Social Media Research: learning to learn

It is a special feeling to stand up in front of a crowded room with nothing prepared and 20 minutes to be interesting. I got that special feeling moderating a session on Social Media Research at the Unsummit unconference.

I got good feedback about the session. People were interested, and they liked unconference-style participation. My notes are below, with examples marked. Others also have notes. Thanks to all who participated!

Social media research is "listening to learn." Some things you can listen for:

1. Sentiment (a.k.a. positive and negative feedback)

Is it correlated to market share? When?

Does Monsanto care? If a company provides a popular service to some, and also gets a lot of negative sentiment in public, should they respond?

Example: someone described that Monsanto's response to one round of bad publicity was to touch base with their customers (distributors and farmers) through traditional channels, rather than respond in social media.

2. Competition.

Share of voice. (Is this useful? No one had examples of how to use it.)

What is the competition is doing wrong?

a) in social media (learn from their mistakes)

b) in their business (try to swipe their customers!).

Example: Someone described problems with web hosting provider Temple Media, and how another company was creating personalized offers aimed at Temple Media customers. The person was now considering the personalized offer seriously.

How is the competition reaching your marketing segment?

Example: A former marketer for the U.S. army described studying how a popular band of the day marketed its music, because they were both trying to reach men ages 18 to 25.

3. Opportunities for incremental improvement.

I liked this crisp statement of customer service in social media. When you listen, can you find opportunities to make concrete improvements in your business?

4. Brand insight.

How do people not in a company define that company's brand?

5. Positive feedback.

What do people like about our existing service?

Example: A marketer was working with a magazine that had pictures online, analyzed which pictures were most popular, and gave that feedback to the editorial staff at the magazine to influence future editorial decisions. There was some debate over whether it is good to focus on what is already popular and possibly appeal to a narrow but passionate audience, or stay broad. However, both business goals can be valid ones, and does not invalidate the example.

6. Employee statements.

What are your employees saying about the company? And do you use that information to punish people, or to improve the workplace? (Honestly, I brought this up, but people weren't that interested in it.)

Photo by wfryer.