Disqus - Latest Comments for Harrisonma1

Re: Data Science and Climate Change: An Audience Visualization

VirtualMR — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 05:50:08 -0000

Nice analysis Hannah! I typically define audiences in my Affinio reports using followers but you've inspired me to try this approach. The look-a-like modeling is especially intriguing.

Re: Top 55 Social Media Analytics Tools

VirtualMR — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 09:28:06 -0000

You should add NetBase to this list. It is the best tool for insights - accurate sentiment analysis, efficient disambiguation, flexible analytic tools that allow creativity, fast processing speed. It's my #1 choice.

Re: I don’t know my online audience and neither do you

VirtualMR — Mon, 09 Feb 2015 23:29:23 -0000

You underestimate the power of a broadly-shared post Mark! I am sure to hear something about "measuring the loud people" at my next social media research presentation.(sigh). :) What I disagree with (without being disagreeable I hope!) is that marketers would rely solely on social media analytics to inform a marketing plan or understand their audience.

Re: I don’t know my online audience and neither do you

VirtualMR — Mon, 09 Feb 2015 22:16:14 -0000

Hi Mark - Intriguing post! I must admit I bristled at your calling social media analysis "measuring the loud people." It's a valuable methodology that is not well understood and this negative PR makes my job a little harder. Typically the best marketing plans are based on a deep understanding of customers drawn from a broad range of research (not just social media analysis). I'm sure you've heard of the 1% rule (also known as the 90-9-1 principle), which estimates 1% or less of people create content (write blogs), 9% are contributors (comment on blog posts), and 90% are lurkers. I don't think of contributors as "loud"-- they are influencers, lead users or trendsetters.

The insights drawn from social media analysis are a valuable piece of the puzzle. You may not be able to gauge the passion of your lurker audience, but there are analytic proxies. Compare the passion you inspire in your vocal contributors as compared to the passion inspired by other marketing authors. It's more important to understand your relative effectiveness rather than have absolute numbers.

Social media analysis is an important (but relatively small) component of a comprehensive marketing research plan. Inc Magazine published an excellent article on research: http://www.inc.com/aaron-ad... Hope it is helpful. Thank you for writing this provocative post and for allowing me to share my point of view.

Re: The Landscape: SME’s List Of Influencer Identification Tools

VirtualMR — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 03:54:00 -0000

Muckrack and WeFollow may be good additions

Re: Understanding the Klout Score Part I

VirtualMR — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:46:50 -0000

Prior to the changes to the algorithm, Klout was criticized for being too Twitter-centric. Now I believe Klout has readjusted towards too much weighting to Facebook. If you consider that the topic of tweets is often industry/business related and that there are hundreds or even thousands of twitter users who read tweets and click on links but don't tweet and compare that Facebook where people are generally talking about personal things with a few friends - these social media platforms are not even in the same category! Then now the LinkedIn tool (or something similar to it) that failed miserably in measuring influence is being used to calibrate influence on Klout. Look at the recent Forbes article on the top 50 most influential social media people: http://www.forbes.com/sites...
The influence tool is still under development but it seems to be working pretty well. Perhaps the Klout developers should consider some of the variables they have used in their algorithm and note that Facebook posts are a small/non-existent component of influence. I know someone with a higher Klout score than mine that has a locked Twitter account with much fewer followers (and is following way more than is following her) and doesn't have an extraordinary number of Facebook friends and posts about topics that have nothing to do with business or products. Something is really screwy since the changes.

Re: Normification V Gamification; or; What Can We Learn From The Klout Backlash?

VirtualMR — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:38:28 -0000

Setting or changing standards invites debate. I don't believe Klout has adequately explained why they shifted methods. I have no doubt they have the most kick assiest team possible but Klout could have strengthened their position by including respected "outsiders" in the evaluation and development of the scores. If they did, it isn't widely known. Klout didn't hurt their credibility by making readjustments, they hurt it by not making us part of the process.

Re: 5 (Free) Twitter Tools to Help You Manage Followers - AllTwitter

VirtualMR — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 17:27:56 -0000

Since using ManageFlitter, I find I don't need to use Friend or Follow anymore. I think Twitblock.org should be added to the list - it's a wonderful tool for identifying and blocking spam accounts.

Re: Picking a new social media monitoring service

VirtualMR — Mon, 31 May 2010 19:53:50 -0000

I'd be interested in getting your opinion of Crimson Hexagon versus these other tools. If you have a chance to check it out, write a Part II blog. This was very helpful - thanks!

Re: Stats Confirm It: Teens Don’t Tweet

VirtualMR — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:02:15 -0000

Dude, lower incidence does not equal 'Don't'. Dislike these tweets that mislead readers about the content. It's like the widely tweeted 'Microsoft doesn't do market research' -- yeah, right. I still think you're awesome though.....maybe you were looking to maximize RTs.

Re: Freemium research?

VirtualMR — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:27:41 -0000

Not sure we're going to see eye-to-eye on this one Tom. We both agree that increased quality is always good, whether it stems from the advice of the research department or that of an outside vendor.

Where we differ is around the issue of access. The greater the direct access for the renegades, the less control there is by the research staff. In theory it would be great if the research firm would bring the research dept. into the loop if the renegade research turns full-spectrum but that is unlikely to happen.
1) Once the renegade is the direct client, he/she would not want the research rep to go around them to involve the research staff
2) Typically these renegade projects are small (and not full service) so the research firm would likely assign a junion project manager. Would they be able to negotiate the political maze of bringing the research dept in the loop without offending their primary client?

I have a problem with having a research firm come between the renegade and their research dept . It should be the role of upper management, once they understand the implications of 'research gone wild' (did you see that movie?).

Re: Freemium research?

VirtualMR — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:38:16 -0000

Love the vision of unauthorized users roaming around freely (out of their cages). :) Of course, the contractual process for survey software varies across companies. In some companies, the research department controls this process for the entire company, which includes admin rights.
There are only a certain number of "seats", users must be trained, and at least they can see what is being done (even if they are not directly involved). If you have ever seen a questionnaire written by a engineer, you will understand why even some control is better than none.

Aside from writing and programming your own questions, how would a "freemium" service differ from having the unauthorized users just go to any outside vendor for research? With all the excellent vendors out there, why would I partner with a firm that degrades the role of the research department?

Re: Freemium research?

VirtualMR — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:57:41 -0000

Hi Tom - In terms of lead generation, a "freemium" service could hurt the reputation and long-term sales potential of the vendor. I would not deal with a vendor that would encourage unauthorized users to go around their research department. Education about best practices is a good thing, but it is not the place of an outside vendor to educate and train my renegade 'researchers'. I would prefer to partner with a vendor that would support me in educating upper management as to the value of reining in unqualified users. Granted, I do see the value of the "freemium" service for small start-ups and others without a dedicated researcher on staff.

Re: Five Sites That Might Change Market Research*

VirtualMR — Tue, 26 May 2009 07:47:37 -0000

The growing accessibility of free market research and survey tools is a double-edged sword. For those on a limited budget, it facilitates gathering market/consumer information when it might otherwise be impossible. It also allows anyone to be a "market researcher." I've seen numerous questionnaires written by non-researchers and launched on Survey Monkey that are shockingly bad. It's not about aesthetics -- it's about invalid results which could lead to poor business decisions. Do these self-made 'market researchers' consider sampling source/structure, methodological strengths/weaknesses, or the impact of question wording/ordering on results? Think not.