Social Media Stakeholders

Social Media Stakeholders in a Medium-Large Company:
Traditional vs. Social Media Processes and Data + Social
Media Involvement

Laura Lippay
Director of Technical Marketing, Yahoo Inc.

Overview

Several parts of the organization can touch social media from Customer Care to Sales to SEO and many more.
Depending on how the organization is set up, one person may wear several hats. For example one person may be in
charge of Customer Care, PR, Marketing Research and Marketing, or one person might manage the Product, Sales, and
Blogging.

This document breaks down stakeholders’ traditional processes and compares them to opportunities within social media.
In many cases social media processes, data and opportunities may overlap between different stakeholders. Community
Manager roles are not mentioned here, since they are a different type of role, but it is safe to say Community Managers
could incorporate many, if not most of the stakeholders’ roles mentioned in this paper.

This document also looks at the typical involvement for each stakeholder in social networks – what to listen for and how to
take action.

This document is the result of interviewing people in several business units across Yahoo!, and walking through over a
dozen demos of social media listening platforms and use cases from third party vendors. It is written from a marketers’
point of view, so may not include all of the traditional processes that non-marketing stakeholders employ, but an attempt
was made to come as close as possible to each stakeholder’s core traditional processes, metrics , and benefits of
involvement in social networks.

Marketing Research and/or Brand

Marketing Research: This is the person or team who is responsible for conducing market research.
Brand: This is the person or team who is responsible for managing the brand

Engagement w/ targets online
Usually no engagement with online community, unless these groups are involved in marketing execution.

TRADITIONAL VS. SOCIAL MEDIA PROCESS & METRICS
Listening to conversations about brands online helps determine the intricate differences and sentiments between your
brand and your competitors’ brands in the eyes of your target markets. It helps to define your brand strategy, messaging,
and online areas of involvement using a large online sampling (the internet), and in real time. Measurements can be on
any topics (brand names, products, features, people, ideas, etc) and can be pulled at any time.

traditional data gathering traditional types of metrics
Survey-based feedback Global and/or local brand health, awareness,
Focus group feedback attributes, etc
Top global and/or local brands
Target market needs, sentiment, etc.

social media data gathering social media types of metrics
Typically aggregated from online (and sometimes Define any topics (brand names, products, features,
offline) sources people, etc) to measure
Real time data collection, accessible anytime Determine topic (brand, product, feature, people, etc)
Based on online conversations (and sometimes sentiment/satisfaction over time
offline), rather than survey samples Determine topic (brand, product, feature, people, etc)
popularity
Could provide target market needs, sentiment, etc +
brand health, awareness, sentiment, etc
Potentially less detailed solicited data like "likelihood
to...”*
May not be able to provide retention, engagement,
conversion, time spent & visit metrics

SOCIAL MEDIA INVOLVEMENT
listen take action
Sentiment/brand health Guide marketing strategies based on brand health &
Brand awareness/ popularity target market data
Brand commitment/ advocacy Help guide messaging in campaign strategies
(Same measurements online for competitor brands) Prioritize marketing investment in various markets
Alert business owners to issues, topics, or feedback

RELATED RESOURCES
As Media Brands Build Their Own Communities, They Must Evolve Their Business Model

Marketing
This is the person or team who is responsible for marketing strategy and execution. May overlap with responsibilities of
Marketing Research and/or Brand roles.

Marketing is usually a key player in engaging with targets in social spaces on- and offline

Listening to conversations about product sentiment, competitor sentiment, and industry needs/wants online allows
marketers to define targeted messages to reach the right people in the right places at the right time and shape consumer
sentiment.

Knowing who the influencers are online also allows marketers to engage with those people to influence their brand
sentiment, and increase their engagement and advocacy, while relaying that out to others, creating a larger reach for the
product or brand.

Social networks can also be used to promote products, services and features, in an effort to drive links and traffic back to
the site. More links can also increase search engine rankings which, in turn, can drive even more traffic.

Survey-based target market data Global and/or local brand health, awareness,
Focus group feedback attributes, etc
Top global and/or local brands
Target market needs, sentiment, etc.

Typically aggregated from online (and sometimes Share of conversation
offline) sources Define any topics (brand names, products, features,
Real time data collection, accessible anytime people, etc) to measure
Based on online conversations (and sometimes Determine topic (brand, product, feature, people, etc)
offline), rather than survey samples sentiment/satisfaction over time
Determine topic (brand, product, feature, people, etc)
popularity
Could provide target market needs, sentiment, etc +
brand health, awareness, sentiment, etc
Potentially less detailed data like "likelihood to...”*
May not be able to provide retention, engagement,
conversion, time spent & visit metrics

listen take action
What consumers want/need in the industry Define specific product messaging based on
Consumer sentiment about current products/brand consumer sentiment, needs and wants.
Consumer sentiment about competitive Create entire campaign strategies based on
products/brand consumer sentiment, needs and wants.
Needs & sentiment across different industries, Reach out to influencers in target markets to "make
markets, demos friends" and create evangelists for the brand/product
Industry/market trends Drive traffic to site & influence SEO by promoting
products/services in social networks
Target specific messaging to specific markets,
regions or demographics based on needs of each

RELATED RESOURCES
Wikipedia entry for Social Media Marketing
Social Media Marketing Beginner’s Guide
Social Media Marketing Kit
The Social Tehnographics Ladder (social networking audience types)
Role of Social Networking in SEO

Product
This is the person or team who is responsible for product strategy, direction, and build.

Product engagement with community can vary. Examples:
Product manages SM feedback interactions while Marketing manages SM campaigns
Product also manages Marketing execution & engagement
Community Manager in Product or in Marketing manages all.


Survey-based feedback User/customer issues, problems
Focus group feedback User/customer sentiment (likes/dislikes)
website feedback User/customer suggestions, needs, wants
Same data for competitors

Typically aggregated from online (and sometimes Define any topics (your product(s), your product
offline) sources features, competitor features, bloggers, etc)
Real time data collection, accessible anytime Determine needs for new products or product features
Based on online conversations (and sometimes Measure pre- and post- launch sentiment over time
offline), rather than survey samples Determine popularity across multiple products,
Can be less costly than focus groups features, brands, people, etc
Can cast a wider net for feedback
Can gather solicited or unsolicited feedback

listen take action
Product overall sentiment Determine markets to provide products or services to
Product feature sentiment Find potential partners to approach
Industry/ product likes, dislikes, needs, and wants Solicit ideas or feedback from communities
Pre- and post-launch feedback Drive products, product features, services or
enhancements & fixes based on feedback and/or
competitive stance

RELATED RESOURCES
The State Of Social Media Measurement (aka Brand Monitoring and Listening Platforms)

Sales
This is the person or team who is responsible for driving sales for the company or product.

Salespeople are discovering, listening to and engaging with prospects and customers in social spaces online.

Much of the value in social media for Salespeople is in the access to potential targeted prospects and the ability to listen
to them and connect with them during their point of need via social networks.

Traditional CRM software & tools Prospects
New customers
Customers retained
Operational effectiveness
Close Rate
Sales cycle duration
New revenue

Social CRM software & tools Product/service sentiment for you + competitors
Relevant online community activity
Influencers to engage with
Trending topics/needs

listen take action
Needs/wants of current customers and/or target Reach out to current customers: get involved in
markets conversations, provide support and solutions
Online sentiment about your products/services and Use consumer sentiment to improve product/service
competitors' products/services features, prices, availability, and/or the sales process
Discover potential new leads/prospects in targeted Reach out to potential leads to make them aware of
online communities products/services

RELATED RESOURCES
Social Media In B2B Sales: Is The Time Right?
Best Fits for Social Media in the Sales Cycle
When Social Media Marries CRM Systems
Traditional CRM vs. Social CRM

Customer Care
This is the person or team who is responsible for customer assistance and addressing customer questions, complaints,
etc.

Highly engaged with customers – listening for issues, complaints, sentiment, and addressing problems before they
escalate.

Whether a customer's issue is addressed by Customer Care or not, if the customer had a bad experience, or even just
heard bad things, they may have blogged about it, complained on Facebook, Twitter, in forums, etc. Not only will this be
seen by their followers/friends, but it will also potentially end up in Search results for your product, brand, people, or
services and/or in larger media publications.

Listening systems (social media tracking software) allows Customer Care to actively monitor mentions of the company's
assets (products, services, brands, people) to catch problems before they escalate further across the web and to media
publications. These issues can be prioritized by the product and how influential the customer is (voice/reach) in order to
keep a handle on the potentially large space this could envelop. Listening systems also allow for measuring success on
the ability to turn negative sentiment into positive sentiment at an individual level, by defined demographic and/or in a
more high level general manner.

Survey-based feedback Sentiment of company assets (brand, people,
Focus group feedback products, services)
website feedback Customer care performance
Customer Care performance Post-process experience
Percent & volume of issues resolved

Typically aggregated from online (and sometimes Influencer metrics (activity, sentiment, etc.)
offline) sources - allows for tracking sentiment in Real time company asset sentiment – Company
places other than survey samples or the website spokespeople, brands, services, product vs.
customer help application competitors, pre- and post launch, pre- and post-news
Real time data collection, accessible anytime release, etc
Real time customer satisfaction sentiment
Value of interaction

listen take action
Real time sentiment towards products, brands, Find, track & engage influencers
people, products, services, news – especially Monitor sentiment of industry leaders, and/or brand
negative journalists/bloggers to discover negative sentiment
Problems/ issues with brands, people, products, being broadcast to their followers.
services Reach out to customers experiencing problems to fix
them before they escalate.
Act on negative sentiment immediately – solve issues
- turn people who are potentially harmful to the brand
into brand advocates

RELATED RESOURCES
Can Social Media Customer Care Scale? Should it Scale?
Customer Service in the Age of Social Media: A Lesson from Hewlett Packard
Presentation: The Social Customer Care Plan

PR/Corporate Communications
This is the person or team who is responsible for publishing official company news, speaking on behalf of the company,
and/or establishing guidelines for employees representing the company.

Highly engaged with customers – listening for company asset sentiment, especially before and after product launches,
news releases, or high exposure news or events – and responding to influencers and proper industry channels to maintain
and shape company sentiment.

PR can provide a targeted message to industry influencers who can spread the word, shaping sentiment online to the
company's advantage. PR can also determine who the most influential & valuable people and products are at the
company, based on volume and sentiment, and leverage those people and products more.

And like Customer Care, PR/Corporate Communications can leverage *real time* consumer sentiment to squash
company-related issues before they spread to bigger public disasters on the web

Market research reports Public reaction to PR news
Survey-based repots Global and/or local brand health & awareness
Focus Groups Top global and/or local brands
Target market needs, sentiment, etc
Reputation

Real time sentiment towards products, brands, Buzz around company assets (brand, people,
people, products, services, news products, services)
Sentiment around company assets
Sentiment before and after launches, news stories,
events
Share of conversation
Value of interaction
Reputation

listen take action
Sentiment towards the company's assets (people, Uncover assets that have strong positive consumer
products, services, brands), especially around sentiment but aren't currently leveraged
company or industry news or events. Determine asset promotion strategies based on
industry and influencer sentiment
Formulate messaging based on industry and
influencer sentiment

RELATED RESOURCES
PR Audience Targeting in Social Media
Resources for New Media and Social Media PR
10 of the Best Social Media Tools for PR Professionals and Journalists
Set Yourself Apart In The Tough Times
Review: First European Summit on [Social Media Communication] Measurement

Editors/Bloggers
This is the person or team who is responsible for producing original content blogs, articles and consumer-facing
information. Editors and bloggers can often sit on PR, Corp Comm, Product, Sales, Customer Care, or Marketing teams.

Editors and bloggers can use social media data for determining content and messaging only, or can also engage with the
community (especially recommended for bloggers).

Editors representing the company brand can use social networking software/listening platforms to help formulate content
and messaging based on current conversations about a product, topic, person, etc. They can also build up social
followings to create a strong online presence that can influence consumer sentiment as well as generate traffic and links
back to articles and blogs on the network.

Comments on articles/blog Emerging topic trends
Survey or website feedback Visit/page view/clickthrough metrics
Industry blog, meme or news publications on- and Inlinks
offline Blog/article comment volume
Often more research than structured data gathering

Typically aggregated from online (and sometimes Real time topic trending
offline) sources Industry/topic influencers
Real time data collection, anytime Areas for topic conversation activity
Aggregation of a high volume of topic conversation & Blog/article popularity & sentiment
sentiment around a topic or person

listen take action
Topic trending in relevant industries/topics Start and/or get involved in conversation around hot
Sentiment towards your company assets (brands, trending topics
people, products, services) and news Be first to write the story on a trending topic, issue,
etc
Engage in conversations with industry peers who can
help you spread your messages, link to you, etc.

RELATED RESOURCES
Social Media for Writers blog
Writers and Social Media: The SHOULD NOTs
10 of the Best Social Media Tools for PR Professionals and Journalists
Find influential Twitterers by category
15 kick-ass retweet tips for writers
Role of Social Networking in SEO

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