BUZZ NEWS

Contagious Special Reports / Social Media

Posted on July 30, 2008
Roland Crepeau

A few weeks ago, the Contagious website published a special report: "Social Media Methods & Metrics.” This extremely thick and detailed 100-page document is mainly composed of articles written by marketing analysts and magazine journalists. Together, the articles provide a very interesting analysis of the phenomena brought on with the advent of social media during the past few years.

The report is divided into several parts, each one aiming to decode Social Media for readers.

In the first part of the document, the authors stressed the planning that is necessary to carry out Social Media campaigns. These campaigns are not improvised and can not be carried out in the same way as traditional "one-shot" campaigns.

The authors, Leo Ryan and Dan O’Connor give their formula for success with the acronym KUDOS (Knowledge, Useful, Desirable, Open, Shareable). The two explain how KUDOS can help brands brands to better understand the various possible Social Media actions and to maximise their "social capital."

The report starts with an analysis of SONY Bravia and its commercial with colored bouncy balls bouncing down San Francisco streets.

The report describes each of the 5 KUDOS components in Social Media campaigns. The 5 components together form the brand’s “Social Capital.” However, Contagious stressed the fact that the brand does not have full control of these 5 components, as that is highly influenced by the brand’s audience.

The second part of the report explains what should be measured in a Social Media campaign. The report distinguished between numerous categories. This ensures that the same information on Technorati, Digg, Facebook, or Google Trends does not get measured multiple times. Each type of website is presented with a mini case study supporting their arguments.

The report brought to light that we must remember that a good number of “Social Media metrics” are still going through a test phase (a metrics “beta” version, if you will) and that they are still in the process, like all marketing specialists and users, of searching for the best way to measure the effects generated by Social Media. In the future we must try to have more exact measuring tools.

The last part gives an explanation of what’s to come in Social Media. The writers make mention of interesting trends like the emergence of persistent profiles, aggregated intelligence, and the “wisdom of crowds” increasingly at the centre of companies’ attention.

This report is so complete, it is a real goldmine of information for anyone who would like to perfect his/her understanding of social media. Read it while it’s fresh because the market is an ever-changing one.

If you’d like to know more, you can buy the report at the Contagious website, or you can contact stephane.scheyven[at]xtremeinformation.com.