Social Media Research
Social Media Research is a set of research services to help companies understand the social space in relation to their sector, business and customers. These services can help them make informed decisions about a social strategy.
Social Media is a very broad subject area that encompasses a whole range of technologies and therefore research methodologies. The entire online space is social, and the way that people are communicating with each other and with businesses is changing.
Social Media research methodologies help to obtain user research to help a company gauge their presence on the social web, along with the effectiveness of any current strategy they may have. This information can then be used to guide any future social efforts.
Why do I need to understand social media?
As the ways customers are interacting with each other and with businesses are changing, these behaviours are slowly becoming normalized. Through social media, customers are beginning to expect companies and brands to be more honest, accountable and accessible. Entering the social space in a way that is appropriate for any particular company will enable it to take advantage of this growing area.
In addition to this, every company is being talked about on the internet and has a presence regardless of active participation. It is important to identify conversations, understand what is being said and then choose how to participate.
How do we do this?
The social space around any company needs to be understood from many perspectives. Foviance use a range of methodologies, including:
User profiles
- Understanding customers in relation to social media including attitudes to social media, current and predicted future usage.
Social listening
- Listening to conversations happening on the social web. Companies need to understand what is being said about them, where these conversations are happening. They can also look at which are the most influential conversations, and judge what conversations need to be participated in.
- This can be used to build brand intelligence, measure changes in brand perception, increase sales or understand how to increase engagement with customers.
Social audits
- Understanding a company or brand’s presence in the social space, and the effectiveness of any social media implementation, using social heuristics to allow for competitive and longitudinal benchmarking.
- This will include the effectiveness of active participation in such places as communities and forums, but also passive participation where a company needs to understand what is currently being said about them on the internet and therefore how they are being represented online through social media.
Social Measurement
- Understanding the effectiveness of a social media strategy is essential to know how to steer future campaigns, and to provide ROI.
- Foviance has a comprehensive history with web analytics, which has been tailored towards the measurement of social media.
Contact us for more details on Social Media Research.