Social Media Marketing: Insights, Landscape & Vendor Analysis

Transcription

1 Solution Study Social Media Marketing: Insights, Landscape & Vendor Analysis By: Clare Price, VP Research With: Kristen Maida, Senior Research Analyst June Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

2 Table of Contents 3 Executive Summary 25 Social Business Maturity Model 4 What is Social Media Marketing? 27 Action Plan 7 Benefits of Social Media Marketing 29 Analyst Bottom Line 9 Social Media Deployment Lifecycle 30 About the Research Analysts 10 Vendor Selection Criteria 31 Our Solution Study Methodology 15 Social Media Solutions Landscape 32 About Demand Metric

3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY It has been said that All Marketing is Digital Marketing, and with good reason! In the last decade, marketing has been transformed. Marketing has moved from an environment in which traditional marketing, brick and mortar storefronts and Digital Marketing options all competed for the time, attention and resources of the marketing department to one in which Digital Marketing reigns supreme (with an occasional nod in the direction of the storefront or traditional marketing channels, such as direct mail and print advertising). In our Digital Marketing Solution Study Series, we examine five components of Digital Marketing. In this report, we will focus on the growing practice area of Social Media Marketing and cover the following sections: A Definition of Social Media Marketing The Benefits of Social Media Marketing The Social Media Marketing Solutions Landscape Social Media Marketing Maturity Model Vendor Selection Criteria Action Plan & Toolkit Social Business Deployment Cycle 2014 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. 3

4 WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING? The Social Media environment is vast, complex and constantly changing. Hundreds of vendors and solutions compete for the marketer s time and attention. It takes dedication, time and effort just to stay current with the changes, let alone evaluate and implement the best products/services for your organization. The insights and analysis presented in this report are given to provide marketers with a solid understanding of the Social Media platforms, tools and Social Networks that enable Modern Marketing organizations to implement Social Media Marketing and Management as part of their broader Digital Marketing Strategy. Our look at Social Media Marketing strategies, processes and implementations focuses on four, key platforms Social Listening, Social Engagement, Social Experience and Social Analytics. Our analysis also includes descriptions of the major Social Networks in play right now. In brief, Social Media Marketing is doing marketing in a social context. This means using the resources of Social Media and the Internet/web to offer products/services to prospective buyers, to build brand presence in the market and to use social connections to develop business relationships that enhance commerce. At Demand Metric we define Social Media Marketing as the strategies, processes, tools and technologies that enable an Enterprise to do business in the marketplace with customers and partners via Social Networks and Channels. Role in Digital Marketing Demand Metric considers Social Media Marketing to be an integral part of Digital Marketing as illustrated by our Digital Marketing Framework (Figure 1). Driven by the Community and Social Media Manager, Social Media processes and technologies are used by Strategic Comm, Content Marketing, Community, Social Media and Customer Experience. The common metrics for Social Media include user engagement, sentiment analysis and campaign ROI Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. 4

5 ROLES RESPONSIBILITIES PROCESSES TECHNOLOGY CONTENT METRICS Senior Management Revenue Accountability Staffing & Channel Management Reporting to CEO/Board Budgeting & Planning Reviews & Coaching Recruitment & Retention WCM Marketing Automation CRM Thought Leadership Blog Webinar Presentations Conference Keynotes Revenue by Channel Customer Lifetime Value, NPS Return on Customer (ROC) Strategic Communications Brand Strategy Digital Marketing Strategy Social/Mobile Marketing Strategy Marketing Budgeting Agency Management Communications Management WCM Content Marketing Platforms Social Media Platforms Data Sheets, Whitepapers Case Studies/Testimonials Competitive Analysis Market Share, Profitability Brand Equity Content Usage Demand Generation Lead Generation & Events Inbound/Outbound Marketing Sales Opportunity Management Advertising/Sponsorship Lead Generation Tradeshows Marketing Automation/ Digital Asset Management Event/Survey Management Advertising/SEO Campaigns Webinars Campaign ROI, Metrics Marketing Qualified Leads Contribution to Pipeline Content Marketing Web Content Management Content Marketing Content Distribution Content Creation Campaign Analysis Content Scoring WCM, Blogging Platforms, MA Content Marketing & Distribution Video Marketing Platforms TECHNOLOGY Website and Blogs ebooks, Articles Videos Content Views, Links Earned Content Conversion Content Published Community & Social Media Online Community Management Social Listening Social Engagement Community Development Social Channel Management Social Reputation Management WCM Social Media Platforms Social Channels & Networks Posts, Tweets, Photos Forums, Chats, Comments Articles, Community News User Engagement Sentiment Analysis Campaign ROI Public Relations External Communications Media Relations Analyst Relations Influencer Identification Relationship Cultivation Content Creation/Distribution Media Contact Database News Distribution & Monitoring Analytics & Reporting News Content/Press Releases Thought Leadership Content Rich & Social Media Content Mentions/Impressions Audience Growth & Engagement Sentiment Analysis Product Marketing New Product Development Mobile App Development Video Production/Development Product Launch Product Positioning Competitive Analysis WCM Mobile Development Platforms Video Production Platforms New Features/Ideas for R&D Gamification Competitive Analysis Avg. Revenue Per User Avg. Order Value Conversion Rate, Renewal Rate Customer Experience Interactive Experience Customer Satisfaction Customer Advocacy Customer Experience Customer Journey Mapping Customer Persona Creation Customer Profile Management Customer Support, Twitter Survey & Social Channels Buyer Personas Customer Journey Map Proposals, Presentations Customer Satisfaction Index Customer Lifetime Value Net Promoter Score (NPS) Figure 1: Digital Marketing Framework

6 To better define Social Media Marketing, we need to look at its core components Social Media, Internet/web and the Social Enterprise. Demand Metric defines these components as follows: Social Media is defined as the online exchange of content within a community, focusing on activity, marketplaces, collaboration and sharing. The Internet/web is the electronic infrastructure, environment and connections that create the functionality for digital commerce. A Social Enterprise is a company or organization that has aligned its organizational strategies, processes, roles and responsibilities to maximize its investment in Social Media tools and technologies. Download our Social Media Maturity Assessment to evaluate your organization s social media initiatives and technologies. Figure 2: Social Media Maturity Assessment Download 2014 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. 6

7 BENEFITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING The benefits of Social Media Marketing are so numerous and varied that it would be impossible to list them all. Here we present the top twenty benefits that Demand Metric believes are critical for Social Enterprise initiatives and for use by a world class Modern Marketing Organization: 1. Increases Customer Interaction Your customers are in social. Whether to praise or complain, research or evaluate, prospects often turn first to social channels. 4. Provides the Highest Level of Personalized Offers By creating individual social profiles based on tracking behavior, activity and attitudes, Social Media enables organizations to personalize advertisements and messaging to customer interests and specialties. 5. Creates Better Customer Experiences and Journeys Social Media offers advanced, online experiences by understanding how your customers want to interact with your company. 2. Improves Revenue Targets Social drives many purchasing decisions. The information that prospects receive from their social networks is often weighed more heavily than information received by other channels. 3. Offers Up-to-date Customer Knowledge Know your customers better by listening, monitoring and responding. Customers talking in social are providing the most valuable information because it is usually the most authentic and current. 6. Enables Better Customer Service Social Media allows you to handle problems/complaints quickly and personally. 7. Facilitates Product/Service Feedback Gain product knowledge for future products and services by learning what customers are asking for the most. 8. Supports Influencer Marketing Learn who has the clout in various social communities and develop deeper relationships with them to influence their tribes Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. 7

8 9. Creates Online Communities Make your company s website a destination, not a browsing ground. 10. Proves ROI with Analytics Use Social Analytics to connect marketing campaigns and content to targeted revenue and sales goals. 11. Aligns Organizational Use of Social Channels and Networks Use Enterprise Social Experience platforms to provide an integrated view of your customers social activity and your response, and gain new insights for campaign and product development. 12. Improves Content Marketing Efforts Create more targeted and personalized content for prospects and customers to deepen engagement. 13. Impacts the Sales Cycle Use Social Media platforms to drive better, more closable opportunities for sales. 14. Encourages Higher Marketing Productivity Social Media makes the marketing department more effective and efficient. 15. Provides an Instantaneous Competitive Analysis Have a faster, better read on what your competitors are doing and respond faster to competitive pressures. 16. Enables Better Distributor Channel Management Use Social Media to deepen channel relationships and make your dealers more profitable. 17. Increases Brand Awareness and Reach Create more brand followers and fans who want to connect with your brand. 18. Empowers Customer Advocacy Learn who your best brand advocates are and how to empower them to expand your brand into their networks. 19. Accelerates Crisis Management Quickly discover and address real or potential product/company problems and challenges. 20. Strengthens Reputation Management Know who s talking about you in Social Networks and what they are saying so you can respond to protect and enhance your reputation Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. 8

9 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING DEPLOYMENT LIFECYCLE Stages of Deployment We see four stages in the deployment of a Social Media Marketing solution beginning with Social Listening and progressing through Social Engagement and Social Experience to Social Analytics. All four of these with be discussed in more detail in the Social Media Marketing Solutions Landscape section of this report. 1. Social Listening It is important to note that all of the Social Listening platforms include some form of analytics for targeted monitoring/response. The difference between the Social Listening platforms reviewed in our study and the Social Analytics platforms is the depth and breadth of the data collected and measured and the use of advanced technology, such as attribution, to provide deeper insights into customer behavior.. Figure 3 highlights the stages of deployment for Social Media Marketing and how they interact with one another. 4. Social Analytics Social Media Marketing Deployment Lifecycle 3. Social Experience 2. Social Engagement 2014 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Figure 3: Social Media Marketing Deployment Lifecycle 9

10 VENDOR SELECTION CRITERIA We recommend evaluating vendors in the Social Media Marketing solution space based on the four key components detailed the Social Media Deployment Lifecycle section of this report. Social Listening, Social Engagement, Social Experience and Social Analytics platforms should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis for each organization. For this reason, Demand Metric has created a selection of evaluation tools for each category, which are our Social Listening Vendor Evaluation, our Social Engagement Vendor Evaluation, our Social Experience Vendor Evaluation and our Social Analytics Vendor Evaluation. Download Figure 5 (on the next page) highlights the key functionality of Social Listening platforms according to the level of complexity from Basic to Cutting-Edge. Figure 4: Social Listening Vendor Evaluation Figures 6, 7 and 8 (on Pages 12, 13 and 14, respectively) follow the same approach as Figure 5 for Social Engagement, Social Experience and Social Analytics. Use these graphics to determine the features that are right for your company. 10

11 CUTTING-EDGE SOLUTIONS FEATURES Unlimited Searches Enterprise & Departmental Workflow Management Customizable Dashboards Social & Traditional Media Coverage Advanced Data Processing Collection & Analysis of Complete Posts COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTION FEATURES Detailed Geographic Data Conversations Maps & Full Conversation Collection Social CRM Integration Team Workflow Management & Collaboration Visualization Dashboards Influencer Management & Content Publishing STANDARD SOLUTION FEATURES Complete Sentiment Analysis Behavior Tracking & Opinion Research Multi-lingual Coverage Influence Statistics Topic Clouds Sophisticated Dashboard Presentation for Social Media Activity Filtering Capabilities Social Network Monitoring Basic Sentiment Analysis BASIC SOLUTION FEATURES Dashboard Presentation of Social Media Mentions & Activity Review & Response Capabilities Quantitative Data Figure 5: Social Listening Vendor Selection Criteria by Functionality Tier 11

12 CUTTING-EDGE SOLUTIONS FEATURES Engagement Automation Functionality Enterprise-level Platform Integration Customized Apps to Automate Engagement Third-party Analytics Integration COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTION FEATURES Brand Reach & Engagement for Advertising, Social ecommerce, Content Marketing & Online Community Development Deep Analytics for Behavior Tracking & Sentiment Analysis STANDARD SOLUTION FEATURES Frictionless Sharing Social Log-in Account Mapping Customer Profile Management Registration as a Service Single Sign-on BASIC SOLUTION FEATURES Social Plug-ins Easy, Instant Social Sharing from Source to Network Social Toolbars Figure 6: Social Engagement Vendor Selection Criteria by Functionality Tier 12

13 CUTTING-EDGE SOLUTIONS FEATURES Data Analysis & Interpretation of Social Conversations Storytelling of Social Experiences Social Visualization via Live Content Streaming COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTION FEATURES Enterprise Collaboration Social Interactions & Actionable Insights to Optimize Marketing Social Insights for Product Innovation STANDARD SOLUTION FEATURES Content Marketing & Social Activity Merging Social Content Curation Social Content Display Across Multi-Channel Environments Social Insights for Personalized Distribution Social Content Tailoring BASIC SOLUTION FEATURES Integrated Content Creation Integrated Social Message Amplification Integrated Social Analytics Figure 7: Social Experience Vendor Selection Criteria by Functionality Tier 13

14 CUTTING-EDGE SOLUTIONS FEATURES Attribution Technology Behavioral Indexing Segmented Analysis of Emotional Signals Emotional Indexing COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTION FEATURES Social ROI Tools Advanced Analytics for Understanding Purchase Intent & Customer Emotions/Behaviors STANDARD SOLUTION FEATURES Granular Data Collection Dashboard Visualization Content & Campaign Performance Tracking Cross-channel Analysis Competitive Analysis & Benchmarking BASIC SOLUTION FEATURES Earned & Paid Social Media Collection, Measurement & Analysis Figure 8: Social Analytics Vendor Selection Criteria by Functionality Tier 14

15 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING SOLUTIONS LANDSCAPE Overview We have divided the Social Media Marketing vendor landscape into five categories. They are: Social Listening Platforms These are platforms and apps that focus on social monitoring/response. These platforms monitor conversations across Social Networks for mentions of a company/brand to collect opinions of and experiences with that company, brand or product. They also provide data to the company for social response, sales action or customer service. Most of these platforms offer analytics to provide customer profile information rather than just data streams. Social Engagement Platforms These platforms focus on apps that deepen the engagement between the company and the customer. While most of these platforms offer a monitoring component, they provide a deeper level of engagement via apps for increasing ease and speed of social sharing, developing online communities, content creation & publishing and/or gamification. Social Experience Platforms These platforms focus on changing the experience the customer has with the company or brand. Social Experience platforms usually include components of both monitoring and engagement platforms; however, they go a step further with functionality that changes the way the customer interacts with a company. These solutions serve to extend the reach of a brand deeper into the customer s environment. Common apps and features of Social Experience platforms are customer journey mapping, personalized content publishing, story creation, personalized gamification apps and apps for facilitating innovation and new product development. Social Analytics Platforms These are platforms that focus on the collection, measurement and benchmarking of social activity, behavior, opinion and emotion across Social Networks and media types (owned, earned & paid social media). Most analytics platforms create detailed, individual customer profiles. These profiles include visualization dashboards for understanding and applying data for customer engagement, sales, customer service, competitive analysis and social marketing ROI Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. 15

16 Social Networks These are the social environments in which social interaction and commerce take place. In this study, we look at the major social networks for B2B and B2C business activity such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube. Demand Metric provides a full listing of Social Networks in our Top Social Media Sites Database and Social Media Channel Map. Vendor Playing Fields In this study, we focus on vendors that offer platforms with a technology infrastructure that supports multiple applications rather than one-off applications. Vendors in each category needed to have several, announced, major customers to be included in our analysis. Vendors were placed in their category based on what we believe is their primary application focus, although many provide applications and feature sets that blend from one platform category to the other. Social Listening Playing Field Vendors in the Social Listening Platform market fall into four levels based on the depth and breadth of their monitoring capabilities and analysis as well as additional functions they offer to extend their products and services deeper across the enterprise Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. We ranked vendors in this category on the following criteria: 1. Depth and Breadth of Monitoring Capabilities Number of channels supported, languages, countries and level of search function (from keywords to complete threads). 2. Response Capability Alerts and integrated, social profiles. 3. Depth and Breadth of Analysis Quantitative, sentiment, behavior and influencer marketing capabilities. 4. Quality of Dashboard Functionality 5. Enterprise Support Team workflow management, team collaboration and Social CRM integration 6. Customization Capability and/or Custom App Offerings Vendors were ranked on four tiers of functionality, which are: Basic At the basic level, platforms monitor, collect and present the data from social media posts, threads, comments, etc. on a dashboard for review and response. Analysis at this level typically

17 provides quantitative data for likes, tweets, etc. by time, location, etc. with some sentiment analysis. All vendors in this category include basic features, as do free tools like Google Analytics, Social Mention and Facebook Insights. Standard At the Standard level, solutions monitor and analyze social conversations at a deeper level. Features include sentiment analysis, behavior tracking and opinion research. They may offer more extensive multi-lingual coverage, influence statistics, topic clouds, filtering capabilities and more sophisticated dashboards. Comprehensive At the Comprehensive level, Social Listening platforms offer deep and detailed monitoring and analysis, such as detailed geographic/location data (down to street level) and conversation maps. They may collect full conversations, not just keyword or product mentions for contextual analysis. They offer additional functions, such as team workflow management, team collaboration and Social CRM integration. Cutting-Edge At the Cutting-Edge fourth tier, platforms provide the monitoring functions of the Comprehensive vendors and additional features, such as sophisticated data process across 2014 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. multiple geographies and languages, coverage of both social and traditional media sources, collection and analysis of complete posts and highly customizable monitoring capabilities with unlimited searches and customizable dashboards. They offer workflow integration across the Enterprise and departments for a unified view of social for the entire organization. Figure 9 shows the progression of the Social Listening vendors and their product/service offerings. Social Engagement Playing Field Vendors in the Social Engagement platform market fall into four levels based on the depth and breadth of their engagement applications. We ranked vendors in this category as follows: Ability to Facilitate Ease of Social Sharing Features/Functions that Deepen Engagement Content creation, curating or marketing (not pure posting). Integrated Engagement Applications (i.e. gamification) 17

18 CUTTING-EDGE PLATFORMS COMPREHENSIVE PLATFORMS STANDARD PLATFORMS BASIC PLATFORMS Figure 9: Social Listening Vendor Solution Landscape

19 Integrated Reach Applications (i.e. targeted advertising; ecommerce or online communities) Engagement Automation Functionality Enterprise Platform/Application Integration Vendors were ranked on four tiers of functionality, which are: and online community development. This level includes deep analytics for behavior tracking and sentiment analysis. Cutting-Edge At this level, platforms offer engagement automation functionality or customized apps, such as SocialFlow s Cadence that automates publishing posts at optimum times and Influitive s AdvocateHub that enables users to create VIP networks to empower affinity relationships. Basic At the basic level, Social Engagement platforms facilitate social sharing with social plug-ins and toolbars. The basic level lets users instantly share content from their source with most social networks. Standard At the Standard level, Social Engagement platforms facilitate engagement with frictionless sharing, Social Log-in, Single Sign-on, Account Mapping and Registration as a Service and Customer Profile Management. Comprehensive At the Comprehensive level, Social Engagement platforms offer brand reach and engagement features for adverting, social ecommerce, Content Marketing Figure 10 shows the progression of the Social Engagement vendors and their product/service offerings. Social Experience Playing Field Vendors in the Social Experience market fall into four levels based on the depth and breadth of the following criteria: Personalization of the Social Experience Voice of the Customer Applications Enterprise Social Collaboration 2014 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. 19

20 CUTTING-EDGE PLATFORMS COMPREHENSIVE PLATFORMS STANDARD PLATFORMS BASIC PLATFORMS Figure 10: Social Engagement Vendor Solution Landscape

21 Social Integration into Customer Lifecycle Management Enterprise Integration Capabilities Vendors in this category fall into the following, four categories: Basic At the Basic level, platforms integrate content creation, social message amplification and social analytics. Standard At the Standard level, solutions merge Content Marketing and social activity. Platforms enable social content to be curated and displayed across multi-channel environments, provide content tailored to audience activity and preference and offer social insights for personalized content distribution. Comprehensive At the Comprehensive level, platforms support enterprise collaboration to improve the customer s social experience, provide social insights for new product innovation and utilize social interactions and actionable insights to optimize marketing for customer lifecycle management. Cutting-Edge At the Cutting-Edge level, Social Experience platforms drive customer experience in new directions through unique data interpretation, storytelling or social visualization. Figure 11 shows the progression of the Social Experience vendors and their product/service offerings. Social Analytics Playing Field Vendors in the Social Analytics platform market fall into four levels based on the depth and breadth of their engagement applications. We ranked vendors in this study on the following criteria: Collection, Measurement and Analysis of Owned, Earned and Paid Social Media Competitive Averages for Benchmarking Depth and Breadth of Channel Analytics Granularity of Analysis Detail 2014 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Application of Social ROI Tools 21

22 CUTTING-EDGE PLATFORMS COMPREHENSIVE PLATFORMS STANDARD PLATFORMS BASIC PLATFORMS Figure 11: Social Experience Vendor Solution Landscape

23 Basic At the Basic level, Social Analytics platforms collect, measure and analyze owned, earned and paid Social Media of the major Social Networks and channels. Standard At the Standard level, Social Analytics platforms collect basic data and provide additional analysis functions, such as granular data collection to tweet level, dashboard visualization, cross-channel analysis, content and campaign performance and competitive analysis and benchmarking. Comprehensive At the Comprehensive level, Social Analytics platforms offer advanced analytics functionality for all social channels. Analysis is used for understanding purchase intent and analyzing customer emotions and behaviors. Social ROI tools are used for measuring the impact of Social Media on driving incremental revenue. Cutting-Edge At the Cutting-Edge level, Social Analytics platforms offer advanced analytics applications, such as attribution technology and behavioral/emotional indexing with segmented analysis of emotional signals. Figure 12 shows the progression of the Social Analysis platform vendors and their product/service offerings. Download and review Demand Metric s Social Media Vendors Matrix to learn more about the key vendors in each of the four categories based on target industries, offerings, key features, unique strengths and current customers Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. 23

24 CUTTING-EDGE PLATFORMS COMPREHENSIVE PLATFORMS STANDARD PLATFORMS BASIC PLATFORMS Figure 12: Social Analytics Vendor Solution Landscape

25 SOCIAL BUSINESS MATURITY MODEL A modern marketing organization that desires to align itself for social business must focus on seven core areas. These are: 1. Senior Management Commitment 2. Social Media Knowledge 3. Customer Engagement 5. Budget & Staff Resources 6. Plan & Channel Selection 7. Measurement 4. Competitive Insight Figure 13 (on the next page) shows the progression of an organization from Stage 1 (Undefined) to Stage 4 (World Class) in each of these seven areas mentioned above. Demand Metric s Social Business Maturity Model can be used in combination with the vendor landscape analysis and charts detailed in the Social Media Marketing Solutions Landscape section of this report. For each of the four deployment stages, our maturity model and vendor landscape can enable a modern marketing organization to move forward in process efficiencies, programs and technologies for Social Media Marketing Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. 25

26 Social Business Stage 1: Undefined Stage 2: Progressive Stage 3: Mature Stage 4: World-Class Senior Management Commitment Skeptical of Social Media; Is willing to fund isolated projects and/or test pilot Views Social Media as a new marketing channel; Allocates budget & staff resources Long-term commitment; Is a willing participant; Adds resources for growth Views Social Media as a strategic function; Fully funds efforts; Aligns organization for social success Social Media Knowledge Limited knowledge of Social Media channels Solid understanding of Social Media use Leverages peer groups; Active community management Active thought leaders; Social influencers Customer Engagement Company profile on Social Media sites; Posting is sporadic and ad hoc; Lack of audience awareness; One-way dialog Growing subscriber lists; Customer & audience awareness; Mostly one-way dialog; Sporadic customer participation Consistent customer engagement; Reactive social listening; True dialog; Recognition of preferred audience Proactive social listening; True dialog with ideal audience; Process loop for customer feedback to impact company Competitive Insight No or little competitive tracking exists Audit top competitors online strategy and know their Social Media strategy Regularly track competitors; Monitors activity daily Analyzes social activity of competitors and provide insights to stakeholders Budget & Staff No budget exists; Spending & staffing is ad hoc Budget allocated; Defined roles & responsibilities for Social Media Budget with business case to justify spend; Dedicated internal point person for Social Media Budget connect to social goals; Organization aligned for maximum social impact Plan & Channel Selection No coordinated effort Defined Social Media Channel Map and posting strategy Defined strategy with some objectives, targets, initiatives and measures Strategy implemented; Integrated solutions and tools; Getting measurable results Measurement Size of population (i.e. Twitter followers, Facebook likes, # of LinkedIn connections, etc.) Social Media dashboard for brand awareness, channel activity, social reach and reputation management Dashboard results are tracked and communicated Dashboard results deliver verifiable return and drive new initiatives & policies Figure 13: Social Business Maturity Model

27 ACTION PLAN 1. Utilize our Social Media Maturity Assessment to evaluate your current systems and initiatives for Social Media Marketing. 2. Evaluate the organizational impact of making the change from your current systems and processes to a Social Media platform. Use our Digital Marketing Framework to review impacted company roles, responsibilities, processes and technologies. 3. Develop a solid month plan for your Social Media program with our Social Media Strategy Scorecard. 4. Review our Social Media Vendors Matrix to learn about the key vendors/platforms in the Social Media space and to understand which vendors may work best for your organization. 5. Request proposals from potential vendors to gather information on products/services by creating templates for each category you require Social Listening, Social Engagement, Social Experience and Social Analytics Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Figure 14: Social Media Vendors Matrix Download 27

28 6. After receiving RFPs from potential vendors, schedule and attend product/service demos with 3-4 vendors to get an upclose-and-personal view of their solutions. 7. Evaluate your top 3-4 vendors in each category for vendor evaluations for Social Listening, Social Engagement, Social Experience and Social Analytics in order to help you make your selection for each type of technology. 8. Develop an implementation strategy and communication plan to roll-out the initiative across the organization and through your channels. Use our Social Media Marketing Plan Methodology to create your plan. Download 9. Develop an education/training plan for all affected personnel: marketing, product development, operations and sales. 10. Measure and track the progress of your Social Media initiative with our Social Media Metrics Dashboard. Figure 15: Social Media Metrics Dashboard 2014 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. 28

29 ANALYST BOTTOM LINE Social Media Marketing is a critical component of Digital Marketing. Along with a strong web presence and Marketing, Social Media Marketing forms the foundation of an effective Digital Marketing initiative. We recommend that all marketing organizations take three steps in the developing of their Social Media Marketing strategy: 1. Assess your organization s maturity using Demand Metric s Social Business Maturity Model. 2. Audit the Social Media Marketing tools currently being used against the vendor platforms in all four key areas (listening, engagement, experience and analytics) to ensure the right vendors and products are in place. 3. Download the tools in the Action Plan section of this report in order to develop a strategy and implementation plan that works for your organization Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. 29

30 ABOUT THE RESEARCH ANALYSTS Clare Price, VP Research Demand Metric Clare is an expert in marketing strategy, branding, strategic communications, sales enablement, social media marketing, content marketing and leveraging marketing technologies. Clare is a former Gartner Research Director and helped build their Internet Strategies Services division with clients such as Microsoft, IBM, HP, Cisco, Proctor & Gamble and Wells Fargo. Her specialties include: brand strategy, brand development, customer acquisition and relationship development, content and digital marketing strategy, sales enablement and social media marketing. Kristen Maida, Senior Research Analyst Demand Metric Kristen has worked with Demand Metric for the past 4 years, learning about and gaining experience in all aspects of the organization. She has developed job functions in almost every department to help with Demand Metric s rapid growth. Her specialties include: social media marketing, digital marketing, content marketing & management and business process development Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. 30

31 OUR SOLUTION STUDY METHODOLOGY The Modern Marketing landscape is an ever changing, ever evolving environment in which new strategies, technologies, vendors and products appear continually. Demand Metric Solution Studies provide marketers with a focus on a specific technology solution set or focus area so that they are armed with the knowledge, information and tools they need to development effective strategies and action plans for their organizations. Each Solution Study involves hours of analyst research, draws information from interviews with vendor executives and established vendor clients for a specific technology solution and is usually accompanied by a mini Tool-kit of practical resources. Solution Study Tool-kits are designed to provide marketers with the tools & templates they need to plan for an initiative in a given focus area, analyze the vendor landscape and select the best vendor for their organization. Our Digital Marketing series includes Solution Studies on: Social Media Marketing Mobile Marketing Video Marketing Public Relations Content Marketing We provide a comprehensive overview of Digital Marketing in the companion report Digital Marketing Best Practices Report Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. 31

32 Solution Study ABOUT DEMAND METRIC Demand Metric is a global marketing research & advisory firm serving a membership community of over 40,000 marketing professionals, CEOs, and business owners with advisory services, custom research & benchmarking reports, vendor studies, consulting methodologies, training, and a library of 500+ tools and templates. Using Demand Metric resources, members complete projects faster and with greater confidence, boosting respect for the marketing team and making it easier to justify needed resources. Our 1,000+ clients range from start-ups to members of the Global TO LEARN MORE ABOUT DEMAND METRIC To discover how Demand Metric can help you become more strategic, please visit us online at CLIENT SUPPORT For information, inquiries and general support, please contact us toll-free at , or info@demandmetric.com We offer discounts for academic and nonprofit institutions, provide group memberships and license our content to associations and large enterprises for use on corporate universities and intranets Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.