The Social Echo Survey - Measures That Matter

report
The Social Echo Survey: Measures That Matter
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ENGAGE OPPORTUNITY EVERYWHERE
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RePoRt
The Social Echo Survey: Measures That Matter

Research shows that as social medias value grows, communicators are finding a gap between the importance of their social media goals and their ability to achieve those goals using available listening tools
Executive Summary: A Growing Gap

As social media becomes a more important and more integrated part of marketing and public relations, the communications professionals using currently available social listening tools perceive a gap between the importance of their goals and the tools ability to get them there. In The Social Echo Survey: Measures That Matter, fielded in November and December 2011, respondents consistently rated their organizations effectiveness at achieving social media goals about two points lower than the importance of the goals themselves. And as Figure 1 shows, on average, the gap between the importance of a goal and the relevant social listening tools was even greater typically about three points. Follow-up interviews with survey respondents revealed a clear sense of frustration about this gap. We all know we need to be monitoring all of our touch points, and that we need to respond in real time. But no one is feeling confident that they can achieve that through the tools that are available to them or that they even know all the tools that are available to them, says Robin Shea, Senior Manager of Consumer Engagement for Funjet Vacations, the flagship brand of The Mark Travel Corporation. Adds Tony Fisch, President of Tony Fisch Consulting: The lack of effective social media listening tools not only makes it considerably more difficult to achieve a desired goal, but it jacks up the number of work hours it takes to get results that meet client expectations. Truly excellent social media tools would probably reduce the operating expenses for social media by about 40%, Fisch says.
Copyright 2011 PR Newswire Association LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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RePoRt The Social Echo Survey
The Goals
IMPORTAnCE ORGAnIzATIOnS ACHIEvEMEnT
fIGuRE 1
TOOL EffECTIvEnESS
What Our Audience Really Cares About
8.75 6.34 5.65 8.62 6.69 5.24 8.58 6.25 5.47 7.98 6.16 5.25
Identify Our Own Influence
What Matters to the Media Editors
7.91 5.84 5.30 7.68 5.88 5.22 7.46 5.61 4.81
Where Our Audience is Hanging Out
Influential Bloggers on Brand-Related Topics
Product-Related Behavior
Identify the Level of Influence of Audience
Some respondents pointed out that despite high expectations of social media measurement, they cant connect the dots all the way to sales which makes it hard to demonstrate ROI. This suggests the potential for a stall in social media PR and marketing growth if the right listening tools dont become available soon, and at the right price. In addition to the gap between what communications professionals want from their tools and what the tools can deliver, survey results and interviews further found that:
> Determining the topics/issues that target audiences care about is, on average, respondents number one goal 49% of respondents rated it a 10 on a 1-to-10 scale (Figure 2) > Respondents rated the importance of media editors care abouts in a virtual tie with those of bloggers, tweeters and commentators, though more people gave 10s on the editors side (47% vs. 40%) (Figure 4) > Respondents rated Establish brand thought leadership their most important use of insights resulting from social listening tools, followed closely by Optimization of brand messaging and Increase web traffic (Figure 11) > Facebook and Twitter were rated the first- and second-most important social media venues by a wide margin over LinkedIn (third) and video-based services (fourth) (Figure 12)
Of note, our analysis of the ranking of 15 different uses of the insights that can be derived from social media monitoring (Figure 11) leads to a striking insight of its own. The analysis shows strong support for a surprisingly diverse number of the 15 different uses we suggested.
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Of course, those of us who have been studying social media for several years get that it is a long-term, multidimensional, and profound, change. The results seen in Figure 11, however, present clear evidence for one of the key reasons why this is so: the sheer number of diverse goals that social media can help communicators achieve.
frustration With Existing Listening Tools

Respondents gripes about the social media monitoring tools they use or are evaluating come down to these:
> None provide 100% coverage > Too many false positives > The tools cant assess composition as opposed to reach and dont provide a way for manual weighting of high-composition sites > The tools are too easily confused by vernacular and colloquialisms > The tools cant really tell the difference between positive and negative sentiment > And theyre too expensive
METHOdOLOGy
In late November we invited PR professionals via email to complete The Social Echo Survey: Measures That Matter; approximately 100 participated. The survey asked each respondent to rate various aspects of seven different social media listening goals on a 1-to-10 scale, where 1 is not at all important and 10 is extremely important. We also asked the importance of 15 different uses of the insights they gained from social media listening, and about 8 different social media venues, all on the same 1-to-10 scale. In addition, we asked about their listening tools in the context of each goal, on the same scale but with 1 equal to extremely effective and 10 equal to extremely frustrating. Finally, we asked to interview respondents and ended up conducting in-depth interviews with nearly a dozen.
The tools are not up to our needs, for sure, says Charlene Blohm, President of C. Blohm & Associates Inc., which works primarily with education companies. We have yet to find a social media tool that will help us do good analysis in our sector. No matter how much we finesse it, we still get false positives, notes Blohm. In addition, after trying several tools, Blohm reports, The ones Ive seen dont understand the difference between a hit in the New York Times and in Teacher magazine. I work for companies that are household brands inside of a school building but that moms and dads have never heard of. In my world, the relevancy of something in Teacher magazine is so much more important. But none of the tools let you weight the media outlets. Mark B. Nolan, Account Coordinator at 360 Public Relations, explains, When we try to gauge sentiment, the system cant process vernacular and colloquialisms. If someone said our product was totally kick-ass! that comment would get a negative sentiment rating because the automated algorithm thinks thats negative. In aggregate, the respondents descriptions suggest a monitoring tool industry that is still immature. Tools are able
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to discern differences among broad concepts and high-volume venues, but have trouble with niches in either case. Such tools may be highly effective for major brands, particularly in the consumer space. But the limitations present challenges for B2B and niche brands. And respondents complained that that is how the tools are priced: as if all their customers were giant brand houses.
Of note, many respondents say tools limitations mean theres just no substitute for reading all the relevant posts. You definitely have to drill into the comments, says Fisch, whose clients range from WaveJet, which makes powered surf boards, to Myricom, a maker of high-performance computer networking products. Fisch says evaluating and responding to comments to test various hypotheses has led to valuable insights for both clients. At some point you have to slog through all the comments, agrees Blohm. And if I still have to have a human being going through and reading each and every post, then Ive gained nothing. FunJets Shea explains why this is necessary: Marketing is getting to the point where the critical difference for a company is going to be their ability to deliver as perfect an experience as they possible can. Any imperfection can be amplified through the Social Echo. Youre not just getting letters any more that you can just file. You have to act on every piece of feedback that you get.
At some point you have to slog through all the comments, and if I still have to have a human being going through and reading each and every post, then Ive gained nothing.
Charlene Blohm President, C. Blohm & Associates Inc.
Sheas point raises a coverage issue that concerned many respondents. I want one monitoring source that gets 100% of the messages, but that doesnt exist, explains Shea. Were evaluating four tools right now, monitoring the same keywords every day. Theres overlap, of course, but theres also some unique content captured in each one, she reports. Given the state of currently available tools, says Shea, I dont think anybody feels like they are really nailing it. People are doing their best but its very difficult.
Goal: Identify the topics/issues our audience really cares about

Above all, survey respondents want to know what topics their audiences really care about. This goal garnered the surveys top average rating of 8.75 out of 10 points, and 49% of respondents rated this goal a 10 on our 1-to-10 scale. Thats more than any other goal in the survey although it beat out what media editors care about by only a small margin, as that goal scored 47% 10s and the surveys second-best average rating of 8.62 points (see Figure 4). Although the effectiveness of the tools used to meet this goal achieved the best rating for tools in the survey, that best was still a dismal 5.65 out of 10 and the 3.1-point gap
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between goal importance and tool effectiveness was the surveys second-largest, due to the high level of importance respondents ascribed to this goal. Still, respondents had a slightly elevated sense of their own effectiveness at achieving this goal, rating themselves a 6.34 out of 10 second-best in the survey to the 6.69 point rating for figuring out what media editors care about.
Goal: What Our Audience Cares About

Identify the Topics/Issues Our Audience Really Cares About
fIGuRE 2
IMPORTAnCE
8.75 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
2%
6% 6%
5 6
3% 7
12%
8
22%
9
49%
10
ORGAnIzATIOnS ACHIEvEMEnT
6.34 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
1.5
5%
1.5
12%
4
15%
5
17%
6
17%
7
12%
8
11%
9
8%
10
1 2 3
TOOL EffECTIvEnESS
5.65 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
1%
8% 4%
2 3
14%
4
23%
5
19%
6
11%
7
8%
8
8% 4%
9 10
As Figure 3 shows, in general, respondents use the tools primarily to track posts related to keywords, and then they manually read and analyze the content of the posts. None of the approaches scored very many 10s not even sentiment analysis. Based on our interviews, thats not because respondents think sentiment analysis is unimportant they think its very important. They just dont trust the tools to do it with anything close to needed accuracy. In the end, therefore, achieving this goal is labor-intensive. But respondents make the labor-intensive approach work. For WaveJet, we were able to rapidly figure out that audiences were taking away an unintended message from our first brand ambassador. He was a renowned elder statesmen of the surfing world but the takeaway was that the product was for old guys, explains Fisch. We adjusted rapidly when we saw that. Shea articulated many respondents sense of the current state-of-the-art of listening tools for this goal: In general, the right way to do this is to read and respond to every bit of
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Approaches to determine Issues Audiences Care About
fIGuRE 3
IMPORTAnCE
Track topical keywords occurrence in relevant social venues

7.52 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
2% 3% 2% 2%
11%
5
9%
6
14%
7
17%
8
1 2 34
23%
9
19%
10
Analysis of positive/negative/neutral sentiments about trending topics

6.97 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
2% 2%
9%
3
2%
8%
5
15%
6
12
20%
7
12%
8
19%
9
12%
10
find out and follow who they follow

6.77 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
2% 3%
11%
3
6%
4
8%
5
9%
6
14%
7
1 2
19%
8
19%
9
11%
10
Analysis of speed of change in sentiment

6.35 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
2%
6%
2
14%
3
6%
4
8%
5
9%
6
15%
7
9%
8
28%
9
3%
10
you try to find tools that make it as easy as possible to find all that [feedback] and put it in one place to act on. And thats where companies are coming up short at this time.
feedback you receive and provide the appropriate response. You try to find tools that make it as easy as possible to find all that and put it in one place to act on. And thats where companies are coming up short at this time. We know what to do; we just havent figured out how to do it efficiently, and consistently, Shea says. She adds: I wouldnt say there are no tools but theres no cost effective tools that are providing the ability to do this very quickly. Shea suggests that its most important to assess what your audiences want to hear from you. You have to understand where your brand fits into their construct. We have a clear idea of how to use social media for customer service, but when it comes to more proactive conversation development there is some question about how customers want brands to interact with them, outside of the purchase process.
Robin Shea Senior Manager of Consumer engagement , Funjet Vacations
Goal: Identify what topics really matter to the media editors that we care about
Not surprisingly, figuring out media editors hot-button issues and interests is another abiding concern expressed by respondents. Forty-seven percent rated this goal a 10 and its average rating was 8.62 and both those scores were close seconds to what target audiences really care about.
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Tools proved relatively ineffective in this endeavor, earning a 5.24 average rating third from the bottom. However, because this goal focuses on the traditional media they know best, PR professionals are most confident in their own effectiveness compared to other goals surveyed. They rated themselves 6.69, the highest average rating in the survey for effectiveness at achieving a goal.
Goal: What Matters to Media Editors

IMPORTAnCE
Identify What Topics Really Matter to the Media Editors That We Care About
fIGuRE 4
8.62 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

2%
3%3%
17%
7
16%
8
12%
9
47%
10
35 6
6.69 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
3% 2
7% 7%
3 4
9%
5
16%
6
22%
7
17%
8
7%
9
12%
10
TOOL EffECTIvEnESS
5.24 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
3% 1
7%
2
10%
3
16%
4
24%
5
10%
6
14%
7
9%
8
3%3% 9 10
Figure 5 shows why: theyre doing it the old-fashioned way. They manually follow individual editors and determine their influence on relevant topics. But far and away, their primary approach to this goal is to engage editors directly on relevant topics and our respondent interviews reveal that that engagement happens via email and phone calls as much as it does through Twitter or Facebook. Ill send emails, but I still get on the phone and call. Thats becoming a lost art, says Fisch. But when I pick up the phone and call an editor, I find out exactly what hes working on or not working on I know there is a hit list, I know what he needs, so I know how to be successful with him. Carey Osmundson, Account Supervisor at PR agency Stratacomm in Detroit, explains that, Through Facebook Im friends with reporters. They post articles theyve written and Ill comment on them to keep that relationship alive, so that when they see an email from me they will be more likely to open it.
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That this issue scored so high didnt really surprise anyone. But interviewees pointed out that in reality, its very dependent on the situation. For Wavjet, for example, I really want to know what the consumers interests are much more than the media, be they traditional editors or bloggers, says Fisch.
Approaches to determine What Really Matters to Media Editors

Engage directly with editors of influence on a relevant topic
8.50 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 3% 5% 3%
4 5 6
fIGuRE 5
IMPORTAnCE
10%
7
19%
8
21%
9
38%
10
follow individual editors and analyze their content for topical keywords in relvant social venues
7.91 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
2%
5%
4
7%
5
12%
6
7%
7
19%
8
22%
9
26%
10
determine their influence on relevant topics

7.69 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 3% 5% 5%
2 4 5
9%
6
14%
7
26%
8
19%
9
19%
10
Analysis of editors positive/negative/neutral sentiments about trending topics

7.47 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
2%2%
5%
9%
5
10%
6
16%
7
23 4
24%
8
17%
9
16%
10
determine their influence among their followers

7.40 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 3% 5%
2 4
9%
5
14%
6
17%
7
16%
8
21%
9
16%
10
Analyze their lists/followers/friends

6.78 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 3% 2%
2 3
14%
4
10%
5
14%
6
19%
7
9%
8
19%
9
10%
10
In general, however, respondents want to determine both media and audiences care abouts and then test various approaches rapidly through social media. Says Fisch, Im finding in this vertical [surfing], editors love video, for example; we test it by putting videos with some of our content and not with others, and then analyzing the difference in response in terms of both volume and quality, or depth.
Goal: Identify influential bloggers, tweeters and commentators relative to the topics that are most important to our brand
The newer categories of influencers are nearly as important to find as traditional media. Forty percent rate this goal a 10, and at 8.58 its average rating is just four hundredths of
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a point less than media editors a statistical tie. Here the tools perform a hair better for communicators, with an average ranking of 5.47 (second in the survey), perhaps because these influencers are digital natives. That said, survey respondents dont feel they are as effective with these influencers as they are with traditional media editors. For effectiveness, they rate themselves, on average, at 6.25 points out of 10 compared with 6.69 for media editors (Figure 3).
Goal: Influential Bloggers on Brand-Related Topics

Identify Influential Bloggers, Tweeters and Commentators Relative to the Topics that are Most Important to Our Brand
fIGuRE 6
IMPORTAnCE
8.58 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
2%
7% 5% 4%
5 6 7
21%
8
21%
9
40%
10
6.25 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
7%
2
9%
3
11%
4
14%
5
14%
6
12%
7
7%
8
18%
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9%
10
TOOL EffECTIvEnESS
5.47 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
2%
4%
11%
3
11%
4
33%
5
16%
6
5% 11% 5% 4%
7 8 9 10
1 2
Respondents comments reflected both the importance of these new social media influencers and communicators frustration with them. In general, we treat them [editors and bloggers] relatively equally in terms of the attention and focus we put on the different types, says Shea. We would still prefer to have relationships and mentions with the highest impression sites, of course; though the perfect scenario is high impression and absolutely aligned something that is travel-focused with a large audience. Typically, bloggers have a smaller audience but are much better aligned, and thats why its a wash. It turns out to be a classic reach versus composition issue. She adds: Ultimately what wed all like to be doing is reach and frequency as well as content alignment. The right people, and a lot of them.
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Blogs are a lesser quality that you have to be engaged in if you dont tend to them, they will eat you alive.
Fischs comments exemplified many respondents frustration: Blogs are a lesser quality that you have to be engaged in if you dont tend to them, they will eat you alive. Many respondents shared Fischs frustration with blogs generally lower level of journalistic skill and professionalism, yet noted that this is also extremely different on a case-by-case basis. Stratacomms Osmundson, for example, notes that blogs in the electric vehicle community often exhibit very high expertise, quality, passion and professionalism. Stratacomm has automotive industry clients in that space, she says.
Tony Fisch President, tony Fisch Consulting
At least one respondent wants a special place in Hell reserved for message boards. Message boards are the biggest challenge to come along with digital media sites, says Fisch. With Facebook or Twitter, you sort of know where you stand right away. But message boards, sheesh there are a lot of idiots out there. You have to get alerts all day long. Real time is important, because a lot can happen if you dont head it off.
Goal: Identify the level of influence (among our target audience) of different influencers, conversations & venues
Goal: Identify the Level of Influence of Audience
Identify the Level of Influence (Among Our Target Audience) of Different Influencers, Conversations & Venues
fIGuRE 7
IMPORTAnCE
7.98 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
2% 2%
11%
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7%
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11%
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23%
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21%
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25%
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34
6.16 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
4% 2
7%
3
11%
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23%
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11%
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14%
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18%
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11%
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4% 10
TOOL EffECTIvEnESS
5.25 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
5% 11%
2 3
18%
4
35%
5
11% 5% 9%
6 7 8
4%4% 9 10
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Among our survey respondents, the goal of determining the level of influence of different influencers scored far lower than identifying the topics that people are talking about or identifying where influence exists, regardless of level. The goal of diving deeper into the details of influence garnered only a 7.98 average rating, with only 25% rating this goal a 10. Those are big gaps from the three top-scoring goals (Figures 2, 4 and 6). The tools were not judged altogether helpful, with a 5.25 average rating. And survey respondents rated their own effectiveness in this category at only 6.16. Its not that knowing the level of influence of different influencers is unimportant, says Fisch. The real problem is that the tools barely make a dent in this, not the least because its a moving target level of influence can change in real time, in an instant. The few top influencers are fairly consistent, of course but you dont need fancy tools to know who they are. Osmundson points out that this, too, varies from market to market. She says, for example, in the electric vehicle community, bloggers tend to be more influential than any other source. The spectrum of the automotive industry is so broad, and the EV community is so focused on that one issue, and so very passionate. They are getting down to the nitty-gritty information that the EV community wants. As a result, theyre the ones the people are reading, and they are influencing the trade publications, Osmundson explains.
Goal: Identify our organizations own influence

Goal: Identify Our Own Influence
Identify Our Organizations Own Influence
fIGuRE 8
IMPORTAnCE
7.91 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
2% 2%
5%
12%
5
4% 6
9%
7
14%
8
12%
9
40%
10
12 3
5.84 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
2%
7%
2
9%
3
7%
4
19%
5
21%
6
11%
7
11%
8
7% 7%
9 10
TOOL EffECTIvEnESS
5.30 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
2%
9%
2
9%
3
9%
4
40%
5
5% 7%
6 7
11% 5% 4%
8 9 10
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Elsewhere in this survey, respondents ranked Establishing thought leadership as the number one use of their social media monitoring analyses (Figure 11). That said, however, they rated this goal of measuring their own influence in the bottom half of the seven goals offered in the survey despite the obvious connection between the two. Interestingly, the goal scored a relatively high number of 10s 40% of respondents but the scoring dropped off fast after that, yielding a middling 7.91 average rating. Tools are not deemed very useful, with a 5.30 average rating. Survey respondents rated their own effectiveness only at 5.84 out of 10. This is a curious result that bears deeper investigation; were planning to look into it in a future article. In our interviews for this report, respondents frustration with the available tools took precedence; thus, this issue was not explored in the interviews.
Goal: determine in what venues our targeted customers/prospects (audience) are hanging out in social media
Locating their audiences is an extremely important goal to 25% of respondents but ranked 7.68 on average second-to-last. Sixty-three percent of respondents gave existing tools for this goal a grade of 5 or lower, for an overall average rating of 5.22. This frustration with available tools is also reflected in respondents rating of their own audience-finding skills 5.88 out of 10.
Goal: Where Our Audience is Hanging Out

Determine in What Venues Our Targeted Customers/Prospects (Audiences) are Hanging Out in Social Media
fIGuRE 9
IMPORTAnCE
7.68 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
2%
3% 2%
13%
5
6%
6
16%
7
18%
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16%
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25%
10
1 3 4
5.88 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
3% 3% 1 2
10%
3
10%
4
21%
5
13%
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10%
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18%
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6% 6%
9 10
TOOL EffECTIvEnESS
5.22 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
2%
12%
2
12%
3
7%
4
32%
5
10%
6
6%
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9%
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6% 4%
9 10
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In other research, weve found that finding where your audience congregates in social media is important when considering paid media approaches that complement owned and earned media. However, these results suggest that when listening and reacting, content trumps location for many PR professionals. The gathering place becomes less important than whats being said, says Shea. In practice, if someone is out there saying something negative about my brand, I dont care if theyre on Facebook or Twitter or some specific topic-focused blog. I dont care where they are, I just want to solve that issue.
Goal: Identify audiences product preferences, use cases, and other product-related behavior
Goal: Product-Related Behavior
IMPORTAnCE
7.46 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Identify Audiences Product Preferences, Use Cases, and Other Product-Related Behavior
fIGuRE 10
7%
1
2%
5%
2%
4%4%
12%
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23%
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16%
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26%
10
2 3 4 5 6
5.61 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
7% 5% 9%
1 2 3
7%
4
16%
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14%
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18%
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18%
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7%
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TOOL EffECTIvEnESS
4.81 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
5% 11%
1 2
11%
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12%
4
32%
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11%
6
9%
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4% 8
7%
9
Not my department? Perhaps; but whatever the reason, only 26% of survey respondents rated this goal as extremely important, and its average rating is the surveys lowest for a top goal: 7.46. Tools also register the surveys worst grade, 4.81. And survey respondents own effectiveness in achieving this goal came in last place as well, with an average 5.61 rating. This goal appears not to be critical to the majority of PR professionals.
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Customers are surprised that a company is doing the right thing. The feedback has been very positive.
Carrey Osmundson Account Supervisor, Stratacomm
However, its important in certain cases. It became an important goal for Stratacomm when a client that makes an aftermarket sunroof had a product recall. Because their products are aftermarket, they dont have the luxury of knowing who all of their customers are, Osmundson explains. She describes how Stratacomm used listening tools to hone in on certain keywords they expected to find in posts related to the problem that led to the recall. They would then engage commenters who may have been affected by the problem. When they find an affected customer and inform them that they are eligible for compensation due to the recall, the customers are often surprised at the proactive nature of the companys response. Customers are surprised that a company is doing the right thing. The feedback has been very positive, Osmundson says.
How important to your organization are the following uses of the insights you obtain via social media listening?
Whats most interesting about this ranking of 15 uses of the insights obtained from social media monitoring is the extreme diversity that we found when we dug beneath the surface. For example, the top-ranked use, Establish brand thought leadership, scored 10s from only 24% of respondents but achieved its No. 1 rank because 18% rated it a 9 and 26% awarded it an 8. The most 10s 29% were awarded to Crisis management, but that use managed to rank only seventh because of a steep drop off after all those 10s. Of note, we found several instances where a use scored a high concentration of 10s yet ranked relatively low: Customer service had 26% 10s yet ranked sixth; Measure success of marketing campaigns also had 26% 10s yet ranked fifth; Make the case for social media to executive management had 24% 10s yet ranked tenth. These results paint a picture of many different uses that are extremely important to different subsets of respondents. When a crisis occurs, for example, all else melts away until it is mitigated. More than any other result, this one speaks profoundly about the growing importance and influence of social media and, particularly, social media monitoring analysis. It shows that there is a strong foundation of many different, equally important, uses underlying the hype and the sound bites about social media. And it attests to the role of social media monitoring in achieving the insights necessary to enable those uses.
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Importance of Social Echo Insight uses

Establish brand thought leadership
7.95 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
2% 2%
fIGuRE 11
IMPORTAnCE
6%
11%
6
13%
7
14 5
26%
8
18%
9
23%
10
Optimization of brand messaging

7.78 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 5% 5%
4 5
15%
6
15%
7
20%
8
20%
9
20%
10
Increase web traffic

7.76 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
2%
5%
4
7%
5
11%
6
15%
7
13%
8
27%
9
20%
10
Measure impact of marketing/product announcements

7.47 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
2% 2%2%
5%
7%
5
9%
6
20%
7
15%
8
15%
9
123 4
24%
10
Measure success of marketing campaigns

7.36 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
2% 2%
4% 7%
4
9%
5
7%
6
16%
7
13%
8
15%
9
12 3
26%
10
Customer service
7.24 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
2%
6%
3
11%
4
7%
5
15%
6
7%
7
13%
8
15%
9
26%
10
Crisis management
7.18 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 5%
1
2% 2%
5%
15%
5
9%
6
13%
7
6%
8
15%
9
23 4
29%
10
Customer acquisition
7.07 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 4% 4% 5%
2 3 4
13%
5
20%
6
5%
7
18%
8
9%
9
22%
10
Customer research
7.02 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
2%
4% 2% 5%
4
7%
5
18%
6
13%
7
18%
8
1 2 3
24%
9
7%
10
Make the case for social media to executive management

7.00 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
2%
5% 5%
2 3
2%
16%
5
7%
6
15%
7
13%
8
11%
9
24%
10
Competitive analysis
6.93 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 4%4% 5% 5%
1 2 3 4
11%
5
5%
6
15%
7
20%
8
15%
9
16%
10
Optimize product-related demand generation campaigns

6.62 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 6% 4% 2% 7%
1 2 3 4
18%
5
9%
6
11%
7
15%
8
15%
9
15%
10
Risk management
6.42 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 6%
1
2%
6%
3
9%
4
18%
5
15%
6
9%
7
6%
8
15%
9
16%
10
Test new ideas

6.40 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 4% 5% 5%
1 2 3
9%
4
13%
5
9%
6
18%
7
13%
8
11%
9
13%
10
Product development
5.36 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 9%
1
9%
2
6%
3
15%
4
15%
5
11%
6
11%
7
11%
8
13%
9
2%
10
16
............
Which of the following social media venues are most important to your organization?
There are no surprises in this ranking of important social media venues, with Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn ranked one, two and three. The growing popularity of video-based services such as YouTube is evidenced in a fourth-place rank. From there, there is a steep fall-off to Google+ and location-based services, which suggests their nascent nature.
Importance of different Social Media venues

facebook
8.09 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 4% 2%
1 3
fIGuRE 12
IMPORTAnCE
13%
5
6%
6
7%
7
9%
8
17%
9
43%
10
Twitter
7.74 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 4% 2%2% 4%
1 23 4
15%
5
7%
7
13%
8
20%
9
33%
10
LinkedIn
6.91 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 6%
1
2%
4% 4%
17%
5
7%
6
15%
7
11%
8
17%
9
2 3 4
19%
10
video-based services
5.85 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ 17%
1
4% 2% 6%
2 3 4
9%
5
11%
6
20%
7
13%
8
11%
9
7%
10
Google+
4.76 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
20%
1
11%
2
6%
3
7%
4
19%
5
2%
17%
7
7% 4% 7%
8 9 10
Location-based services
4.69 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
28%
1
7% 4% 7%
2 3 4
11%
5
7%
6
15%
7
9%
8
4% 7%
9 10
Photo-based services
4.65 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
20%
1
9%
2
7%
3
6%
4
19%
5
9%
6
17%
7
4% 6% 4%
8 9 10
Coupon services
2.94 average \\\\\\\\\\
52%
1
11%
2
6%
3
2%
13%
5
4% 6% 4%4%
6 7 9 10
17
............
Conclusion: these hills will be climbed

Reviewing the results of our survey and follow-up interviews, its hard not to feel daunted by the challenges they suggest. Respondents complaints about current social media listening tools strike at the heart of truly hard technology challenges. For example, addressing respondents concerns about false positives, difficulties with vernacular and colloquialisms and sentiment analysis all require a machine to understand the nuances of unstructured text. That technical challenge is several orders of magnitude harder than the current state-of-the-art for listening tools. IBM made extraordinary and very public progress with this challenge in February 2011 with its now-famous Watson computers Jeopardy! triumph, but Watson-like capability is still years away from becoming a cloud service that small- and medium-sized businesses can afford. Then there is the sheer volume of data required for Social Echo analysis. It is no coincidence that the technology industrys so-called big data problem has erupted in the last few years right alongside social media. Social networks are a major new source of exponentially growing mountains of data. And yet it is also no coincidence that the technology industry is so rapidly refocusing its resources on that big data problem! Reading down the list of Social Echo uses in Figure 11, you realize that the potential value to be created by social media monitoring is just as extraordinary as the technology solutions required to achieve it. Capturing a portion of that value as revenue is whats motivating so many technology companies to address the large business intelligence/analytics problems, including social media monitoring tools. And look at how much our respondents have achieved with the tools they have. Our respondents described countless high-value insights from their monitoring of social media, even though those insights required more effort and, therefore, greater cost than the respondents wished. WaveJets ability to adjust and optimize its messaging so rapidly, or Stratacomms finding people with faulty sunroofs wherever they are in America, would be unthinkable without social media monitoring. And these two examples only begin to scratch the surface of an infinite number of social media monitoring possibilities. In short, the overriding sense to emerge from our survey and interviews is that social media monitoring has the potential to generate so much valuable insight for organizations across so many organizational disciplines, that it is only a matter of time before its challenges are conquered.
18
............
About PR newswire
PR Newswire (www.prnewswire.com) is the premier global provider of multimedia platforms and solutions that enable marketers, corporate communicators, sustainability officers, public affairs and investor relations officers to leverage content to engage with all their key audiences. Having pioneered the commercial news distribution industry 56 years ago, PR Newswire today provides end-to-end solutions to produce, optimize and target content from rich media to online video to multimedia and then distribute content and measure results across traditional, digital, social, search and mobile channels. Combining the worlds largest multi-channel, multi-cultural content distribution and optimization network with comprehensive workflow tools and platforms, PR Newswire enables the worlds enterprises to engage opportunity everywhere it exists. Among its suite of audience engagement and workflow solutions, PR Newswire includes the ARC engagement platform, which enables marketers to distribute and optimize multimedia across all digital channels, and Social Media Monitoring, which enables the measurement of brands Social Echo, including sentiment. PR Newswire serves tens of thousands of clients from offices in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, and is a UBM plc company.
19
............
(888) 776-0942 www.prnewswire.com

The Social Echo Survey - Measures That Matter

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The Social Echo Survey - Measures That Matter

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The Social Echo Survey: Measures That Matter

ENGAGE OPPORTUNITY EVERYWHERE

ENGAGE OPPORTUNITY EVERYWHERE

The Social Echo Survey: Measures That Matter

Executive Summary: A Growing Gap

RePoRt The Social Echo Survey

ENGAGE OPPORTUNITY EVERYWHERE

What Our Audience Really Cares About

Identify Our Own Influence

What Matters to the Media Editors

7.91 5.84 5.30 7.68 5.88 5.22 7.46 5.61 4.81

Where Our Audience is Hanging Out

Influential Bloggers on Brand-Related Topics

Identify the Level of Influence of Audience

Copyright 2011 PR Newswire Association LLC. All Rights Reserved.

RePoRt The Social Echo Survey

ENGAGE OPPORTUNITY EVERYWHERE

frustration With Existing Listening Tools

Copyright 2011 PR Newswire Association LLC. All Rights Reserved.

RePoRt The Social Echo Survey

ENGAGE OPPORTUNITY EVERYWHERE

Charlene Blohm President, C. Blohm & Associates Inc.

Goal: Identify the topics/issues our audience really cares about

RePoRt The Social Echo Survey

ENGAGE OPPORTUNITY EVERYWHERE

Goal: What Our Audience Cares About

RePoRt The Social Echo Survey

ENGAGE OPPORTUNITY EVERYWHERE

Approaches to determine Issues Audiences Care About

Track topical keywords occurrence in relevant social venues

Analysis of positive/negative/neutral sentiments about trending topics

find out and follow who they follow

Analysis of speed of change in sentiment

Robin Shea Senior Manager of Consumer engagement , Funjet Vacations

RePoRt The Social Echo Survey

ENGAGE OPPORTUNITY EVERYWHERE

Goal: What Matters to Media Editors

8.62 average \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Copyright 2011 PR Newswire Association LLC. All Rights Reserved.

RePoRt The Social Echo Survey

ENGAGE OPPORTUNITY EVERYWHERE

Approaches to determine What Really Matters to Media Editors

determine their influence on relevant topics

Analysis of editors positive/negative/neutral sentiments about trending topics

determine their influence among their followers

Analyze their lists/followers/friends

RePoRt The Social Echo Survey

ENGAGE OPPORTUNITY EVERYWHERE

Goal: Influential Bloggers on Brand-Related Topics

Copyright 2011 PR Newswire Association LLC. All Rights Reserved.

RePoRt The Social Echo Survey

ENGAGE OPPORTUNITY EVERYWHERE

Tony Fisch President, tony Fisch Consulting

Copyright 2011 PR Newswire Association LLC. All Rights Reserved.

RePoRt The Social Echo Survey

ENGAGE OPPORTUNITY EVERYWHERE

Goal: Identify our organizations own influence

Copyright 2011 PR Newswire Association LLC. All Rights Reserved.

RePoRt The Social Echo Survey

ENGAGE OPPORTUNITY EVERYWHERE

Goal: Where Our Audience is Hanging Out

Copyright 2011 PR Newswire Association LLC. All Rights Reserved.