ciprsm guide to social media monitoring

7/28/2019 CIPRSM Guide to Social Media Monitoring

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CONTENTS

Introduction................................................................................................... 3

Whatissocialmediamonitoring(andwhatisnt)? .......................................... 5

Whymonitorsocialmedia?............................................................................. 8

MonitoringTools:Costsandpricingmodels ..................................................13

Profilesofkeymonitoringtools .....................................................................15

Creatingandusingmonitoringworkflows..................................................... 20

Appendix ...................................................................................................... 24

Contributors ................................................................................................. 25


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INTRODUCTION

Theincreasingimportanceofsocialmediainhelpingsetandshapethenewsagendaaswell

asinfluencepublicbehaviourmeansmoreandmorepublicrelations(PR)professionalsare

takinganinterestinunderstandinghowitcanimpactonorganisationalreputation.Making

senseofthissociallymediatedworld,however,posesanumberofchallengestothose

seekingtostayabreastofandproactivelymanageorganisationalissues.Itisno

exaggerationtosuggestthatthesheervolumeofsocialmediaconversationsandonline

contentbeingproducedandthespeedwithandscaleonwhichitisdistributedis

somethingthathasneverbeenwitnessedbeforenow.Sysomos,aleadingsocialmedia

monitoringandanalyticscompanyclaimstogathermorethan16millionnewpostsevery

hour,fromsourcesincludingblogs,forums,newssites,Twitter,YouTube,Facebook,Flickr,

LinkedInandnumerousothersocialnetworkservices.1

Tohelporganisationscopewiththisexplosionofinformationanever-increasingrangeof

toolsandserviceshaveemergeddesignedtohelporganisationstrackandhelpanalysethe

vastquantityofsocialmediacontentandconversationsbeingproduced.Thequantityandqualityofthesesocialmediamonitoring(SMM)toolsandservicesonofferhaschanged

dramaticallyoverthepastfiveyears.Fromarelativelysmallnumberoffreebutoften

unreliableonlineservicesorcommercialtoolsoperatedprimarilybystart-uptechnology

companiestheindustryhasmaturedswiftlyboththroughrapidinnovationand

acquisitionsbylarge,establishedbusinesses,suchasGoogle,SalesforceandMarketwire.2

Suchatransformationhasmadesocialmediamonitoringanincreasinglyprofessional,

reliableandpowerfulassetfororganisationswishingtostayabreastofandactively

managetheirsocialreputation.Ithasalso,however,createdahighlycomplicatedand

diverselandscapeforbuyersandprofessionalswantingtoinvesttime,moneyand

knowledgeinidentifyingandusingthemostappropriatetoolfortheirneeds.

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SocialmediamonitoringmadeeasywithSysomos,Sysomos, http://www.sysomos.com/social-media-monitoring/ 2SocialMediaMonitoringServicesReport,April2012Edition,Cipher,http://www.cipher-

sys.com/Cipher%20Social%20Media%20Monitoring%20Providers%20final2012.pdf


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Itisnosurprisethenthatinarecentreportthebusinessintelligenceconsultancy,Ideya,

identifiedapproximately250socialmediamonitoringtoolsonoffer,spanningarangeof

differentcommercialmodelsandspecialisms.Theirreportconcluded:Selectingtheright

socialmediamonitoringtoolsisnowachallengingtaskfororganisationsassocialmediatechnologybusinesshasbranchedoutintoadiversesetoftechnologies,datatypesand

countlessvendors.Newtoolsandservicesareemergingcontinually,whilealready

establishedSMMcompaniesarefrequentlyimprovingtheirproductsbyintroducingnew

featurestoaccommodatetheirclientsspecificneeds.3

ThispotentiallyconfusingrealityissomethingthatCIPRmembershavealsoexpressedto

theorganisation.Inarecentsurveyofmembersneeds,themostpopularresponsebyfar

wasforbestpracticeguidanceonsocialmedia,withanalysisandmeasurementreceiving

specificmention.AndagaininitsStateoftheProfession2013report,membersalso

identifiedmanagingsocialanddigitalmediaasbeingthebiggestfuturechallengesthey

faced.

Itisinthiscontextthatthisguidehasbeendeveloped.Itaimstoprovideaconciseand

usefulstartingplaceforPRpractitionerswantingtounderstandtherangeandpotential

benefitsofdifferentsocialmediamonitoringtoolsandservice.Whileitaimstobeas

comprehensiveaspossible,itisimpracticaltocaptureeveryaspectofsucharapidly

changingcommercialandtechnologicalfield.Recognisingthisreality,theguidewillfocus

onthefollowingelements:

WhatissocialmediamonitoringandwhyshouldPRprofessionalsstartmonitoring? Whatarethedifferentpricingmodelsofsocialmediamonitoringtools? Alistandprofileofkeysocialmediamonitoringtools(includingfreeproviders) Howorganisationscangetthemostoutofsocialmediamonitoringbyestablishing

workflowstohelpimplementandmanageinsights

Thisguidefocusesonsocialmediamonitoringtools,asopposedtodedicatedanalyticspackages,contentmanagementtools,andengagementplatforms.4

3SocialMediaMonitoringToolsandServicesReport2013,Ideya,http://www.slideshare.net/croakun/smm-tools-report-

excerpts-09072012final4Itisenvisagedthattheserelatedareasofsocialmediaanalysisandmanagementmaybecomethesubjectoffuture

guidesfromtheCIPRSocialMediaPanel


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WHATISSOCIALMEDIAMONITORING

(ANDWHATISNT)?

Itisimportanttodistinguishbetweenmonitoringsocialmediaontheonehand,and

analysingwhathasbeensaidaboutyouontheotherhand.Theaimofdoingtheminunison

istogainactionableinsightsthathelpinformyourcommunicationstrategy.

Asimpledefinitionofsocialmediamonitoringis:thedetectionofwhenandwhereyour

brandhasbeenmentionedontheweb.Bycontrastasimpledefinitionofsocialmedia

analyticsis:theabilitytounderstandwhatsbeingsaidaboutyourbrand,includingthe

frequencyofmentions,thereachofmentions,theinfluenceofthosesourcesandthe

sentimentfelttowardsthebrand.

Monitoringinitssimplestformisbothanartandscience.FormanyPRprofessionalsitwas

firstmadepopularbytheabilitytosetGoogleAlertsfiveorsixyearsago.Therearenow

dozensoftoolsavailable,bothfreeandpaidforthatcanenablePRprofessionalstotrack

theirbrandsonlineinclosetorealtime(seesection5foranoverviewofproviders).

Socialmediamonitoringofyourbrandcanbefocusedsolelyonestablished,self-contained

socialmediachannelslikeTwitter,FacebookorYouTube,oritcanincludementionsofthe

brandacrossthewebincludingdiscussionboards,threadswithinforums,blogs,orthe

commentssectionsofonlinenewssites,suchasMailOnlineorGuardianOnline.

MostmonitoringtoolsusekeywordsorsequencesofwordstoscanRSSfeeds5ortocrawl

thousandsofwebsiteslookingformatches.Whiletheyusetechnologicallycomplextools,

suchascustom-builtwebspidersandproprietarysearchengines,theultimateaimofsocial

mediamonitoringistodiscoverallthecontentrelevanttoanorganisation,brandor

specificissueinatimelyfashion.

5RSS,WIkipedia,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rss


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Thewiderthesearchiscast,however,themorecontentisreturned.Withthepotentialfor

largevolumesofsocialmediacontenttobeidentifieditbecomesessentialtoidentifyand

removeunnecessaryorirrelevantmentionstoallowforameaningfulanalysistotakeplace.

Manycommercialmonitoringtoolsprovidethisascorefunctionalityoftheirtechnology,whilefreetoolsrequiremanualevaluationforspamcontent.

Similarly,manycommercialprovidersofferautomatedsentimentanalysiswhichcanbe

usefulforbrandswithhighvolumesofsocialmediacontent.However,automatedanalysis

oftencanbeunreliableandsohumaninterventionandmanualevaluationremainsan

importantactivityofanybrandsmonitoringtoolkit.

Theabilitytoreturnmeaningfulresultscanalsovarydramaticallydependingonthekey

wordsortermsusedtosearchforsocialmediacontent.Forinstanceasearchtermsuchas,

Asda,referstoboththeUK-basedsupermarket,theAdriaticSeaDefenceandAerospace

2013exhibition,andtheAmericanStudentDentalAssociation.Otherbrandsareevenmore

genericthanothersandsotakingtimetocreaterelevantsearchtermsandremoving

inappropriatecontentisessentialtoensuremonitoringtoolsreturnhighqualityresults.

Giventhesecomplexvariables,nomonitoringsystemiseverfailsafeandsmartPR

professionalswillalwaysensuretheirinternalstakeholdersareawareoftheselimitations.

Thatsaid,inrecentyearsthePRprofessionalsabilitytospotanddealwithissuesbefore

theyescalateintocriseshasbeengreatlyaidedbysocialmediamonitoring.

Forexample,atthesharpendofsocialmediamonitoring,brandsareabletoconductreal

timedetectionandinstantanalysis.Formanybrandsthisimmediacyisessentialtoensure

theyareeffectivelymanagingtheirreputations.However,itshouldbenotedthatwhile

automatedtoolsaregreatatsettingoffanalarm,anexperiencedhumaneyeisoften

neededtoensureitisnotafalsealarm.Onceagain,manualevaluationiskeytopreventing

needlessactionbeingtakenorthewrongconclusionsjumpedto.

Lesstime-sensitiveanalysisenablesbrandstogathertogethercontentoveranextendedperiodoftimewhichcanthenbepluggedintoananalyticalsystemorsentimentanalysis


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tool-eitherpartofacommercialpackageorseparateonlineplatforms-toelicitkeytrends

andswingsinconsumerbehaviour.Thistypeofdataanalysisisbestusedinordertoderive

clear,actionableinsightsforthebrand.

Anoftenignoredelementofsocialmediamonitoringistheassessmentofimpact.Amidall

theonlinenoiseoneofthemostimportantthingstodoistoclarify,quantitativelyand

qualitatively,justhowinfluentialthenoiseis.Iftenpercentof5,000voicesareallshouting

aboutonething,it'simportanttodealwiththatonething,butbalanceitagainstallthe

mentions.Atthesametimeitisimportanttorecogniseasinglevoiceinacrowdof5,000

couldhavemoreimpactthanalltherestputtogether.Influenceisacombinationof

statisticalanalysisandhumanjudgement.

Finally,carefulthoughtshouldbegiveninadvancetosocialmediamonitoringandanalysis

intermsofhowtheorganisationwillreact,ifatall,towhatisfound.Creating

organisationalworkflowtoolsareanincreasinglyimportantelementofsocialmedia

monitoringandcandictatehowinformationmoveseffectivelythroughanorganisation.

SmoothlinesofcommunicationwithotherfunctionsinthebusinesssuchasPR(ifyouare

notwithinPR),customerservicesormarketingareabsolutelyparamount,asareclearlines

ofaccountability.Understandingthetouchpointsandhandoverpointsisalmostas

importantasspottingthecontentinthefirstplace,asinstitutionalinertiaorsimple

duplicationofeffortcanexacerbatetheissueratherthanfixit(seesection6formoreon

creatingworkflows).

Inmostcasesitiswisetofollowathreestepapproach:listen,engageandinfluence.

Listeningthroughmonitoringcanestablishrelativelyquicklyhowoftenyourbrandis

referenced,andhowmanyofthosementionsaresignificant.Spottingcustomersindistress

andswiftlypassingthosetoacustomerserviceteamempoweredtohelpisagoodstarting

point.Spottingandharnessingpositiveopportunitiescanthenquicklyfollow.Beginninga

programmeofoutwardengagementinformedbymonitoringandanalysiscanleadto

effectivecommunitybuilding.


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WHYMONITORSOCIALMEDIA?

Doyoureallyneedabusinesscase?

Itseemsaratherquaintideathatbrandsandorganisationsshouldhavetogothroughtheprocessofcreatingabusinesscaseformonitoringsocialmedia.Afterall:

Howlongagodidyourorganisationcreateabusinesscaseforhavingacontactnumberonyourmarketingmaterialsandwebsiteoracustomerservice

email/number?

Didyouhaveaboardmeetingtoallowyourcommunicationsteamtoread,watchorlistentomediaforindustryinformationandyourbrandorcompetitormentions?

Howdidyoudecidethatusingcustomerfocusandtestgroupstotrialnewproducts/serviceswarrantedinvestment?

Thesearefundamentaldecisionsfororganisationswantingtolistentopeoplewhocould

makeapositiveornegativeimpactontheirreputation,profitabilityandlongevity.

Customershaveneverbeenpassivebuttherehasbeenadramaticshiftinconsumer

behaviour-theyareincreasinglychoosingsocialmediatovent,expectingtimelyandpublic

responsesfromorganisations.Equally,customerscanbepassionateandvocalbrand

supportersandorganisationstunedintothepositivethingsthattheyhavetosaycan

understandmoreaboutwhatarethesuccessfulelementsoftheirbrands,productsor

services.

Therealityisthatanyorganisationwishingtobemarket-orientated,competitiveand

customerfocusedintoday'seconomyshouldnothavetocreateabusinesscaseforany

opportunitytolistentoitsstakeholders.Mostimportantly,itmustbepreparedtodo

somethingwiththeinsightsthatitgainsfromlistening.


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WhatarethebenefitsofsocialmonitoringandhowcanIbuildabusiness

case?

Thebenefitsofusingamixoftechniquestoeffectivelylistento,trackandquantifythose

thingsbeingsaidaboutyouandyourcompetitorsaremanifoldforcompanies,regardless

ofsize.Theprocesswillbeeasierforsomethatothersanddependsonmanyfactors

includingaudiencesize,location,languageandtheplatformswhereconversationsare

takingplace.

Aneffectiveapproachistocreateabusinesscasethatincludesbusinessbenefitsand

considersobjectivesfromacrosstheorganisation.Table1setsoutsometypicalsocial

medialisteningobjectivesfromorganisationswithamatureapproachtomonitoring.

Table1-Exampleorganisationalobjectivesforsocialmediamonitoring

Organisationalteam Examplemonitoringobjectives

Communicationsteam Identifyrisksandissuesatanearlystage

Identifyexistingandemerginginfluentialonlinevoices

Benchmarkandmeasuresentiment(againstcompetitors)

MarketingTeam

Testeffectivenessofcreatives/campaigns

Pre-testcelebritysentimentbeforeendorsement(ASOS)

Benchmarkandmeasureshareofvoice

Monitoringforindustrytrends Identifyrelevantemergentsocial

mediaplatforms


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SalesTeam Identifypotentialbusinessgenerationleads

Identifycustomerdissatisfaction Identifypurchaseconsiderationsand

helpwithcustomerjourneymapping

Research&DevelopmentTeam Improveproduct/servicedevelopment

Identifygapsinthemarket

HumanResources/Learning&DevelopmentTeam

Identifypotentialcandidates

MonitorcompetitorrecruitmentandL&Dactivity

CustomerServiceTeam

Spotpositiveandnegativetrendsbeyonddirectcustomercontact

Identifyrisksandpotentialissuesatanearlystage

Theseareahandfulofobjectivesfromaselectionofdepartments.Starttoapplyyourown

businessanddepartmentalobjectivestoyourchallengesandthebusinesscasebecomes

obviousdoesn'tit?However,thereisasignificantbusinesscost.Freemonitoringtoolsexist

butusingthemmeansthatorganisationsruntheriskofmissingvitalcommentsand

monitoringawiderangeofonlineandemergingsocialmediaplatforms.Usingthosefree

toolswillalsotieupresourceandareusuallyafalseeconomyasthequalityofthedatais

oftenpoorandtheiranalyticstoolslimited.

Enterprisemonitoringtoolsarestillintheirinfancybutrequiresignificanttoolandresource

investment.Mostcompaniesarenowbeyondtheexperimentalstagewithsocialmediaand

arefocusingonoptimisingtheirsocialactivity,includingunderstandinghownuggetsfrom

socialdatacanfeedintoactionableinsightsforthebusiness.Organisationsregardedas

havingmaturesocialmonitoringstrategiesandprocesseshavebeendoingthisatan

enterpriselevelfor7-8years.


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Whoisbestplacedtomonitorsocialmedia?

Theanswercanbedeterminedbyasking:Whyareyoudoingthisandwhatdoyouwantto

gainfrommonitoring?Howareyoumanagingthemonitoring-analysis-actionelements

ofyoursocialmonitoringstrategy?Whatareyoupreparedtodowiththeinsightsthatyougain?Whoisbestplacedtocreatethemostvalueforthebusinesswiththeinsightsthat

theyuncover?

Manyorganisationsthathavebeenmonitoringsocialmediaforaconsiderableperiodof

timehaveevolvedtheirobjectivesandhowmonitoring,analysisandactionisresourced.

Manyhavedevolvedresponsibilityfromanindividualinthedigital,marketingor

communicationsteam,whomighthaveusedanagencyorsocialmediamonitoringfora

singlemarcommspurpose,throughtoaseparateteamstaffedbyteammemberswith

widerobjectivesandablendofcustomerservice,communicationandanalyticsskills.

The3mostcommonresourcingscenariosare:

1. Resourceisanissuefortheorganisationsomonitoringisdonebyanexternalagency/consultantwithagreedmonitoringhoursandresponses/workflows.

2. Monitoringisdonein-housebyindividualorindividualsonarotasystemsuchasacommunitymanagerorsocialmediamanagerwithagreedmonitoringhoursand

responses/workflows.

3. Someorganisationssplittheresponsibilitiesbetweenmonitoring/workflow(i.e.ensuringthaturgentcomments/conversationsareidentified,contextualisedand

traffickedtoothersintheorganisation-Seesection)andanalytics/insight(i.e.

summaryofdeepqualitativefindingsandpossiblerecommendationsforasenior

teamtoreviewandaction).

Dellareanexampleofoneofthemostmaturesocialbusinessesandtheyhaveevolved

theirsociallisteningintoateammonitoring25,000+mentionsoftheirproductsand

servicesinanyonedayin11languages.TheDellSocialMediaCommandCenter6isasmall

6DellSocialMediaCommandCenter;Dell;http://www.dell.com/Learn/us/en/uscorp1/videos~en/Documents~dell-social-media-command-center.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=corp


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teamusingRadian6basedmonitoringtools,butmoreimportantly,categorisationand

prioritisationworkflowsandprocessestoensurethatappropriatecommentsareescalated

whennecessaryandsenttotheappropriatecountry,team,departmenttoactupon.Their

socialmediamonitoringmantrais:Listen,Engage,Act.

London2012'ssmallteamofspecialistsocialmediaanalystswithablendofresearchandPR

skillsmonitoredmillionsofconversationsadayusingablendofmonitoring,visualisation

andanalyticstools.Theyanalysedinrealtime,providinginstanthighlightstothemedia

centreintheOlympicParkandprioritisedandtraffickedissuesfornominatedteam

membersfromLOCOGandsupportorganisationstoactupon.

WheredoIstart?

Whenstartingyoursocialmediamonitoringjourney,createclearobjectivesbylookingat

overallbusinessobjectivesanddepartmentalobjectives.Createaworkablewayof

categorisingandprioritisingonlineconversationsandcommentsthatneedtobeactioned

quickly,andconsiderwhatmorein-depthandlongerterminsightsarerequiredfromthe

dataandhowtheyshouldbereportedandfollowedup.Thebestmonitoringtoolproviders

willreviewyourobjectivesandassistwiththesetupaworkablesolution.Somewillalso

provideinitialtrainingforstaffandareviewtoensurethatthetoolisworkingtoyourbest

advantage.


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MONITORINGTOOLS:

COSTSANDPRICINGMODELS

Althoughthefeaturesandfunctionalityofsocialmediamonitoringtechnologyisevolvingconsistently,mostcommercialtoolshavedevelopedthreemainpricingmodels.This

sectionwillprovideashortoverviewofthethreemodelsconsideringtheirprosandcons

(SeeTable2).

Table2Socialmediamonitoringtoolsstandardpricingmodels

Pricing

type

Description Pros Cons

Volume

based

Volumebasedpricingmodels

chargeuserstoaccessaset

amountofsocialmediadata

accordingtohowmuchyou

pay.Forexample,afixed

monthlyfeeof500might

allowyoutoaccess3,000

resultsspreadacrossthe

month.Ifyoursearchtermsarelikelytopushyouover

yourdatacapyouareusually

alertedandgiventhe

opportunitytomovetothe

nextpricingband.

Goodforpractitioners

whowanttheabilityto

accesshighqualitydata

andundertakerobust

analysisbutknowthat

theirorganisationor

particularissueis

unlikelytogenerate

massappealorinterest.Additionally,youcan

monitordifferentissues

bychangingyoursearch

termsasoftenasyou

like,providingyoudont

exceedyourdatacap.

Ifyoursocialmedia

strategystartstowork

andvolumesof

discussionincrease

incrementally,an

initiallylow-costservice

maybecomecostly

requiringgreater

investmentorthe

inconvenienceof

switchingtoanother

monitoringprovider.

Unexpectedcrises

creatingasuddenburst

ofhigh-volume

conversationswhichitis

essentialtoaccessmight

alsoboostcosts.


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Search

based

Searchbasedtoolsenable

youtoaccessasmuchdataas

isnecessarybutusersare

limitedtospecifiedamount

ofsearches.Forexample,if

youwanttomonitorwhat

peoplearesayingaboutyour

brandandtwoofitsproducts

youmightneedtorunthree

separatesearches.Ifyour

monitoringtoollimitsyouto

twosearchesthenyoumight

notbeabletomonitorallthe

areasyourequire.Toolsusing

thispricingmodelusually

offeraminimumnumberof

searchesandallowyouto

expandthenumberof

searchesbyincreasingthe

monthlycost.

Thismodelprovides

instantaccesstoan

unlimitedrangeofdata

ensuringusersdon't

missessentialconversationsifthe

volumeofdata

increases.

Whileyougainaccessto

completedata,youare

limitedtowhatyoucan

searchfor.Sometools

requireahighnumberofsearchesasaminimum

whichmeansthatifyou

onlywanttomonitora

limitednumberoftopics

makesthispricingmodel

unattractive.

Flatrate

Monitoringtoolsusingaflatratepricingmodeleffectively

chargeusersperlogin.They

allowusersaccesstothefull

rangeofdataavailableand

allowyoutorunasmany

searchesasyoulikebutonlya

limitednumberofpeoplecan

accessthetoolatonetime.

Theflexibilityofthesetypesoftoolsmeanyou

canmonitorawide

rangeoftopics-idealfor

agencieswithmultiple

clientsorlargein-house

teamswithawide

portfolio.Italsoenables

youtoundertakeawide

rangeofexploratoryanalysistohelpgaina

completepictureofthe

socialmedia

environmentbefore

finalisingyour

monitoringset-up.

Withpricingbasedoncappingusernumbers,

thefunctionalbenefits

ofsuchtoolsarelimited

toasmallnumberof

people.Attemptingto

bypasstheuserlimitsby

sharingloginsis

counterproductiveas

being'kickedout'ofthetoolbyanotheruser

whilstsettingupa

complexmonitoring

projectishighly

frustratingand

unproductive.


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PROFILESOFKEYMONITORINGTOOLS

Thissectionprovidesshortoverviewsofaselectionofsocialmediamonitoringtoolsused

byauthorsofthisguide.Itshouldbenotedthatthesesynopsesshouldnotbereadas

explicitrecommendationsorendorsementsofparticulartools,eitherbytheCIPRor

authorsofthisguide.Amorecompletelistofmonitoringtoolscanbefoundinthe

Appendix.

Additionally,itshouldbenotedthatmanytoolsofferarangeofdifferentfunctionality-

oftenoverlappingwithotherservicesandtechnologies.Thisguidecoversthosetoolsthat

offersocialmediamonitoringastheirprimaryfunction,asopposedtootherplatforms,

suchassocialmediaengagementtools(e.g.Tweetdeck,Hootsuite,CoTweet),socialmedia

contentmanagementtools(e.g.Sprinklr,Timely)orsocialmediaanalyticstools(e.g.

Socialbakers,Wildfire).7

Brandwatch

Brandwatchisamid-levelcost,powerfulmonitoringandanalyticstoolandwasdeveloped

intheUK.Ithasaveryresponsivecustomerteamandallcustomersareassignedan

accountmanager,whichiscriticalfororganisationslookingtosetupsocialmedia

monitoringforthefirsttime.Itsupportsandpowerssocialanalyticsandintelligence

acrosstheenterprise,enablingbrandsandagenciestomonitorandidentifykeyinsights

fromthesocialwebtomakesmarterbusinessdecisions.

BrandwatchisaTwittercertifiedproductandhasaccesstotheTwitterfirehose.ItalsocoversFacebook,YouTube,Google+andPinterestbuthasmorelimitedcoverageof

LinkedIn.Ittracksallmajorsocialnetworks(includingregion-specificoneslikeWeibo),

forums,newssites,blogsandsoon,totallingover65msourcesaday.Itdeliversbroad

coverageofonlineconversationsandinteractions,comprehensiveanalysisatauthor,topic

andchannelslevels,andaconfigurableuserexperiencethatcanbeeasilyadaptedto

7

AmoredetailedaccountofthedifferencebetweenthesetoolsandexamplesofproviderscanbefoundintheblogpostHowtoEvaluateandCompareSocialMediaTools-http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/29343/How-to-

Evaluate-and-Compare-Social-Media-Tools.aspx


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multipleusecases.Likeitscompetitors,theaccuracyrateofitsautomatedsentimentis

around70%butuserscouldusethistool,andatoollikeKred,oracombinationofother

automatedinfluencescores,tohelpsurfacepotentiallyinfluentialcommentsources.

Brandwatchsrealstrengthisitspowerfulsearchandfilteringtools.Itispoweredbyqueries

whichcaneitherbefreetextforBooleanexpertsorthemoresimplestructuredqueries

forthoseofuswhoneedalittlemorehelpmakingsearchesmorerelevant.Theuseful

previewfeatureallowsuserstocheckandfiltermonitoringresultsandrefinetheirsearch.

Thedatafilteringtoolsareeasytouseandtherearesimplewaysofexportingdatatoexcel

andCSVforevenmoreslicinganddicingandanalysis.Thechartingtoolsprovidedtendto

provideenoughvisualinformationformostorganisations.Forentrylevelusersquerydata

canbebackfilledforamonth,forpremiumusersthiscanextendto2years.

Anewdevelopmentfor2013isChannels,whichletsorganisationstracktheirowned

communitiesonsocialmediaplatforms,initiallyforFacebookonlybutotherplatformswill

follow.Beingabletotrackearnedconversationsandownedcapabilitieswithinone

platformmeansthatuserscancomparethetwoandunderstandtherelationshipbetween

them,includingwhenincreasedactivityinownedcommunities(tweets,statusupdatesetc)

filtersontootherplatforms.UserscandothisforanyFacebookpage,meaninglike-for-like

competitortrackingispossible.Brandwatchsworkflowfunctionsallowcommentstobe

assignedbyanadministratortoteammembersandcanbecategorisedandassigned

prioritylevels.Perfectforcross-departmentalissueresolutionandtracking.

Cymfony/VisibleEdge

CymfonywaspurchasedbyVisibleTechnologiesin2012andwhatwastheCymfony

MaestrotoolisnowcalledVisibleEdge.VisibleEdgeisanenterpriselevelmonitoring

solution,whichformsthefoundationofVisiblessuiteofsocialmediaanalysistools.The

softwareaddsmillionsofbothtraditionalandsocialmentionseachdayandoffersauseful

linguisticanalysisallowingforbrandmonitoringacrossmultipleterritories.Theplatformis

highlysophisticatedintermsofanalysiswiththeabilityforuserstocreatemultiple

dashboardsofmetricsmostrelevanttothemforeasyandfrequentmonitoring.Alongwith


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otherusefulfunctionality,userscancreatecampaigntimelines;trackingbrand,topicand

competitormentionswhichcanbeutilisedtoassesstheeffectivenessofmarketingactivity.

Thisisahigher-endsolutionandassuchsentimentanalysisisslightlymoreadvancedthan

othertoolsonthemarket,butmaystillrequiresomemanualinterpretation.

MeltwaterBuzz

MeltwaterBuzzhasundergonesomesignificantchangesinthelastyearorso.Thedata

sourcingandhandlingaspectofthesoftwarealwaysappearedtobeverystrongbutthe

frontendwasntveryuserfriendlyanddidntallowuserstoprovidethestrongcharts

visualsavailableviaothermonitoringtools.

Thevisualoutputswhilststillnotthebestavailablearevastlyimprovedandmorethan

acceptableformostreports.Thereisalsoanoptiontoexportdatatoexcelwhichwillallow

youtodowhateveryouneedtointermsofsegmentingandturningintocreativegraphs.

MeltwaterBuzzisfairlyuserfriendlywithlotsofkeywordoptions.Italsohasanicefeature

whichallowsyoutopreviewtheresultswhenyouaresettingupthecampaign.Ifyoudont

likewhatyouseeyoucanadjustthefilters;forexamplebysocialmediachannel,language

orgeography.Thesoftwaretracksconversationvolume,sentiment,andtrends.Meltwater

indexesthedatathatittrackssoyoucanresearchhistoricaldiscussionsgoingbacksix

months.

Thesearchelementissophisticatedandefficientprobablyatleastinpartduetothefact

thatMeltwateracquiresandincorporatedIceRocketadedicatedsearchengineintothe

product.MeltwaterBuzzindexescontentfromTwitter,Facebook,blogs,forums,reviews,andmoresothesourcesarecomprehensiveandthedatabaseholdscontentforuptosix

monthswhichisincrediblyusefulifyouneedtotrackeventsorcampaignsthathave

alreadyhappened.

Radian6

AlthoughnowpartoftheSalesforceMarketingCloudandwithanengagementconsole,

Radian6isatheartarobust,easytouseandstraightforwardmonitoringtool.Itattemptsto


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pullineverythingonline,whichmeansitincludesaccesstoalltweetsandanycontentit

cancrawlthatisnothiddenawaybehindpaywalls,registrationrequirementsandthelike.

ThatmeansmuchofthecontentonFacebookismissed(asisthecaseforitsrivalstoo).The

paywallcaveatmeansthatthereissomepotentiallyveryimportantcontent,especiallyfromnewspaperwebsites,thatdoesnotcomeupinitssearches.Radian6comeswitha

verycomprehensivesetofonlinevideosthatstepyouthroughhowtousethesystem.For

thosewhoprefertolearnthisway,thisisamajorplus.

Datacanbepulledoutinavarietyofways,includinghandypdfreports,emailalertsand

rawdataCSVdownloadsforexternalanalysisandreporting.Automatedsentimentanalysis

isalsoavailable,withthec.70%accuracytypicalintheindustry.Themajordifference

betweenRadian6anditsrivalsisitscoststructure.Forarelativelylowlicensefee,youcan

setupanynumberofshorttermsearcheswithoutincurringextracosts.Itisonlyifyou

wanttocarryonusingasearchinthelongtermthatyouhavetopayextra.Thatmakes

Radian6veryusefulforone-offeventmonitoring,newbusinessresearchandsoon.

SM2Alterian

SM2isanextremelysophisticatedmonitoringtoolthatenablesyoutosetupdetailed

listeningprofilesforavarietyofkeywords.Theanalyticsfunctionalityiscomprehensive

allowingyoutosetupawidevarietyofreportsthatareeasytodownloadandshare.A

usefulfunctionistheabilitytosetuprealtimedashboardsshowingconversationvolumes,

sentiment,shareofvoice,trends,spikesandcompetitortrends.Thedashboardsareread

only(i.e.notnecessarilyallowingyoutodrilldownintopotentiallyinterestingorunusual

data)buttheycanbesharedwithawiderangeofpeopleonmobileanddesktopdevicesmakingclientandmanagerialreportingquickandeasy.SM2ssentimentfunctionality,like

mosttools,cannotberelieduponandshouldbeevaluatedmanually,althoughitdoesallow

userstopermanentlyamendresultsformoreaccurateautomatedanalysis.

SysomosHeartbeat

HeartbeatisSysomosreal-timesocialmediamonitoringtoolwhichisrelativelyeasytoset

upandprovidesacleardashboarddisplayingreal-timeresults.Itclaimstogathermore


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than16millionsocialmediaconversationseachhoureveryfromacomprehensiverangeof

sourcesthatincludesblogs,forums,newssites,Twitter,YouTube,Facebook,Flickr,

LinkedInandothersmallersocialnetworks.Crucially,SysomoshasaccesstoTwitters

firehosedatawhichmeansthateverysingletweetpublishedisavailable.ThisisimportantasTwitterlimitstheamountoftweetsavailablepubliclymeaningitcansometimesbe

difficulttogetafullpictureofeventsfromTwitterusers.

Sysomosenablesuserstoanalysesocialmediaaccordingtogeographicarea,user

demographics,suchasage,genderandprofessionaswellasidentifysocialmedia

influencers.Theseservices,however,onlyreallyworkwhereasignificantamountof

relevantinformationisavailable.Heartbeatoffersautomatedsentimentanalysiswith70%

accuracy,althoughthisserviceisnotalwaysreliableandbetterusedinconjunctionwith

manualanalysiswherebyuserscanoverridetheautomatedresultsbymanuallycoding

conversationsforamoreaccuratesentimentanalysis.Heartbeatalsoremovesduplicated

resultsorresultsitbelievesarespamtoensuremonitoringdataisaccurateandrelevant.

Searchresultsarefullydownloadableinavarietyofformats,mostusefullyasCSVfiles

whichcanbeusedforfurthermanualanalysisortocreatechartsandvisualisedata.


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CREATINGSOCIALMEDIAMONITORING

WORKFLOWS

Communicationsisabusyoldjob.Communicatorscantjustpickupthenewspapers

anymoretostayontopofwhostalkingabouttheirbrandandhow.Socialmediagives

brandstheopportunitytoholdaglasstotheworldsbiggestconversation.Butwithmillions

uponmillionsofthoughts,feelings,reviews,rebuttals,accusationsandopinionsbuzzing

aroundtheinternet,howcancommunicatorsensuretheirengagementstrategyisrobust,

considered,consistentandreportabletothewiderorganisation?

Businessobjectives

Aswithallcommunicationactivity,yoursocialmediaengagementshouldbelinkedtoyour

businessobjectives.Thespecificstrategicareasoffocusforyourorganisationwillinform

everythingfromyourtonetoyourrolesandresponsibilitiesandyourscheduling(seeTable

3).

Table3-AligningBusinessObjectivesandSocialMediaEngagement

Objective Tone Roles Schedule

Customerservice Helpful Linkedtocustomerteam 24hour

Rolesandresponsibilities

Withyourobjectivesinplacethenextstepistobuildyourteam.Ensurethereareclear

roleswithintheteamwithresponsibilitiesclearlydefinedandexpectationsset.For

example,yourteammayconsistof:

CommunityManagerwhooverseesstrategy CommunityEngagerswhotrackandengageinconversations ContentCreatorswhofocusoncreatingshareablecontente.g.infographics,video AnalystswhomakesenseofsentimentandliaisewithManagersontheimpactthis

hasonstrategy.


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Eachteamwillbebespoketotheparticularorganisationsobjectives,capacityand

expectedlevelsofengagementfromthecommunity.Aslongasboundariesaresetand

protocolsobserved(e.g.doCommunityManagersneedtosignoffcontentbefore

CommunityEngagerscanpost?),youshouldhaveawell-briefedteamreadytoengagewiththecommunity.

Scheduling

Monitoringsocialmediaisaround-the-clockjob.Workoutwhatyourhoursofoperation

areandletthecommunityknow.Again,theseshouldcorrespondwithyourbusiness

objectives(e.g.ifyoureanairline,youlllikelywant24hourcovertorespondtocustomer

requests).AsimplelineinyourTwitterbiographysayingtweetsarerespondedtowithin

thehoursof9am-6pmMon-Frisetsexpectationsofyourresponse.Onceyouvedecided

onyourhoursofoperation,createarotawhichensuresyourbusinesshoursarecovered

off.

Responsetimes

Socialmediahappensinrealtimeandcertainrequestsareoftendependentonan

immediateresponse.Determineminimumresponsestimesforeachnetworkortypeof

onlineactivitye.g.Twitter30minutes;Facebook1hour;Google+2hours.

Tone

Socialmediashouldntbeseenasanopportunitytocreateanewpersonawhowouldntbe

seendeadtalkingtoyourcorporateimage.Aspartofanintegratedcommunications

strategy,yoursocialmediatoneshoulddovetailwithyourotherplatforms,albeittailored

for140charactersorGoogle+posts.Ifyourorganisationsimageisprofessionalandthe

languageitusesinitscommunicationscorporate,reflectthisinyoursocialmediatone.No-

onewantstochatonlinewithatry-hardhipaccountant;itdetractsfromtheservice

offeringtoyourtargetaudience.Justasyouwouldntturnuptoapartyanddivetwofeet

firstintotheconversationwithoutjudgingthetoneandcontentofthechatter(andifyou

would,youshouldnt),takethesameapproachtoyouronlinetone.Taketimetolistento

theconversationsofyourtargetaudiencesandnotehowtheydifferacrossdifferent


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Recording

Keepingatrackableworkflowrecordisessentialforanalysing,reportingandinforming

futureengagementstrategy.The24hournatureofsocialconversationsmeansthatits

inevitablethatdifferentmembersoftheteamwillbechargeofmonitoringatdifferent

times;thereforearecordofconversationscanensurecontentdoesntslipthroughthenet.

Somecommercialtoolsincludetheabilitytocreateanautomaticaudittrailasbuilt-in

functionality,butkeyinformationtocapturecouldinclude:

Whoisposting? Whataretheysaying? Wherearetheysayingit? Whatisthesentimentoftheirpost? Whatistheshareofvoice? Isitatimesensitivepost? Doesthepostneedaresponse? Hasthepostbeenrespondedto? Hastheuserresponded? Doesanotherpartoftheorganisationneedtobecontactedpriortoresponse? Doesthepostneedtobeescalatedtoaseniorexecutive? Whatisthestatusoftheconversation?

Reporting

Yourworkflowrecordcanthenbesharedwiththewiderorganisationonaweeklyand

monthlybasis,pullingoutandevaluatingmetricslikeshareofvoiceandsentimentacross

theculminationofconversations.Analysisshouldtheninformfutureengagementstrategy.

Flexibility

Whilethismayallsoundquiteprescriptive,itssimplyaframeworktoenableyoutomake

themostoftheengagementopportunitiesofferedbysocialmedia.Despitethis,thekey

withsocialmediaistobeflexibleanysituationsthatmaygetthrownup.Adaptand

engage!


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APPENDIX

Thefollowingisamorecomprehensivelistofsocialmediamonitoringtoolsavailable.

Thosemarkedwithanasterix(*)arereviewedinChapter5ofthisdocument:

PaidForTools

AlterianSM2*

Asomo

Attensity360

Attentio

BrandWatch*BuzzCapture

BuzzLogic/Twelvefold

Media

CollectiveIntellect

CrimsonHexagon

Cymfony*

Dialogix

Ecairn

JiveSoftware

LithiumSMM(Scout)

MeltwaterBuzz*

NMIncite

Overtone

PreciseMediaPlatform+

Radian6*

Revinate

Spiral16

Spredfast

Synthesio

SAS

Silverbakk

Sysomos*

Trackur

Trendrr

Ubervu

Viralheat

VisibleTechnologies

WebTrends

FreeTools

BackTweets

BrandMonitor

GoogleAlerts

Influitive

NetvibesSocialMention

SocialPointer


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CONTRIBUTORS

ThisguidehasbeenproducedbymembersoftheCIPRsSocialMediaAdvisoryPanelasa

collaborativeproject,co-ordinatedbySimonCollister.Fullprofilesofthecontributorsare

below:

SimonCollisterMCIPR

SimonCollisterisaseniorlectureratLondonCollegeofCommunication,Universityofthe

Arts,London.HeiscurrentlyconductingPhDresearchatRoyalHolloway,Universityof

London'sNewPoliticalCommunicationUnitonthemediationofpowerinnetworkedcommunicationenvironments.Beforeenteringacademia,Simonworkedforanumberof

globalcommunicationsconsultancies,planningandimplementingresearch-leddigital

campaignsforarangeofpublic,voluntary,andprivatesectororganisations.Hetweetsat

@simoncollisterandblogsatwww.simoncollister.com

MarkPackMCIPR

DrMarkPackworksondigitalprojectsforBlueRubicon,winnerofbothPRWeekandCIPR

agencyoftheyear,andisaVisitingLecturerinJournalismatCityUniversity.Heisalsoco-

authorof101WaysToWinAnElectionandamemberoftheCIPR'sSocialMediaPanel.He

istobefoundonlineatwww.MarkPack.org.uk/@markpack.

MichelleGoodallMCIPR

Michellespecialisesindigitalcommunicationsandsocialmedia.FormerlyDigitalDirector

atLexisPublicRelationsshehas15yearsonlinecommunicationsandsocialmedia

consultancyexperience.Duringthistimeshehasdevelopedsocialmediaengagement

strategies,enabledsocialbusinesstransformationandmanagedcommunication/crisis

managementprojects.

Michellesclients,pastandpresentspanmanyindustriesandincludeRandomHouse,

RSPCA,Aviva,CocaCola,Dominos,eBay,Camelot,RandomHouse,Macmillan,Penguin,Diageo,Boots,ManhattanLoftCorporationandMcCarthy&Stone.Sheworkedwith


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London2012sdigital,editorialandcommunicationsteamsovera4-yearperiodandwasa

partoftheaward-winningsocialmedia/communicationsteamduringthegamesitself.

MichelleisaCIPRSocialMediaPanelmember,socialmediatrainerforEconsultancy/visitinglectureratManchesterMetropolitanUniversityandaregularspeaker.

Shecanbefoundatlinkedin.com/in/michellegoodall.onLinkedInand@greenwellyson

Twitter.

DanTyteMCIPR

DanworkedincommunicationsB.F.(BeforeFacebook)andhasruncampaignsforclients

rangingfromprofessionalsportsteams,popmusiciansandalcoholicdrinksusingonand

off-linetools.AnexecutivedirectoratWorkingWord,memberoftheSocialMediaPanel

andcommitteememberofCIPRCymru,Dansdebutnovel,HalfPlusSeven,setinaPRand

digitalagency,willbepublishedinSpring2014byParthianBooks.

RobinWilsonMCIPR

RobinissocialmediaandPRdirector,McCannManchesterandhasworkedinPRandsocial

mediaforover20years,runningcampaignsforbrandssuchasAldi,Apple,Casio,

Facebook,HolidayInn,Motorola,MTV,Peugeot,Symantec,TigerBeer,TsingtaoBeerand

Yahoo.HewasluckyenoughtolaunchtheiPhoneintheUK,headupFacebooksagency

team,launchDurexPlayO,whichwonseveralawardincludingCIPRBestDigitalCampaign,

andintroduceYahooAnswerstotheUK.Robinhascoauthoredtwobooksonsocialmedia,

sitsontheUKssocialmediasteeringcommittee,regularlyspeaksatconferencesand

lecturersatuniversitiesonsocialmedia.

RobBrownFCIPR

RobisManagingPartneratRule5aPRanddigitalagencyinMediaCityUKManchesterwith

clientsinfood,sport,financeandthemedia.Rule5wasnamedoutstandingnewcomerin

theProlificNorthAwardssixmonthsafteritlaunchedinNovember2012.Robwas

previouslyUKMDofStaniforth,partoftheTBWAgroup.


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HeislistedinthePRWeekPowerbook2008-2012andwasnamedthe4thmostrespected

individualworkinginPRintheUKinanindustrysurveyinNewMediaAgesReputation

Onlinein2011.HewasawardedNorthWestsOutstandingPRPractitionerbythe

CharteredInstituteofPublicRelations(CIPR)in2008andforOutstandingContributiontoSocialMediainthenationalSomeCommsAwardsin2011.HewasawardedtheStephen

TallentsMedalbytheCIPRin2013.

AuthorofPublicRelationsandtheSocialWeb(KoganPage,2009),heblogsforThe

HuffingtonPostandhaswrittenchaptersfor'PublicRelationsCases:International

Perspectives'(2010)'PublicRelations:AManagerialPerspective'(2011)and'ShareThis'

(Wiley,2012).HeisjointeditorofthesoontobepublishedShareThisToo(Wiley,2013).

HewasfoundingchairoftheCIPRsocialmediapanel.

DomBurchMCIPR

Afatheroftwoandkeenfootballfan,DomgrewupinReadingbutattendedLeeds

MetropolitanUniversitygraduatingwithaBAHonoursdegreeinPublicRelations.

FollowingashortstintasasummerinternwithSaatchi&Saatchi'sCauseConnectionunit

inLondon,hethenjoinedGreenFlagMotoringAssistanceinLeedsinSeptember1998asa

PRexecutive.

AftertwoyearswithGreenFlag,DomwaspromotedwithintheRoyalBankofScotland

GroupandmovedsouthtojoinDirectLineasPRManagerforMotor.HehadspecificPR

responsibilityforitsmotorinsuranceandbreakdownassistanceportfolio,butalsoledtheinsurer'sroadsafetycampaigning.AsaresultDomandhisteamhelpedchangethelaw

makingitanoffencetodrivewhileusingahand-heldmobilephone.

Hereturnedupnorthin2002,joiningAsdainitiallyasPRmanagerforfood,butlaterwas

promotedtoheadofcorporatePRin2008,andheadofPRin2012.Inhiscurrentroleas

headofsocialmediaDomisresponsibleforWalmartssocialmediastrategyintheUK.


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DomhasbeenamemberoftheCIPR'ssocialmediapanelsinceitsinception,andisan

externaladvisorforLeedsMetropolitanUniversity'sCorporateCommunicationsMasters

Degreecourse.HealsovolunteersforBradfordCommunityBroadcasting(BCB106.6FM)

andco-hostsDriveonalternateFridayafternoons.


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