Online insight monitoring is becoming an increasingly hot topic, not just in the world of marketing but across an organisation, as companies realise that it provides a near-real-time means to measure what is being said about them online, what is driving the online debate, and most importantly, what stakeholders are the most influential according to each individual project. While the potential benefits are huge, organisations are increasingly confused and overwhelmed by the different approaches, methodologies and definitions flying around right now. Flemming Madsen – Executive Chairman, Founder, Onalytica, provides five best practice suggestions for online insight monitoring and analysis.
In days gone by, many companies relied heavily on traditional market research – typically conducted once every few months or often, less frequently – as a means to monitor how opinion about their brands faired in relation to their competitors, what customers were saying and what were the issues driving market debate.
These days, the sheer volume of the online ‘conversation’ has become too large to ignore, meaning companies who do not monitor what is being said online are potentially leaving themselves exposed. But this brave new world is also an opportunity: by ‘listening in’ to the online conversation, companies can benefit from near real-time insight that enables them to react more quickly to threats and opportunities.
This ability to ‘add value’ to a business is a tangible addition to the Internet professional’s armoury. Continuous insight of this kind can surface business intelligence that can be mapped against business objectives to check whether they are on or off track: something that companies are spending more and more time doing.
So, what are the essentials of online monitoring and insight? There isn’t room here to go into huge depth, but here are our top five tips:
ONE: understand the difference between ‘noise’ and real influence
Popularity is about the volume of online ‘noise’. While important (and can help raise awareness), it is not a true indicator of what is influencing opinion. As an example, while Jamie Oliver was one of the most vocal commentators about child obesity, surprisingly the most influential source was the comparatively lesser known National Obesity Forum. Your online insight provider should be able to help you measure the real influence of different stakeholders in relation to one another. Moreover, that influence will change with context: someone who is influential on health issues is unlikely to have the same influence on, for example, the automotive industry. So, when selecting a service, make sure that the weighting given to an influence is calculated according to each topic.
TWO: keep it factual
It is human nature to base our opinions on gut-feelings, but many people unconsciously overrate the influence and relevance of those with whom we are most familiar. This ‘touchy-feely’ approach does not stand up to close scrutiny. I subscribe to the view that ‘if it matters it can be measured’ and believe in using well-established scientific methodology. For instance, at Onalytica, we are fans of Nobel Prize-winning Wassily Leontief’s input-output approach.
Also, measurement and analyses should be regularly tested against market outcomes, including traditional market research reports or surveys. By testing regularly, then even the slightest movements off course can be detected early and more easily corrected.
THREE: map insight against business outcome and objectives
Having the data is one thing: knowing what to do with it is another. We advocate having a tangible end goal, such as measurement against existing key performance indicators (KPIs), such as increased market share or corporate reputation. We also recommend focusing on business outcomes, because after all, this is what really matters and these alongside KPIs are already established as important metrics to an organisation. One practical example might be measuring and tracking the commentary about a particular product by the identified top ten influencers, and correlating the increased levels of this to sales.
FOUR: Get colleagues on board
Online insight has powerful benefits across an organisation and can help digital professionals to demonstrate their value to the rest of the business. Ask colleagues what kind of insight that they do not have right now and access to which would be truly beneficial. Also, some insight monitoring tools have versions of online dashboards that are designed to be easy for non-experts and general management to use, with simple-to-execute reporting tools built-in.
FIVE: continuous insight will continue to complement traditional market research
It’s likely that continuous insight provided by online monitoring and analysis will sit alongside traditional market research for a long time to come, so be careful not to discount traditional methods too quickly. Continuous insight is observed research that gives near real-time data that supports more rapid decision-making, while conventional surveys of solicited opinion provide a more intimate dialogue. It is not a case of ‘either/or’, but rather, natural complements to one another.
Conclusion
Compared to traditional research techniques, continuous insight is still in its infancy, but it is growing fast, with more and more organisations viewing it as an integral part of measuring business performance. What is essential, however, is establishing a best practice approach that ensures the data being provided is a real reflection of market opinions and trends, as well as being properly aligned to real business goals.
About the author:
Flemming Madsen is founder and Executive Chairman of Onalytica. Flemming established the company in 2004 with an initial focus on Social Network Analysis before shifting his attentions to the analysis of the online debate following an assignment with the UK Government’s COI. Prior to starting Onalytica, Flemming worked for a systems integrator in the defence industry and for the Danish Minister of Economics and Taxation.
www.onalytica.com.
