Finding the Right Analytics Methodology for Your

Organization

Marshall SponderWebMetricsGuru INC9/12/12

Often we have to make tough decisions with not enough or the

right information

Often we need an

approach, method help us to make

better decisions

Methodology really is …Steps to the Story we are telling (ourselves)

…about how we reach our destinations (business goals)

…and our choice of platforms affect how the Story turns out.

Reaching our destinationToo many platforms / no time to try them all in any depth leading to Analysis Paralysis

..some need to connect up together

Finding the Right Fit

Platforms 4 Social were developed

with features targeted for specific

customers, then generalized to

cover a broader audience

Real Value vs. Hype

Marketing hype and check box

comparisons meaningless, but difficult

to disambiguat

e, so as to make the right

decisions

Real pricing is unclear till everyone is up to speed (which may never happen).

Getting up to Speed

Balancing between Two Dangers

Analysis Paralysis

Investing in the Wrong Platform

Symptoms of Analysis ParalysisToo many options not enough time or resources

Lack of information, structure, reporting schema

Unable to learn from previous experience

No KPI's and data feeds defined

Lacking right framework to put the KPI's in

Haven’t brought the team on board

Wrong Platform Symptoms

Medium is Message

• In Big data denial - BD is unstructured & growing rapidly

• Big Analytics requires right data skills team and methodologies

• Unable to determine requirements (if company can handle the data)

• Stuck with platforms and business processes that can’t be easily changed to something better.

Being Unprepared for Big Data

Ur

1) Evaluate Vendors carefullyHere's some places to get more information

Ideya for Social MediaMonitoring survey ~1K USD

GigaOM Pro has up to date, in-depth research for Big Data platforms

from Analyst, Owner and User perspectives, well worth $299 yr

subscription

..chose from a small, select list and then vet them

vigorously

2) Visualize the right decisions (in your story continuum) so you can see where you stand• Research sites such as

Quora and other forums/LinkedIn groups to find opinions about platforms you are thinking of deploying; this will help cut through the marketing hype.

• Hire experts like me who can help untangle the mess and cut to the chase.

3) Determine type and maturity level of your organization

Common Dimensions

• maturity scale• degree of socialness• organization management style• size of the organization• scope• needs of your business segment

3b) Gauge where your organization is right now

Based on the functions your organizationpreforms (inner circle) you can anticipate the platform types needed (outer circle)

Advanced NLP

Analysis

Customer Data

Integration

Engagement &

Attrition

Listening & Web

Analytics

Listening & Influence

Categorization

Operational Metrics

4) Some examples of matching up Organizations with the right platforms by primary

functions

Product &

Customer

Research

Social CRM

Listening & Web

Analytics

5) Additional Factors to Consider

• Specific use cases (lead gen, PR, etc) • Types of platforms needed (Qual / Quant• /Big Data) • Online/Offline Data• Cost • Immediacy of data / latency• Security of the data• Build vs. buy

Delivering Better, Scalable Solutions to reach your goals

quicker• Building a custom taxonomy (i.e.: Drug

Patient Journey)• Designing a tagging scheme to

organize/categorize incoming/outgoing communications.

• Organizing your reports using custom taxonomy and tagging schema

• Create Frameworks that enable you to embed your KPI’s around specific business goals and strategies

Summary

There will always be methodology challenges in finding, choosing and implementing the right platforms for your organization and there are ways to cut through the hype and make decisions that take you to your destination, once you have the right information.