Measurement of activity in social media - a challenge for

MEASUREMENT OF ACTIVITY IN SOCIAL MEDIA — A CHALLENGE FOR CONTEMPORARY

MARKETING RESEARCH

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marketing of scientific and research organizations

MEASUREMENT OF ACTIVITY IN SOCIAL MEDIA — A CHALLENGE FOR CONTEMPORARY MARKETING RESEARCH

Joanna Płuciennik, M.Sc.University of Łódź, Poland

Popularity of social media among Internet users resulted in popularity of this medium among companieslooking for contact with the participants of the community. Social media became as well a marketingresearch area of interest. Challenges social media researchers are facing, such as a combination ofquantitative and qualitative aspects, and the problem of complexity and the selection of indicators,demonstrate the need to systematize the knowledge in this area.

Abstract

Keywords: social media, the Internet, Facebook, marketing research

Introduction

Over the course of recent years social media have been increasingly popular — notonly in the private space of Internet users but also in the dimension of professionalbehaviours and relations with suppliers and producers of goods. The popularity of onlinecommunities among consumers has automatically caused companies, institutions,politicians and all those seeking contact with online communities to become moreinterested in social media. Social media have become the focus of market research.However, a special approach should be adopted reflecting the specific nature of socialmedia activity. This paper aims to show how social media have been influencingconsumer choices and the character of market research. This paper also attempts topoint to a number of factors which should be taken into account when measuringactivity in social media.

A New Area of Research

An online community is understood as ”a web-based group of applications,grounded in the ideological and technological premises of Web 2.0, which allow forcreating and sharing of user-generated content”1. Consequently, all web services,platforms and sites which offer the possibility of interaction can be considered asuseful elements for building an online community. They would include typical socialnetworking services such as Facebook or nk.pl, but also blogs and microblogs, topicforums or services offering miscellaneous content which allow for interactivecommunication between users.2 Out of the top twenty websites in Poland (Table 1),the majority allow for interaction between users, thus becoming a space for creatingan online community.

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Measurement of activity in social media — a challenge for contemporary marketing research

1 A. Kaplan, M. Haenlein, Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media, Business Hori-

zons, 2010, nr 53 (1), pp. 59–68. 2 W. Gogołek, Komunikacja sieciowa. Uwarunkowania, kategorie, paradoksy, Warszawa 2010, p. 160.

Table 1. TOP 20 websites by monthly reach

rreeaall uusseerrss UUsseerr rreeaacchh

Google 18 792 499 89,81%Allegro — GG 16 471 532 78,72%facebook.com 15 620 832 74,65%youtube.com 14 681 847 70,17%Onet.pl 14 353 502 68,60%Wirtualna Polska — Orange 12 965 425 61,96%Gazeta.pl 12 171 500 58,17%Interia.pl 11 741 499 56,11%O2 9 221 561 44,07%wikipedia.org 9 184 344 43,89%Nk.pl 7 897 607 37,74%Polskapresse 7 236 817 34,59%ask com 6 946 699 33,20%Murator — Time 6 003 537 28,69%Ringier Axel Springer 5 819 784 27,81%Cyfrowy Polsat 5 181 312 24,76%Infor 4 841 710 23,14%delta-search.com 4 726 887 22,59%Media Regionalne 4 568 334 21,83%Edipresse.pl 4 542 738 21,71%

Source: Gemius, https://www.gemius.pl/pl/aktualnosci/2013-10-30/01

In 2012, 71% of Polish households had internet access.3 87% of Internet usersdeclare that they use social media. Only 8% of them use social media less frequentlythan once a week.4 Online communities are becoming, particularly with younger users,an integral part of everyday life.5 Research has found that nearly half users update theirprofiles on social networking services at night or right upon waking up.6

More importantly, from the business perspective, social networking services arebeginning to affect users' shopping choices. According to the How Digital InfluencesHow We Shop Around the World report, 46% of respondents say social media influence

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3 http://www.stat.gov.pl/cps/rde/xbcr/gus/nts_spolecz_inform_w_polsce_10-2012.pdf, 15.11.2013 4 http://www.arc.com.pl/portale_spolecznosciowe_pod_lupa-41999457-pl.html, 15.11.2013 5 J. Van Den Bergh, M. Behrer, Jak kreować marki, które pokocha pokolenie Y, Samo Sedno, Warszawa 2012. 6 A. Podlaski, Marketing społecznościowy, Gliwice 2010, p. 19.

the way they shop.7 A survey conducted by ARC Rynek i Opinia in October 2012 foundthat 22% of online community members perceived virtual communities as valuablesources of information about company offers (Picture 1).

Picture 1. What are social networking services for you? (possible to choose more than one answer)

Source: Portale społecznościowe pod lupą, ARC Rynek i Opinia, October 2012, http://www.arc.com.pl/portale_spolecz-nosciowe_pod_lupa-41999457-pl.html

Numbers of networking services users point to the ubiquitous presence of socialmedia in consumers' lives. Facebook, one of the most popular social networking sitesin Poland, has over 11 million users.8 The most popular Facebook profiles havemillions of fans.9 The presence of prospective buyers on networking sites hasautomatically attracted the appearance of different types of entities includingcompanies offering their products and services. In 2011 over 71 thousand Polishcompanies had a profile on Facebook. Apart from establishing a presence in a givensocial media, companies also seek to build a relationship with users. Companiesundertake activities to grow positive engagement level in hope of that leading to theattainment of their business objectives. On the other hand, companies also seek online

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7 http://es.nielsen.com/site/documents/NielsenGlobalDigitalShoppingReportAugust2012.pdf, 15.11.2013 8 http://brandpro.pl/facebook_rozlozony_na_liczby, 15.11.2013 9 Fanpage „Serce i rozum” ma ponad 1,8 mln fanów. http://www.sotrender.pl/fanpage-trends, 15.11.2013

Opportunity to take part in interestingcompetitions and win attractive prizes

Source of information about promotions andoffers of interest

Opportunity to express an opinion

Source of information about interesting events

Opportunity to revive old friendships

Opportunity to quickly contact friends

community members who are current or prospective buyers in order to direct theirproduct offers to them.10 According to The value of a Facebook fan 2013: revisitingconsumer brand currency in social media11 report conducted by Syncapse, it is clearwhy companies are interested in social media. On average, Facebook fans of a brandspend nearly twice as much as non-fans (Picture 2).

Picture 2. Differences between a brand's fans and non-fans

MMeettrriiccss FFaannss NNoonn--FFaannss

Average spending ($) 255 139Likely to recommend a product (8–10 points on a 10-point scale) 85% 60%General impression (8–10 points on a 10-point scale) 87% 61%Likely to make a purchase (4–5 points on a 5-point scale) 88% 60%Current users 78% 43%Consumer satisfaction (current users only, 8–10 points on a 10-point scale) 87% 74%Likely to continue to use the product (current users only, 8–10 points on

a 10-point scale) 91% 82%

Source: The value of a Facebook fan 2013: revisiting consumer brand currency in social media, http://www.syncapse. com/value-of-a-facebook-fan-2013/#.UokFKOJtZAE

According to a survey conducted by Deloitte at the turn of 2011 and 2012,companies update their profiles in social media first and foremost because they want tokeep abreast with the latest trends (62%) and because of the positive effect on thebrand image (59%)12 (Picture 3).

Online community members can respond in a variety of ways to a company's activityin social media ranging from passively receiving company-generated content tobecoming engaged in an interaction. For an online community member, the very factof being a brand's customer represents sufficient reason for starting a relationship withthe brand. Another oft-quoted reason is a desire to buy a product at a reduced price ormanifest support for a brand13 (Picture 4).

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10 http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-Poland/Local%20Assets/Documents/Raporty,%20badania,%20rankingi/pl_Fa-

cebook_2012_PL.pdf, 15.11.2013 11 http://www.syncapse.com/value-of-a-facebook-fan-2013/#.UokFKOJtZAE, 15.11.2013 12 http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-Poland/Local%20Assets/Documents/Raporty,20badania,%20rankingi/pl_Fa-

cebook_2012_PL.pdf 13 http://www.cmbinfo.com/cmb-cms/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Email-and-Facebook-Consumer-Pulse-Repo-

rt_2012.pdf, 15.11.2013

Picture 3. Why companies are present in social media

Source: Biznes społecznościowy — nowa era w komunikacji biznesowej, http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-Poland/Local%20Assets/Documents/Raporty,%20badania,%20rankingi/pl_Facebook_2012_PL.pdf

Picture 4. The top five reasons to "like" a brand on Facebook

Source: 10 Facts About Why and How Consumers ”Like” and Subscribe, http://www.cmbinfo.com/cmb-cms/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Email-and-Facebook-Consumer-Pulse-Report_2012

Of vital importance from the companies' point of view is the fact that socialmedia users often treat the business profile activity in the same way as the activity

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Reducing customer acquisition costs

Recruitment

Increasing sales

Acquiring knowledge about consumers (including prospects)

Keeping up with the latest market trends/competition

Image enhancement

I'm the company'scustomer

To get discountsTo demonstratesupport for the

brand

To be informed of new products

To have access to privilegedinformation

on their friends' profiles. Research conducted by K2 using the eye-trackingmethod has found that Facebook users' behaviours in response to contentgenerated by friends and by brands differ only insignificantly.14 Time andengagement levels concerning brand profiles and topic profiles are practically thesame (Picture 5).

Picture 5. Differences in content engagement in relation to content source

Source: Jak konsumujemy posty znajomych i marek na Facebooku? Eye tracking stron głównych użytkowników i fanpages marek, http://www.k2.pl/_files/K2_UserExperience_Facebook_Eyetracking.pdf

Social media have become an established presence in consumer reality. Asdemonstrated above, online communities have become an integral part ofcontemporary buyers' behaviour. From a company's point of view, of interest are notonly users' activities in response to company-generated content but also any activitiesindicative of what is important for the customer and what attracts their attention. Byanalysing these elements companies can customer-tailor their activities in social media.Hence the increasing importance of studying online communities.

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14 http://www.k2.pl/_files/K2_UserExperience_Facebook_Eyetracking.pdf, 15.11.2013

% of time spent on viewing posts % of clicks on content

Friends

Brands

Topic-brand

Topic-nonbrand

Social Media Measurement

Online community members leave ”traces” of their activity on the net. These”traces” concern on the one hand direct reactions to a company's activities —comments, likes, sharing company-proposed content, and on the other handbehaviours which might be indirectly connected with a company's activities such asengaging in discussions relating to a product offered by a company. Both types of”traces” are meaningful from a company's point of view. Knowledge about the first typeof activities enables companies to verify the effectiveness of their actions and to modelfuture activities. Information regarding users' activity in general (naturally with referenceto a particular group of users or a topic), gives a broader picture which may serve forexample to examine market trends.15

In spite of the benefits accrued to it, studying online communities is not commonlypractised by companies present in the Internet. According to a report by CapGemini andHBRP, lack of social media monitoring is one of the reasons for the immaturity of Polishcompanies functioning in social networks16. The Deloitte report found that only 24% ofcompanies surveyed said they used specialist tools for broad content monitoring17

(Picture 6).

Picture 6. Do companies monitor social media activity?

Source: Deloitte.

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15 http://jarekroszkowski.pl/wykorzystanie-social-media-monitoringu-w-badaniach/, 15.11.2013 16 http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-Poland/Local%20Assets/Documents/Raporty,%20badania,%20rankingi/pl_Fa-

cebook_2012_PL. pdf, 15.11.2013 17 Ibidem.

We use specialised tools for broad content monitoring

We monitor the internet by ourselves searching orinformation about the company

We monitor profiles of chosen companies

We monitor competitors' profiles

We monitor content/posts on the company's profile only

The study of online communities is predominantly concerned with contentmonitoring and obtaining information regarding users' responses to this content.Many social networking services offer integrated tools that enable companies toreceive a great deal of basic information about their presence on a given social mediasite. There are more and more specialized companies offering automated tools formonitoring practically the entire Internet.18 Both solutions allow companies to obtainhuge amounts of data concerning users' reactions to a company's activity.A challenge to be met though is the selection and interpretation of the resultsobtained.

Monika Czaplica quotes after David Berkovitz a hundred ways to measure socialmedia.19

Table 2. 100 ways to measure social media

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18 Za przykład można podać narzędzia firm: Sotrender, Brand24, czy Newsprint. 19 http://socjomania.pl/jak-mierzyc-social-media/, 15.11.2013

1. Volume of consumer-created buzz for a brand basedon number of posts

2. Amount of buzz based on number of impressions 3. Shift in buzz over time4. Buzz by time of day/daypart5. Seasonality of buzz6. Competitive buzz7. Buzz by category/topic8. Buzz by social channel (forums, social networks, blogs, etc.)9. Buzz by stage in purchase funnel

10. Asset popularity11. Mainstream media mentions12. Fans13. Followers14. Friends15. Growth rate of fans, followers, and friends 16. Rate of virality/pass-along17. Change in virality rate over time18. Second-degree reach19. Embeds/installs20. Downloads21. Uploads22. User-initiated views23. Ratio of embeds or favouriting to views 24. Likes/favourites

25. Comments26. Ratings27. Social bookmarks28. Subscriptions (RSS, podcasts, video series)29. Pageviews (for blogs, microsites etc.)30. Effective CPM based on spend per impresisons

received 31. Change in search engine ratings for the site linked to

through social media 32. Change in search engine share of voice for all social

sites promoting the brand 33. Increase in search due to social activity34. Percentage of buzz containing links35. Links ranked through influence of publishers36. Percentage of buzz containing multimedia37. Share of voice on social sites when running earned

and paid media in same environment 38. Influence of consumers reached39. Influence of publishers reached (blogs etc.)40. Influence of brands paticipating in social channels41. Demographics of target audience engaged with

social channels 42. Dane demograficzne dotarcia do widzów (audiencje)

przez social media

cont. table 2

Source: Jak mierzyć social media, http://socjomania.pl/jak-mierzyc-social-media

The above listing includes both simple metrics concerning for example the numberof fans and more complex ones that require comparing several other indicators. Somemetrics are quantitative while others are qualitative. With so much information that

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42. Demographics of audience reached through socialmedia

43. Social media habits/interests of target audience44. Geography of participating consumers45. Sentiment by volume of posts46. Sentiment by volume of impressions47. Shift in sentiment before, during, and after social

marketing programs48. Languages spoken by participating consumers49. Time spent with distributed content 50. Time spent on site through social media referrals51. Method of content discovery 52. Clicks53. Percentage of traffic generated from earned media54. View-throughs 55. Number of interactions56. Interaction/engagement rate57. Frequency of social interactions per consumer58. Percentage of videos viewed59. Polls taken/votes received 60. Brand association61. Purchase consideration62. Number of user-generated submissions received 63. Exposures of virtual gifts64. Number of virtual gifts given65. Relative popularity of content66. Tags added67. Attributes of tags68. Registrations from third-party social logins (e.g.

Facebook Connect, Twitter OAuth)69. Registrations by channel70. Contest entries71. Number of chat room participants72. Wiki contributors69. Registrations by channel70. Contest entries

71. Number of chat room participants72. Wiki contributors73. Impact of online marketing/events on social

marketing programs or buzz offline74. User-generated content to be used by marketers in

other channels 75. Customers assisted76. Savings per customer assisted through direct social

media interactions compared to other chanels (e.g.call centers, in-store marketing)

77. Savings generated by enabling customers toconnect with each other

78. Impact on first contact resolution (FCR)79. Customer satisfaction80. Volume of customer feedback generated 81. Research & Develpment time saved based on

feedback from social media 82. Suggestions implemented from social feedback83. Costs saved from not spending on traditional

research84. Impact on online sales85. Impact on offline sales 86. Discount redemption rate 87. Impact on other offline behaviour (e.g. TV tune-in)88. Leads generated89. Products sampled90. Visitts to store locator pages91. Conversion change due to user ratings, reviews 92. Rate of customer/visitor retention93. Impact on customer lifetime value94. Customer acquisition/retention costs through social media 95. Change in market share96. Earned media's impact on results from paid media97. Responses to socially posted events98. Attendance genertaed at in-person events99. Employees reached (for internal programs)

100. Job applications received

could possibly be obtained, the systematization of the approach to the measurement isabsolutely necessary.

In response to this challenge a number of authors have proposed variousclassification systems. For example, in their Social Marketing Analytics, A NewFramework for Measuring Results in Social Media20 Jeremiah Owyang and John Lovettpropose a classification based on goals set for activities in social media, with metricsdefined for particular groups of goals.

Picture 7. Objective-based classification of indicators

BBuussiinneessss oobbjjeeccttiivvee KKeeyy PPeerrffoorrmmaannccee IInnddiiccaattoorrss ((KKPPII))

Share of VoiceFoster Dialog Audience Engagement

Conversation Reach

Active AdvocatesPromote Advocacy Advocate Influence

Advocacy Impact

Resolution RateFacilitate Support Resolution Time

Satisfaction Score

Topic TrendsSpur Innovation Sentiment Ratio

Idea Impact

Source: Social Marketing Analytics, A New Framework for Measuring Results in Social Media, http://www.slideshare.net/asisti/social-media-analytics

This approach emphasizes the need to work from the objectives set by the companyfor its social media presence. The objective-driven approach allows marketers tomeasure relevant indicators and focus on those which are essential from the point ofview of a company's activities. The objective-based approach also facilitates themeasurement of the return on investment in social media activity.21 Berkovitz proposesto weigh particular indicators so as to make the measurement of social media

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20 http://www. slideshare. net/jeremiah_owyang/altimeter-report-social-marketing-analytics?from=embed, 15.11.2013 21 http://memeburn.com/2013/07/you-can-and-should-measure-social-roi-heres-how/, 15.11.2013

campaigns more reliable.22 Increasingly popular are also complex metrics that allow forthe assessment of users' real engagement in company-generated content. For example,company-generated content posted on Facebook is viewed on average by 35 per centof fans only.23 Consequently, the simple indicator of the fans number does not yieldreliable information about the number of users reached. The metrics that qualify simpleindicators to receive valid data include Engagement Rate or Social Quality Index.24

Of vital importance, from the point of view of social media measurement, is theproblem of the relation between quantitative and qualitative data obtained throughtracking social media. Relying on quantitative metrics only, without any reference toqualitative indicators, might produce a falsified picture of a company's presence insocial media. In this aspect, of key importance is not only the number of users forexample referring to a given company-created content, but also the context in whichthis content was referred to. For it is possible that customers refer to a given content inorder to warn others or ridicule a company's activity.25

Companies that offer automated social media monitoring tools make informationabout the content context or how content has resonated with users available to theirclients. This information makes it possible to assess whether a given activity bringspositive or negative results from the point of view of a company. Even though informationabout frequency of certain online phenomena can be provided in a totally automatedway, data regarding the quality of activities need to be processed by a marketer capableof qualitative assessment of a given activity. The automation of the latter process remainsa major challenge for the suppliers of social media monitoring tools.26

Summary

Social media provide an arena for the activity of social network members through whichthey satisfy their personal and consumer needs. Consequently, social networks have

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22 http://www.slideshare.net/davidberkowitz/100-ways-to-measure-social-media-promotion-marketing-association-

2010?from=ss_embed, 15.11.2013 23 http://www.technologie.gazeta.pl/internet/1,104530,14421192,Ile_osob_naprawde_widzi__co_publikujesz_na_Face-

booku_. html, 15.11.2013 24 http://www.egospodarka.pl/76315,Media-spolecznosciowe-nowy-kanal-komunikacji-marketingowej,3,20,2.html,

15.11.2013 25 Qualitative data obtained in result of social media monitoring is presented in the reports offered by e.g. Brand24:

http://jarekroszkowski.pl/wykorzystanie-social-media-monitoringu-w-badaniach, 15.11.2013 26 http://www.cyfrowagospodarka.pl/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/trendy_gd_jroszkowski_social_media_monitoring_ja-

ko_zrodlo_wartosciowych_danych.ppsx, 15.11.2013

become a new platform for companies to enter into dialogue with customers. Users'behaviour on social networking sites can be studied to lend useful insights into how toimprove the effectiveness of activities undertaken by companies in social media. Theappearance of new monitoring tools for market research indicates a growing demand inthis area. On the other hand, the challenges faced by social media researchers such as howto combine the quantitative and qualitative aspects of social media measurement or theproblem of complexity and selection of relevant metrics, are indicative of the need tosystematize knowledge in this area.

Bibliography1. Kaplan A., Haenlein M., Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media, Business Hori-

zons, 2010, no. 53 (1). 2. Podlaski, Marketing Społecznościowy, Gliwice 2010. 3. Van Den Bergh J., Behrer M., Jak kreować marki, które pokocha pokolenie Y, Samo Sedno, Warszawa 2012. 4. Gogołek W., Komunikacja sieciowa. Uwarunkowania, kategorie, paradoksy, Warszawa 2010.

Websiteshttp://brandpro.pl/facebook_rozlozony_na_liczby, 15.11.2013 http://jarekroszkowski.pl/wykorzystanie-social-media-monitoringu-w-badaniach, 15.11.2013 http://socjomania.pl/jak-mierzyc-social-media/, 15.11.2013 http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-Poland/Local%20Assets/Documents/Raporty,%20badania,%20rankingi/pl_Fa-cebook_2012_PL.pdf, 15.11.2013 http://www.2.pl/_files/K2_UserExperience_Facebook_Eyetracking.pdf, 15.11.2013 http://www.slideshare.net/jeremiah_owyang/altimeter-report-social-marketing-nalytics?from=embed, 15.11.2013 http://memeburn.com/2013/07/you-can-and-should-measure-social-roi-heres-how/, 15.11.2013 http://es.nielsen.com/site/documents/NielsenGlobalDigitalShoppingReportAugust2012.pdf, 15.11.2013 http://www.arc.com.pl/portale_spolecznosciowe_pod_lupa-41999457-pl.html, 15.11.2013 http://www.cmbinfo.com/cmb-cms/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Email-and-Facebook-Consumer-Pulse-Report_2012.pdf,15.11.2013 http://www.cyfrowagospodarka.pl/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/trendy_gd_jroszkowski_social_media_monitoring_ja-ko_zrodlo_wartosciowych_danych.ppsx, 15.11.2013 http://www.egospodarka.pl/76315,Media-spolecznosciowe-nowy-kanal-komunikacji-marketingowej,3,20,2. html,15.11.2013 http://www.slideshare.net/davidberkowitz/100-ways-to-measure-social-media-promotion-marketing-association-2010?from=ss_embed, 15.11.2013 http://www.sotrender.pl/fanpage-trends, 15.11.2013 http://www.stat.gov.pl/cps/rde/xbcr/gus/nts_spolecz_inform_w_polsce_10-2012.pdf, 15.11.2013 . http://www.syncapse.com/value-of-a-facebook-fan-2013/#.UokFKOJtZAE, 15.11.2013 http://www.technologie.gazeta.pl/internet/1,104530,14421192, Ile_osob_naprawde_widzi__co_publikujesz_na_Face-booku_html, 15.11.2013

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JJooaannnnaa PPłłuucciieennnniikk,, MM..SScc.. — is a graduate of Marketing and Philosophy at the University of Łódź. She iscurrently working towards her PhD degree. She deals with the issues of market research. Speaker atconferences and author of articles on research issues, she teaches Basics of Marketing, Brand Strategyand Modern Marketing Concepts. She is serving as an expert in the project Science and Business. Sheis member of Polskie Towarzystwo Badaczy Rynku i Opinii and author of the programme ProfessionalDiploma in Marketing.

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