Reading recent headlines and watching the gyrations of the stock market it’s easy to see why economics earned the epithet “the dismal science.” But is marketing any better? Indeed, is there any science to marketing at all?
Usually not.
Take social media as an example. Normally, marketing treats social media data in the same way that air traffic controllers treat blips on a radar screen – as signals that require careful help in landing, or emergencies demanding evasion on interception. The only difference is we marketeers attempt to land customers and intercept naysayers, rather than planes. Don’t get me wrong – marketing needs radar – but this hardly qualifies as science.
Data by itself isn’t science: Marketing pros usually have an excess of the former and very little of the latter. A scientific approach would require proposing a hypothesis to explain observations or ideas, then devising an experiment to test the hypothesis. It requires the rigorous definition of terms and ways of quantifying things. It demands objectivity.
Tom Webster gets at this distinction is his recent blog post, and argues that we’ll always need a mix of qualitative and quantitative information. It’s tempting to agree with Seth Godin and others and say marketing is both art and science, but this feels like a cope-out to me.
What we can say is that marketing is getting much more quantitative. This is a good thing. I can remember from my teaching days that marketing undergrads hated even the most rudimentary classes on quantitative analysis and statistics – today, they’d be well-advised to take these courses very seriously indeed. Science or not, the future of marketing will clearly move toward a more disciplined and measured approach. But the real gains will be with those organizations that go the next step, and apply more scientific rigor to their marketing investments.
Showing posts with label social media analytics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label social media analytics. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
It's not social media, it's social me.
Some days, my Twitter feed seems like nothing more than narcissism. And Facebook, MySpace, YouTube – even the names seem designed to inflate egos. As for blogs, the typical post can be conveniently summarized thus:
For all the talk, all the conversations, all the to and fro, is anyone really listening?
This all came to mind one night, working late. I happened to look at the Twitter feed of a self-professed Famous Social Media Guru, a man who actually claims “inventions” in the field and runs a successful business telling people that unless they engage with social media right this second their brand, their careers, and possibly the world will all come to a sticky end. His Twitter feed is a relentless stream of self-promotion, self-aggrandizement and unalloyed self-congratulation. He claims to follow over 2,500 people on Twitter, an impossible task and a transparent technique to amass as many of his own followers as possible. His heavily trafficked blog is an unaccompanied Variation On A Theme Of Me, with occasional intermissions in which he pays tribute to other Gurus in a virtuous cycle of ebullient backslapping. He's not alone; there's a whole boatload of these characters. It makes me grind my teeth and want to go to a distant Trappist Monastery with a vow of silence and not even a dial-up connection to the Internet.
And it isn't just egos that are getting over-inflated. Today, The Wall Street Journal reported that investors are bidding up Internet and social media startups to levels reminiscent of the last Dot-Com boom. As straight-up, lets-make-money businesses, you have to wonder about the prospects of these social media outfits. We are, to paraphrase Gartner Research and Charles Dickens, at the peak of inflated, bubble-bursting, Great Expectations.
But wait. Might we be throwing out the proverbial baby here?
Can social media make business sense? For sure. In my day job, we use it very effectively to communicate with key stakeholders, and we've made major public announcement over our blog, with great success. It gives us transparent access to our customers, partners and fellow workers, and we get direct, fast, and unvarnished feedback in a way that was impossible with other media.
Can we link social media to real business outcomes that matter – say increased profits, happier customers, or lower overhead? Anecdotally yes, but we've still a long way to go. And lets face it, anecdotes don't count. This is why I remain convinced that measurement is the problem to crack. Measure the right things, and the right result will follow. In the meantime, see you at the monastery.
Me me me me. Me me me me. Me me, me me me me me me me me. Me me me – me me me me me. Me me me me. Me me me me. Me.
For all the talk, all the conversations, all the to and fro, is anyone really listening?
This all came to mind one night, working late. I happened to look at the Twitter feed of a self-professed Famous Social Media Guru, a man who actually claims “inventions” in the field and runs a successful business telling people that unless they engage with social media right this second their brand, their careers, and possibly the world will all come to a sticky end. His Twitter feed is a relentless stream of self-promotion, self-aggrandizement and unalloyed self-congratulation. He claims to follow over 2,500 people on Twitter, an impossible task and a transparent technique to amass as many of his own followers as possible. His heavily trafficked blog is an unaccompanied Variation On A Theme Of Me, with occasional intermissions in which he pays tribute to other Gurus in a virtuous cycle of ebullient backslapping. He's not alone; there's a whole boatload of these characters. It makes me grind my teeth and want to go to a distant Trappist Monastery with a vow of silence and not even a dial-up connection to the Internet.
And it isn't just egos that are getting over-inflated. Today, The Wall Street Journal reported that investors are bidding up Internet and social media startups to levels reminiscent of the last Dot-Com boom. As straight-up, lets-make-money businesses, you have to wonder about the prospects of these social media outfits. We are, to paraphrase Gartner Research and Charles Dickens, at the peak of inflated, bubble-bursting, Great Expectations.
But wait. Might we be throwing out the proverbial baby here?
Can social media make business sense? For sure. In my day job, we use it very effectively to communicate with key stakeholders, and we've made major public announcement over our blog, with great success. It gives us transparent access to our customers, partners and fellow workers, and we get direct, fast, and unvarnished feedback in a way that was impossible with other media.
Can we link social media to real business outcomes that matter – say increased profits, happier customers, or lower overhead? Anecdotally yes, but we've still a long way to go. And lets face it, anecdotes don't count. This is why I remain convinced that measurement is the problem to crack. Measure the right things, and the right result will follow. In the meantime, see you at the monastery.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Update: A Definitive List of Social Media Measurement & Metrics Tools
Back in April this year I created a list of currently available tools that support social media measurement and metrics. I found 82 products on the market but confessed that I was pretty sure I'd missed things. I was right, and I got a flurry of comments and emails with corrections and additions.
The list has grown to 88 product. I've added MBlast, MediaHound, Meltwater News, PRMetrics, Sysomos, Crimson Hexagon (taking the heavily contested award for the Most Esoteric Name), and UberVU. Sorry I missed you all, my oversight. I've also removed a couple of entries and made a bunch of other corrections.
You can find the complete and updated list here.
Sorry it's taken me this long to update the list. As always, keep your updates and corrections coming.
The list has grown to 88 product. I've added MBlast, MediaHound, Meltwater News, PRMetrics, Sysomos, Crimson Hexagon (taking the heavily contested award for the Most Esoteric Name), and UberVU. Sorry I missed you all, my oversight. I've also removed a couple of entries and made a bunch of other corrections.
You can find the complete and updated list here.
Sorry it's taken me this long to update the list. As always, keep your updates and corrections coming.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
A definitive list of social media measurement & metrics tools?
(Updated December 2, 2011)
Last week Jeremiah Owyang at the Altimeter Group, along with his colleague John Lovett, published a nice report on social media analytics. It's a very useful framework for thinking through how to measure the rights things, which in turn will focus attention on the right kinds of activities.
But how to measure? Way back in 2006, Owyang took a snapshot of the companies that offer tools for social media metrics, and came up with a list of forty-two firms. In the last week I've trawled the web to update his list (and thanks to Ken Burbary for a nice wiki list of different tools), and come up with an astonishing 82 firms that offer some kind of social media measurement solution. And I'm pretty sure I've missed a bunch.
Help me update and correct the list. Please send me your additions, along with any other comments on these tools, and I'll post an update. If there's enough interest, I'll also try and categorize these solutions better -- there's certainly a lot of diversity in this list.
SOCIAL MEDIA MEASUREMENT TOOLS
Updated: February 11 2011
Last week Jeremiah Owyang at the Altimeter Group, along with his colleague John Lovett, published a nice report on social media analytics. It's a very useful framework for thinking through how to measure the rights things, which in turn will focus attention on the right kinds of activities.
But how to measure? Way back in 2006, Owyang took a snapshot of the companies that offer tools for social media metrics, and came up with a list of forty-two firms. In the last week I've trawled the web to update his list (and thanks to Ken Burbary for a nice wiki list of different tools), and come up with an astonishing 82 firms that offer some kind of social media measurement solution. And I'm pretty sure I've missed a bunch.
Help me update and correct the list. Please send me your additions, along with any other comments on these tools, and I'll post an update. If there's enough interest, I'll also try and categorize these solutions better -- there's certainly a lot of diversity in this list.
SOCIAL MEDIA MEASUREMENT TOOLS
Updated: February 11 2011
| Company | Comments |
| Alterian | SMM |
| Appinions | SMM |
| Andiamo Systems | SMM |
| Attensity | SMM |
| Attentio | Multilingual |
| Beyond Analysis | Gone |
| Beevolve | SMM |
| Biz360 | Acquired by Attensity. |
| BrandIntel | Gone |
| Brandwatch | Brand monitoring |
| BurrellesLuce | SMM |
| Buzzcapture | SMM |
| BuzzGain | Meltwater Group Product |
| BuzzLogic | Now TwelveFold Media |
| BuzzNumbers | SMM |
| CIC Business Consulting | BI tool Chinese market |
| Cision | SMM + other tools |
| Collective Intellect | SMM |
| ComMetric | Mapping to financial data and stock tickers |
| Converseon | Agency with some tools |
| Cover-All Technologies | No longer supporting SMM |
| Crimson Hexagon | SMM |
| CustomScoop | SMM |
| CyberAlert | SMM |
| Cyveillance | Brand monitoring, QinetiQ company |
| Cymfony | SMM + other tools |
| Dow Jones & Company Insight | SMM + other tools |
| EchoMetrix | Gone |
| eCairn | SaaS metrics solution |
| EmPower Research | Custom technology solutions |
| Ethority | SMM |
| Evolve24 | SMM |
| Jive | FilterBox product. |
| HowSociable | Free gadget |
| Imooty | SMM |
| Infegy | Brand monitoring |
| Integrasco | SMM |
| Intelligence Technologies | Gone out of business |
| JamIQ | Asian languages |
| J.D. Power and Associates | acquired Umbria |
| Jodange | See Appinions |
| Kaleidico | No longer supporting SMM |
| Kaava Corporation | Marketing services, some SMM |
| KDPaine and Partners | No tools but strong analysis |
| ListenLogic | social CRM? |
| Lexalytics | Sentiment detection |
| Linkfluence | French language |
| Lithium | Social CRM |
| Market Sentinel | Brand monitoring |
| mBlast | SMM |
| MediaBadger | Consulting firm with tools |
| MediaHound | SMM competitive intelligence |
| MediaMiser | Media monitoring |
| Meltwater News | Media monitoring |
| MetaTale | Gone. |
| Metrica | Multilingual, part of Gorkana Group |
| Millward Brown | Precis |
| Moreover technologies | SMM |
| Netemic | SMM |
| NetEquity | Gone. |
| New Media Strategies | No longer supporting SMM |
| Nielsen Online | NetRatings |
| Onalytica | SMM |
| OneRiot | Gone. |
| PRMetrics | Free customizable social media portal |
| Radian6 | SMM, acquired by SalesForce.com |
| Relevant Noise | See Zeta Interactive |
| Report International | Brand monitoring |
| RepuMetrix | Brand monitoring |
| ReputationHQ | Gone |
| SAS | Business intelligence tool with SM |
| SamePoint | Gone |
| Scanblog | Gone. |
| ScoutLabs | See Lithium |
| Sentiment Metrics | Not just sentiment |
| Socialarc | SMM |
| SocialMention | Social search engine |
| Statsit | No longer Relevant |
| Synthesio | Multilingual |
| Sysomos | Business intelligence tool |
| Tealium | No longer relevant |
| ThoughtBuzz | SMM |
| TraceBuzz | SMM |
| Trackur | SMM |
| Thomson Reuters | BuzzAnalytics and OpinionAnalystics |
| UberVU | Now Crimson Hexagon |
| ViralHeat | SMM, Free API |
| Visible Technologies | SMM |
| VMS | Gone |
| Vocus | SMM |
| WaveMetrix | SMM |
| Zeta Interactive | Relevant Noise product for SMM |
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