, almost half (43%) wouldn't use social media as part of a marketing program due to lack of knowledge and expertise! Of course, the ROI question was big - 39% said they are not convinced of its value or ROI. Sounds like an opportunity for educating some folks.
Timing and Teamwork
John Song of Lift9 presented his thoughts of 'Timing and Teamwork' at the Reinvention Forum last week. Here is a summary and further thoughts by Pam Hoelzle, the founder of the forum.
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We will be following social media developments and insights and sharing them with our friends and audience. We welcome all feedback and look forward to engaging with you.
-Lift9 team