cfo white paper-social media monitoring & analytics for ...€¦ · annex a - participant list...

SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING & ANALYTICS FOR CFOS

A collaborative thought leadership project between Singapore CFO Institute and Waggener Edstrom Communications

2 Social Media Monitoring & Analytics for CFOs

CONTENT1. Introduction

2. What is Social Media Monitoring

3. Roundtable Discussion 3.1 Social Media Monitoring for CFOs 3.2 Building a Practice Through Effective Planning 3.3 The Right Talent 3.4 Data Integration and Silos

4. Key Observations

5. Recommendations

Annex A - Participant ListAnnex B - Bibliography

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1 - INTRODUCTION

In an age of constantly-evolving social networks, organisations look to social media monitoring (SMM) not only to understand perceptions of their brand presence across the digital landscape, but also increasingly, as a way to make informed strategic decisions.

The opportunities for organisations to leverage data and insights from SMM are enormous. Every day netizens now share more than 500 million tweets on Twitter, 70 million photos on Instagram, and 4.75 billion pieces of content on Facebook, and that is just for the 3 social networks (Internet Live Stats, 2015; Systrom, 2015; Noyes, 2015). Needless to say, we live in a world where we constantly share information about ourselves, our tastes, and our behaviours. This creates major opportunities for organisations to learn about their stakeholders and to use insights from SMM to grow, innovate and generate greater returns.

However, leveraging SMM as a means to make impactful business decisions is easier said than done. For example, a recent Forrester report found that social listening (i.e. SMM) platforms are failing marketers (Levien, 2015). The report highlighted that the perceived value of such platforms among marketers has declined, and that in many cases, social listening has not delivered on its promise of delivering insights and ROI. Although this might sound grim for the social listening industry, the report raises an important truth about the reality of SMM, that is, success requires an investment in more than just technology.


2 - WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORINGKNOWLEDGEKnowledge encompasses all of the plans, processes and protocols you have in place to effectively govern how you use the technology platform and extract valuable insights. This can include measurement frameworks, business planning and strategic resources, reporting schedules, FAQs, documentation, etc. Put simply, do not expect to simply switch on a tool and receive value and insight. Setting up a successful SMM practice involves a great deal of planning and organisational knowledge.

TECHNOLOGYThe practice of SMM is not simply a matter of finding the right technology solution. It is a matter of finding the right balance of people, knowledge and technology. Forrester defines an SMM platform, or what they refer to as a social listening platform as “software platforms that capture, manage, and enable analysis of social data” (Allison Smith, 2015). Put simply, SMM platforms serve as aggregators of conversations that are posted on social media (i.e. social data) which is relevant to your organisational needs.

Most of the time, the social data collected from these tools is public and freely accessible for anyone to see. The key benefit of a social listening platform is its ability to discover and collect relevant social data, which may come in large or small volumes. Once the data has been collected, most tools provide various analytical features, such as the ability to filter your data by date, location, channel, sentiment, etc. Some common features of many social listening platforms include:

Automated Sentiment AnalysisThis is the process of determining the implied tone of a social mention through natural language processing.

FilteringThe ability to filter data by various criteria, such as location, date, channel type, sentiment, etc.

Data VisualizationThe ability to visualize single or multiple data points on a dashboard.

Engagement + WorkflowThe ability to engage (i.e respond) directly to social mentions within the tool, as well as the ability to assign priority and response to different team members.

AlertsThe ability to setup automated alerts that notify you of potential issues (or opportunities) based on pre-determined rules or criteria (e.g. conversation volume threshold, keyword rules, etc).

The value of SMM is by no means limited to one application or use-case. SMM data and insights can be made useful to many different stakeholders or business functions and for a diverse range of applications. Examples of common applications include but are not limited to:

• Assessing audience perceptions toward a brand, product, industry or category;• Identifying trends, topics or conversations;• Discovering audience interests or needs;• Competitor benchmarking;• Customer service;• Crisis detection and response management; and• Lead generation.

The above examples can be useful in helping one understand what SMM can do, but it does not quite get to the root of what it is. In order to meaningfully define SMM and its applications, one should not limit their understanding to just technology. SMM requires the development of a practice, and a successful SMM practice will always address 3 essential pillars: people, knowledge and technology.

When it comes to social media monitoring, the importance of people cannot be understated. Technology providers can sometimes overstate the capabilities of their software, but it is important to understand that insights (the use of knowledge to make a business decision) cannot be automated. These technology platforms or tools are simply aggregators. The true value and impact of SMM platforms can only be unlocked when the right people are in place to analyse and interpret the data in ways that align with your business objectives.

PEOPLE

PeopleThe people who operate on the data collected by the technology platforms, such as an analyst

KnowledgeThe plans, processes and protocols which govern how you use SMM to generate business value

TechnologyThe technology platforms you use to aggregate and analyse relevant social buzz data


3 - ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONA key benefit that SMM offers organisations is its ability to directly address the challenges of being a social brand. This is a unique challenge, as it’s not limited to organisations who have a presence on social media (e.g. a Facebook Page, Twitter profile, etc), as any brand regardless of their online presence can be discussed online. Furthermore, social media can amplify a potential issue or crisis of an organisation rapidly, and otherwise minor events could be blown out of proportion and affect brand reputation almost instantly. When an organisation does not have the team, processes and technology in place to address these scenarios, they may resort to reacting without having all the data necessary to make the best rational decision. In such a situation, consistent monitoring of social media not only helps firms deal with issues management or a full scale brand crisis, it can also help anticipate them. This is critical to mitigate the potential damage of a crisis or avoiding one entirely. In addition, SMM can help forecast recovery costs, and also has the potential to help CFOs spot opportunities and make informed decisions.

“You have to be prepared for everything. You need to be monitoring everything around you and your competitive environment.”

- Stephen Dale, General Manager, Digimind Singapore

That said, the sheer volume of data can be overwhelming, and distilling the salient points as a means to discover actionable insight can be a challenge for CFOs and practitioners. Further, the industry is comparatively undeveloped, particularly in Asia, and the vendor landscape is constantly in flux with new technology providers emerging while others merge or are acquired by larger organisations. This can make the process of finding the right SMM platform for your organisation a confusing and sometimes frustrating experience.

On November 12th, 2014 the Singapore CFO Institute, supported by the Singapore Accountancy Commission, in partnership with Waggener Edstrom Communications hosted a roundtable discussion on the topic of social media monitoring and its applications for CFOs. The event brought together a diverse group of industry leaders who represented a range of sectors and business functions. The following section highlights the key discussion points and outcomes derived from this roundtable discussion.

“It starts by recognising that information is important to an organisation. There is an old saying in China; if you can predict the weather, you’ve won the war already.”

- Benjamin Wong, General Manager (China), Bilcare Singapore Pte. Limited

At first glance, the relevance of SMM for a CFO may not seem obvious. Many of us are used to hearing about social listening and its applications for marketing and sales, but less so for other business divisions. That said, the potential value of social data for CFOs can be enormous as it can be used for a wide range of applications in relation to organisational finance. Some examples include using social data as an extra layer of insight towards company performance or identifying potential risks in consumer sentiment that could negatively affect the brand. In short, SMM can provide crucial data to equip key decision makers with the necessary information to make nimble and strategic business decisions.

3.1 - SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING FOR CFOS


With ample strategic planning and sufficient organisational knowledge, CFOs can be better positioned to effectively utilise SMM data and incorporate these insights into various types of reporting, whether it is for finance, marketing, HR, etc. Once the right strategy and plan is in place, the organisation will also need the right talent to drive adoption of these data and metrics across the business.

Beyond planning around the organisations’ business objectives, CFOs should also consider a range of other factors, such as the frequency needed to collect, analyse and act on the data, what level of access to the data should be given to various stakeholders within your organisation or network (e.g. agencies, vendors), and what types of business decisions are intended to be derived based on the data collected. The latter is an important point, as SMM is not simply a matter of aligning the use of the tool with your business objectives and hoping that the insights you gleam will dictate the business action. Instead, there is a need to consider the corresponding actions to be taken once the data is available. For example, if the objective is to improve or maintain brand perceptions, then the data could be used to help react and respond to an impending brand crisis. Alternatively, if the objective is to innovate or improve the organisations’ products/services, then you could focus on listening to product opinions and reviews voiced online, which can be fed and communicated back to the respective product specialists and engineers.

No matter what the reason for investing in SMM, it is always important to consider the knowledge required within your organisation to succeed with the technology. The chances of success with social listening depend on the strategic plan to align the use of technology with the business objectives and the anticipation of desired outcomes or actions.

“Every CFO in this room knows you can slice and dice data any way you like, you can cover a thousand different data points, but the question is what is relevant and what should you actually be looking at.”

- David Leow, Managing Director, Thaler Group

“Social media and SMM are here to stay. As CFOs we cannot ignore it and we need to know how to address it.”

- Uantchern Loh, Chief Executive,Singapore Accountancy Commission

3.2 - BUILDING A PRACTICE THROUGH EFFECTIVE PLANNINGFor CFOs to succeed with SMM, they need to look beyond technology and start by considering the knowledge and planning requirements needed to successfully build an SMM practice. The worst thing one can do is procure an SMM platform, add in some monitoring keywords, and aimlessly start listening to conversations without a purpose.

CFOs and key decision makers should always start with a business objectives in mind and then seek to align the use of an SMM platform with measuring against those objectives. There is no single ‘unicorn’ metric that can measure against all objectives, therefore, it is critical that you tailor the use of the tool to your specific organisational needs. For example, if your business objective was to increase brand or product awareness, you might consider using a SMM platform to measure the volume of relevant product buzz, sentiments, and the share of voice of your products versus key competitors. Alternatively, if your business objective was to explore how online consumer sentiments impacts company performance, you could analyse company buzz volume and sentiments alongside stock values or revenue data.

“The conversation about the application of SMM clearly shows that we need to look at this as a long term strategy.”

- Victoria Ko Miu Ha, CFO, Venture Corporation Limited

“SMM can be used to inform marketing strategy, although one challenge is that the level and quality of data provided by some of the vendors is not always there – making it difficult to go more in-depth as there are so many variables and assumptions.”

- Eric Tan, CFO, Tourism Media Pte Ltd

BUSINESS OBJECTIVE

SOCIAL DATA

INSIGHT

ACTION

What is your business objective?Example: Increase revenue

Collect and analyze relevantsocial buzz data.Example: Production mentions

Gleam actionable insightsfrom social dataExample: Product awarenessand understanding is low amongtarget segments

Use insight to make a business decisionin order to meet your objectives.Example: Increase spend in paid mediato drive awareness. Create more productfocused content on social media.


“As tech evolves, you need to think about the best person to manage these changes.”

- James Lee, Director (Financial Services),The South Beach

3.3 - THE RIGHT TALENTThe question of the right talent is a complex one, and even more so in the context of the social media monitoring space. However, it is clear that organisations need talent with both the technological know-how as well as domain knowledge to facilitate and manage the process of distilling meaningful and relevant insight from the data. While vendors have become increasingly sophisticated in the features and functionality their tools offers, not enough focus has been placed on people. Placing too much emphasis on the technology or tool can put you at risk of not being able to effectively analyse and interpret the data you collect.

Data Analysts within the marketing function are common users of SMM platforms, but this does not mean they are the only potential users. The benefits of SMM are by no means limited to the marketing or communication practitioner, as social data can be made useful for almost any function within the organization, be it marketing, finance, HR, product development or sales.

“…it really is a balance of people, technology and knowledge. Those are the three principles every company should be seeking to invest in, and not just be over-invested in technology.”

- Shridar Jayakumar, Program Director (AP),Oracle Business Analytics

To put the importance of talent, or simply people, into perspective, consider Avinash Kaushik’s 10/90 Rule. Avinash, who is regarded by many as a pioneer in modern marketing analytics, suggested that for every $10 the organisation invests in a tool it should be spending at least $90 on “intelligent resources/analysts”, or humans (Kaushik, 2006). That means if you’re spending $10,000 a year on social listening software, you should be spending at least $90,000 on an analyst (or analysts). To some this might sound extreme, but it is important advice that should not be ignored when thinking about building or refreshing an SMM practice.

The right talent needs to be plugged in at various levels, but crucially, it needs to be present at management level in order to connect the dots and draw links between insights and strategy. The right people who lead a successful SMM practice will need to wear multiple hats in order to understand different perspectives and how all those pieces fit together. Further, they will need to be ambassadors for the value, importance and use of the data within their own organisation.


3.4 - DATA INTEGRATION AND SILOSDuring the roundtable several, participants put forth the idea of a cross-functional, cross-disciplinary department within the organisation that would serve to enable the flow of data throughout the business. Referred to as a central intelligence unit (CIU), this department would serve to seek and explore opportunities to integrate disparate datasets, to organise and store these data, and then channel insights to various departments. Obviously the notion of a CIU goes far beyond the opportunities and challenges of social listening. However, SMM and its applications for CFOs provide a powerful business case for the role of such a department. Although finance departments are typically strong in financial analysis, they are usually less adept at analysis of social data (e.g. sentiment, channels, influencers, etc). With a CIU, the finance team need not worry about having the right skills and experience within their department as they could simply collaborate with their in-house CIU.

The CIU is an interesting notion as it does not necessarily involve the eradication of business silos which can be difficult to overcome and in some cases are necessary. Instead, the CIU would serve as a department that could work across silos by enabling the flow of data.

“It may not be possible to eradicate business silos as a means to allow data to be shared across departments such as marketing, finance, et cetera, but maybe a central intelligence unit can help build bridges that enable the flow of data across the business.”

- Stephen Tracy, Regional Insight & Analytics Lead, Waggener Edstrom

The development of such a department or practice is no simple task, but it does provide an interesting alternative as compared to bringing the necessary talent, skills and experience for SMM into a department such as finance. Needless to say, whether you choose to build the capability within a specific department, outsource to an agency or invest in building a CIU, CFOs and key decision makers need to identify the most appropriate solution for the organisation based on its business objectives and data needs.

CENTRALINTELLIGENCE UNIT

(CIU)

FINANCE & ACCOUNTING

HUMAN RESOURCES

MARKETING & SALES

PUBLIC RELATIONS

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

ADMINISTRATION


SMM IS NOT JUSTABOUT TECHNOLOGY

4 - KEY OBSERVATIONS

Technology platforms are just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to SMM. Getting the most value out of your investment requires thinking holistically and building a practice which encompasses the right people (e.g. talent), knowledge (e.g. measurement framework) and technology.

PEOPLE MATTERWhether you outsource or insource your SMM practice, it needs individuals who are familiar with the organisation, its objectives and how SMM helps the organisation achieve those objectives. This does not necessarily require a seasoned industry analyst, but at a minimum it does require ownership. It requires an individual, or group of people, who are close to the data, who understand how to interpret it, and who understand how it relates to established business objectives.

SMM IS NOT JUSTFOR MARKETERSThe value of SMM is not limited to the marketing function, as the data and insights generated by social listening can benefit almost any function within an organisation. Whether SMM is used to increase sales, improve customer service experiences, or to provide an extra layer of insight to business performance reporting, the users of such platforms can come from any part of the organisation.

SOCIAL DATA SHOULDN’TLIVE IN A SILOSocial data by itself has very little meaning. It is only when you integrate it with other relevant datasets that the data truly comes to life and becomes useful or actionable. It may not always be feasible to break down business silos within your organisation, but that does not mean the data has to be silo-ed. That said, integrating disparate datasets is not a simple task as it requires a great deal of effort to layer data in effective and meaningful ways.


5 - RECOMMENDATIONDON’T RUSH INWhether your organisation is starting out with SMM or refreshing an existing practice, do not rush into procuring a tool. Start by getting all of the relevant stakeholders together and think about how SMM can inform or impact the organisation’s business objectives.

START WITH PEOPLEIf your organisation is planning to build an SMM practice but is budget constrained, it might be wise to start by investing in people first. There are a host of free SMM technology platforms available, and although the free tools do not have all the bells and whistles that commercial tools do, a strong analyst will usually deliver more insight using a free tool over someone with little training, experience or direction using a paid one.

BE CREATIVEThink of creative yet meaningful ways that social data can help inform reporting processes across the organisation. Whether correlating social sentiments with sales and revenue data or exploring how the volume of social conversations affects web traffic and conversations, these are single applications of SMM. Thinking outside-the-box by going beyond the basic data and reporting offered within the technology platform will usually deliver the best results.

BE COLLABORATIVEDuring the roundtable, the notion of a central intelligence unit which functions across business silos as a means to find opportunities to integrate data was raised. It may not always be feasible for organisations to build such a team or department, but that does not limit the possibility of working across silos to find ways to derive more value from an SMM program. CFOs in particular are in the best position to do so, as their remit typically affects every business function within the organisation. Similarly, social data can be relevant to different stakeholders for various applications and uses, so in many ways SMM is the perfect dataset to foster more integration and collaboration across the organisation.

FIND THE RIGHT TOOLWhen it does come to finding a technology platform, make sure the needs and requirements are clearly identified before meeting with vendors. Also review multiple tools to compare their price points, features and trade-offs (as there will be many). Although there are lots of similarities between platforms, every tool is unique and has a different way of collecting and mining the required data. So it’s important to be aware of these differences before choosing the tool that is appropriate for your organisation.


This publication provides general information only. It does not constitute specific legal advice and does not represent the views of Singapore CFO Institute, Waggener Edstrom Communications and the respective organisations of the participants and moderators.

You should not act upon the information contained in this publication without obtaining specific professional advice. This publication, in part or in whole, shall not be copied, reproduced or distributed in any format without the prior written permission of the Singapore CFO Institute and Waggener Edstrom Communications. Always consult a suitably qualified professional on any specific problem or matter.

©March2015 Singapore CFO Institute and Waggener Edstrom Communications

About Waggener Edstrom CommunicationsWaggener Edstrom Communications (WE) is a global, integrated communications agency. For 30 years, the independently owned firm has developed strategic communications programs for innovative and world-changing companies, working to influence markets, inspire people and improve lives.

In the past few years, the agency was honored with numerous awards for our creative and strategic work, among them recognition as APAC Consumer Consultancy of the Year 2013 by The Holmes Report, Mid-Size Network of the Year 2012 & 2011 by Campaign Asia-Pacific PR Awards, and Technology Agency of the Decade. The agency has more than 750 employees in 17 offices around the world, and its Global Alliance partners expand the agency’s reach to more than 80 additional international markets.

WE APAC specializes in the Consumer, Technology, and Healthcare sectors, as well as expertise in Creative, Digital, Content, and Insight & Analytics.

To learn more, visit http://apac.WaggenerEdstrom.com

About Singapore CFO InstituteThe Singapore CFO Institute aims to be a globally-recognised body of CFOs and CFO aspirants, and is dedicated to advancing the role of CFOs as strategic partners in business and the community, by driving thought leadership, promoting best practices and enabling their professional development.

Singapore CFO Institute. For practitioners, by practitioners.

For more information about the Singapore CFO Institute,visit cfoconnect.sg


PARTICIPANT LIST

Allison Smith, M. P. (2015, January 9). Listening Platforms Won't Become A Major Marketing Technology In 2015. Retrieved from Forrester: https://www.forrester.com/Listening+Platforms+Wont+Become+A+Major+Marketing+Technology+In+2015/fulltext/-/E-RES73702

Internet Live Stats. (2015). Twitter Usage Statistics. Retrieved from Internet Live Stats: http://www.internetlivestats.com/twitter-statistics/

Kaushik, A. (2006, May 19). The 10 / 90 Rule for Magnificent Web Analytics Success. Retrieved from Occam's Razor: http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/the-10-90-rule-for-magnificient-web-analytics-success/

Levien, S. (2015, January 9). SOCIAL LISTENING PLATFORMS ARE FAILING MARKETERS. Retrieved from Forrester: https://www.forrester.com/Social+Listening+Platforms+Are+Failing+Marketers/-/E-PRE7525

Noyes, D. (2015, February). The Top 20 Valuable Facebook Statistics – Updated February 2015. Retrieved from Zephoria: https://zephoria.com/social-media/top-15-valuable-facebook-statistics/

Systrom, K. (2015). 300 Million: Sharing Real Moments. Retrieved from Instagram: http://blog.instagram.com/post/104847837897/141210-300million

NAME

Mr David Leow

COMPANY

Thaler Group

DESIGNATION

Managing Director

Mr James Lee The South BeachDirector, Financial Services

Mr Eric Tan Tourism Media Pte LtdCFO

MODERATORS

AUTHORS:Mr Stephen Tracy, Regional Insight & Analytics Lead, APAC, Waggener Edstrom CommunicationsMs Melody Ho, Junior Insight & Analytics, Waggener Edstrom Communications

NAME

Mr Stephen Tracy

COMPANY

Waggener Edstrom Communications

DESIGNATION

Regional Insight & Analytics Lead, APAC

Mr Uantchern Loh Singapore Accountancy CommissionChief Executive

Mr Benjamin Wong Bilcare Singapore Pte. LimitedGeneral Manager (China)

Ms Victoria Ko Mui Ha Venture Corporation LimitedCFO

Mr Shridar Jayakumar Oracle Business AnalyticsProgram Director, Asia Pacific

Mr Stephen Dale Digimind SingaporeGeneral Manager

ANNEX A - PARTICIPANT LIST

ANNEX B - BIBLIOGRAPHY

For enquires regarding this report, please contact:

Waggener Edstrom CommunicationsMr Stephen Tracy Regional Insights & Analytics Lead, APAC Tel: +65 6511 5385Email: [email protected]

Singapore CFO InstituteMr Kevin WeeAssociate Director, Singapore CFO InstituteTel: +65 6325 0531Email: [email protected]

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