Voices: the CMB Blog

During a recent social media webinar, the question was raised “How do we convince clients that social media is statistically significant?”  After an involuntary groan, this question brought two things to mind:

• There are a lot of people working in social media research who do not understand the fundamentals of market research; and

• Why would anyone want to apply significance testing to social media data?

Apparently, there’s much debate in online research forums about whether significance testing should be applied to social media data.  Proponents argue that online panels are convenience samples and significance testing is routinely applied to those research results – so why not social media?  Admittedly that is true, but the ability to define the sample population and a structured data set should provide some test/retest reliability of the results.  It’s not a fair comparison.

I’m all for creative analysis and see potential value in sig testing applied to any data set as a way to wade through a lot of numbers to find meaningful patterns.  The analyst should understand that more things appear to be significant with big data sets so it might not be a useful exercise for social media.  Even if it can be applied, I would use it as a behind-the-scenes tool and not something to report on.

Anyone who has worked with social media data understands the challenging, ongoing process of disambiguation (removing irrelevant chatter). There are numerous uncontrollable external factors including the ever-changing set of sites the chatter is being pulled from.  Some are new sites where chatter is occurring but others are new sites being added to the listening tool’s database.   Given the nature of social media data, how can statistical comparisons over time be valid?  Social media analysis is a messy business.  Think of it as a valuable source of qualitative information.

There is value in tracking social media chatter over time to monitor for potential red flags.  Keep in mind that there is lot of noise in social media data and more often than not, an increase in chatter may not require any action. 

Applying sig testing to social media data is a slippery slope.  It implies a precision that is not there and puts focus on “significant” changes instead of meaning.  Social media analysis is already challenging – why needlessly complicate things?

Cathy is CMB’s social media research maven dedicated to an “eyes wide open” approach to social media research and its practical application and integration with other data sources. Follow her on Twitter at @VirtualMR 

Social media research is still behind social media marketing in terms of getting past the hype.  Clearly there’s some overselling going on and more education is needed about how and when to effectively use social media data.  Some sales folks even go as far as suggesting social media listening can replace market research as a way to save money – without having the background or unbiased perspective needed to make such a suggestion. 

It’s time for researchers to have an open dialogue about social media data – warts and all.  What biases exist?  What steps are necessary to put the data in a truly usable form?  What are the best applications for social media analysis?  How can we best integrate it with other data sources?  I’m not going to try and tackle all these questions in this blog, but hopefully I can help stimulate discussion over time.

To put things in perspective, one must consider that typically only a fraction of social media chatter is worthwhile and relevant to your specific objectives. Keep in mind that the topic of interest for your social media analysis has a huge impact on how many “sound bites” you have to work with.  As you are pulling data, it can be a challenge to “disambiguate” (i.e., remove irrelevant chatter) and, in some instances, almost impossible.  Another challenge is that social media data is largely unstructured. Automatic coding isn’t optimal – especially if you plan to integrate the results with other data sources. 

Despite these challenges, there is no denying that it’s a valuable data source.  Having the ability to learn from chatter that is occurring naturally online and applying state-of-the-art technology to aggregating and analyzing this data is powerful stuff.   Social media analytic tools and text analytics are always evolving.   But even with the best social media listening tools and analysts available, social media listening cannot and should not be applied across all situations.  NO analytic tool or technique is a one-size-fits-all solution.   

Let’s put social media analysis in perspective across all of the tools, techniques, and data sources we have to work with.   Exciting things are on the horizon, but for now, let’s not expect (or promise) more than social media data can deliver.

Cathy is CMB’s social media research maven dedicated to an “eyes wide open” approach to social media research and its practical application and integration with other data sources. Follow her on Twitter at @VirtualMR

Check out our webinar Understanding B2B Social Media: An AMD Case Study and learn more about how Social Media Research is making a difference for our clients. Click here.

On a recent 5-hour drive with my son Pete, his iPhone’s GPS-app suddenly started “cha-chinging” up points.  He didn’t know why the points were rolling in, nor did he have any idea how – or for what – or if he would ever redeem these points, but we both agreed:  “Points are good.”   

Nearly everyone, not just Pete and me, is hardwired to enjoy games.  "Gamification," the use of game mechanics in nongame settings, takes advantage of our psychological predisposition to enjoy games, and encourages people to engage in tasks that, but for the game, they might not feel compelled to do.  Traditional customer loyalty programs leverage game mechanics:  we earn points, achieve status/levels, display badges of honors and chase bonus points.  And, clearly, these mechanics help to increase consumers’ motivations and positively shape their behavior, leading to positive revenue impact for the associated brands.

Lately it seems that game concepts are cropping up in more – and some unexpected - places.  Part of the reason for the recent popularity is the growth in social media, a channel that was born to be gamified.  Twitter has been game-like from the beginning, with the main score being the number of followers.  Foursquare, with its hundreds of badges to win, is basically a game….it isn’t used, it’s played. 

But after reading about social loyalty programs, where members earn reward points for promoting brands on social networks, I’m wondering if marketers are taking things a bit too far.  Does rewarding customers for forwarding a brand-related tweet water down the strength of true loyalty?

If this term is new to you, let me tell you what I’ve been seeing:  Social loyalty programs are promoted as taking the concept of traditional loyalty programs to the next level by enabling companies to track and reward their fans, followers and customers for a wide variety of online and social activities -- from tweeting a message to checking in to a location or liking a post on Facebook.  Companies like CrowdTwist, a New York start-up (that recently received $6 million in venture funding) tracks and rewards customer behavior across social, mobile and online platforms. 

Maybe social loyalty programs are the future – but before building a social loyalty and/or changing your current loyalty program, I’d suggest you consider these questions: 

• Where’s the beef?  Traditional loyalty programs are built on the principle of rewarding customers for behavior of value.  The programs we work with can articulate the value of their members and of their program—the incremental sales, flights, stays, or bookings that they may not have generated otherwise.  What economic value will a social loyalty program provide to a brand?  What behaviors will you look to encourage?  Will a program encouraging social behaviors deliver desired outcomes?  The value of the activities must be calculated – in terms that the CFO will understand and believe. 

• What other (non-economic) value can a socially loyal member provide? What benefit to your brand is more fans or higher klout?  Can your increased social-WOM, be connected to increased sales?  Or insulate your brand from negative reviews?  The CFO might have a harder time articulating the value of these activities – but they’re important to consider.

• Finally, to whom would a social loyalty program appeal?  Segmentation research we ran a few years ago found that in a traditional loyalty program, the portion of members whose primary motivation was to “play the game” (e.g., seek out bonus points, enter contests) represented a fairly small portion of members.  But these Game Players – or Social Loyalty members - may be a desired demographic with untapped potential for your brand.

So, before spinning the dial, understand your different customer groups and their associated motivations. Explore, for which segments, a social loyalty program would be beneficial in shaping customer behavior to yield positive business results. As with all things “social,” gamification and social loyalty are tools in the toolbox to build customer engagement. Understanding if, when, where and how they fit into your current loyalty programs and strategies is the most exciting part.

Posted by Judy Melanson. Judy leads the Travel & Entertainment practice and loves collaborating with clients on driving customer loyalty.  She's the mom of two teens and the wife of an oyster farmer. Follow Judy on Twitter at @Judy_LC

CMB at TMRE: We would love to see you at The Market Research Event. Be sure to stop by booth 406 to say hi and enter to win a New England Calmbake for two!

Last month, we released our 10 Quick Facts You Should Know About Consumer Behavior on Facebook, and there was a lot of great discussion about how different companies are using the mega-site. The sheer number of Facebook users, all over the world, means brands and companies know they need to engage and they want to know what fans like about their brand (and what they don’t like) and how it impacts their behavior.

But, what about that other social media giant—the place where everyone from hip techies to budding revolutionaries go to speak their minds in 140 characters or less? This week we released a new Consumer Pulse report highlighting 10 Quick Facts You Should Know About Consumer Behavior on Twitter. In collaboration with our friends at Constant Contact, we asked nearly 1,500 Americans over 18 about their Twitter habits, and the results are in. Here are a few of the facts that stood out:

Consumers follow brands on Twitter for exclusivity, promotions and to be “in the know” (tweet this)

While Facebook users are interested in showing off their brand loyalty, brand followers on Twitter like getting the latest news and promotions before anyone else. What is the lesson for brands? Don’t treat your Facebook content like your Twitter content, while the vast majority of Twitter users are also on Facebook, they don’t need warmed over content they’ve already seen, they want to hear about innovations and deals before everyone else.

One-third of brand followers are interacting with brands more this year than last (tweet this)

As Twitter grows, brands have a great, and growing, opportunity to listen to their promoters and detractors, and respond directly. While the majority of brand followers on Twitter do not engage in two-way conversation with brands—brand followers are engaged, the vast majority follow fewer than 10 brands.

75% of consumers have never “un-followed” a brand on Twitter (tweet this)

While “un-following” a brand is as simple as clicking a button, most brand followers are loyal to the brands they follow. This loyalty is no reason not to invest time in your tweets, 67% of brand followers expect unique content from the brands they follow.

Nearly half of consumers on Twitter have been tweeting less than one year (tweet this)

Twitter just celebrated its 5^th birthday but many users are just diving in now. Once, home primarily to early adopters and those in the tech industry, a significant percentage of Twitter users are very new to the platform. And it’s not just the very young. Twitter’s gaining new ground with older folks as well, a quarter of users over 50 reported tweeting less than once month.

In short, consumers expect brand presence on Twitter, and they expect more than just recycled Facebook posts. Twitter is a unique medium with its own rules, language, and etiquette, but the opportunity to listen and interact with consumers in your backyard and around the world is priceless.

Download the full report here.

Posted by Kristen Garvey. Kristen is CMB’s VP of marketing, a mom of two and is getting ready to hit Orlando for The Market Research Event. You can follow Kristen on Twitter @KristenGarvey

This week we released a new Consumer Pulse report highlighting 10 Quick Facts You Should Know About Facebook. In collaboration with our friends at Constant Contact, we asked nearly 1,500 Americans over 18 about their Facebook habits. While it may not surprise you that 75% of American adults who go online have used Facebook, how they use the site to connect with companies and brands just might. Here are a few of my favorite facts:

56% of consumers said they are more likely to recommend a brand to a friend after becoming a fan on Facebook (tweet this)

Mark Schmulen @mschmulen, Constant Contact’s GM of social media and I were chatting a lot about this point.  I loved that Mark calls Facebook a “recommendation engine,” I couldn’t agree more. While I would normally think of Yelp and other online review sites, Facebook is playing a big role in today’s social word of mouth and is indeed becoming a recommendation engine. Facebook users are not only creating a more personal relationship with a brand, they’re sharing that relationship with their friends and family.  Brands have the opportunity to deepen and better relationships with consumers even after they’ve gotten their “thumbs up” on Facebook.

78% of consumers who “Like” brands on Facebook said they “Like” fewer than ten brands (tweet this)

Those who choose to fan a brand don’t do it to every brand that catches their eye.  As consumers we tend to like brands we feel connected to and are happy to put our name against. Sure we have all different motivations for liking a brand from discounts and coupons to showing our support, but the good news is for the most part when we like a brand we tend to keep it that way; 76% of Facebook fans say they’ve never “un-liked” a brand.

45% of consumers said they spend most of their time on Facebook in the newsfeed (tweet this)

As a marketer I think this is one of the most important points to understand. A key ingredient to successful marketing on Facebook is consistently posting in the newsfeed. The research tells us 77% of those who are fans of a brand spend their time in the newsfeed. This is the opportunity brands have to engage in a two way conversation. Listen to what your fans are saying and contribute to the conversation.

Tremendous opportunities wait for brands that can provide engaging content and conversations with their fans. The chance to create a base of loyal, influential, and active consumers is too good to pass up for businesses of any size. I’d love to hear how you engage with brands as a Facebook user, and how your company makes its Facebook presence known. 

Download the full report: 10 Quick Facts You Should Know About Consumer Behavior

Posted by Kristen Garvey. Kristen is CMB's VP of Marketing, a mom of two and she “likes” of The Wildflower Inn in Vermont because vacationing there was a great experience and she recommends it to friends all the time.