Audit example

Hala Mahdi

Hala Mahdi

Hala Mahdi

MICROSOFT BUSINESS

INTELLIGENCE

UK ONLINE CUSTOMER BEHAVIOUR

BENCHMARKING AUDIT

JULY 2011

!| UK Online Customer Behaviour Audit!

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MICROSOFT BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

UK ONLINE CUSTOMER BEHAVIOUR

BENCHMARKING AUDIT JULY 2011

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

1. Executive Summary

2. Research Brief

3. Research and Analysis Methodology

4. Terminology

RESEARCH FINDINGS

5. Channel Influence and Customer Affinity

6. Discourse Analysis

7. Sentiment Analysis

8. Share of Voice

9. Channel Preference

10. Content Preference

11. Engagement Preference

APPENDIX

Key Channel List

Recommendations Table

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• Business Intelligence online produces low volumes of conversation

relative to other IT disciplines, such as cloud computing. There are few

dedicated channels devoted to the subject and it is rarely a prominent

topic on multi-issue channels.

• There are dedicated communities in LinkedIn groups. These channels

represent the highest saturation of relevant content. Although traffic is

low (resulting in low impact on the overall customer) direct peer-to-

peer engagement is high, and as such affords an opportunity to directly

engage with the customer.

• Four key channels for the business intellience community are: Tech

Republic (www.techrepublic.com), PC Pro (www.pcpro.co.uk), ZD Net

(www.ZDnet.co.uk) and Business Software Informer

(www.business.software.informer.com).

• There is low negative sentiment towards MSFT BI, suggesting the brand

does not have a reputation management problem online.

• MSFT has a higher share of voice online than the key competitors

(Oracle, IBM, SAP). There is no indication that this has fostered brand

loyalty - decisions and opinions are still based on quality of the

products, which are frequently compared with each other.

• 51% of channels have an overt commercial motivation. 62% are

platforms for individual authorities.

• There is little utilization of bookmarking functionality and social

networks (with the exception of LinkedIn). MSFT activity in the key

channel landscape should be measured by traffic, referrals, click-through

rates and ultimately sales, as opposed to engagement measurements

such as comments, ‘likes’ and re-tweets.

• Overall, the landscape appears to present the opportunity for MSFT BI to

gain traction in the space using a range of different media – bought

(advertising), owned (MSFT’s own websites) and earned (social media) -

established social media engagement mechanics - affiliate partnerships,

PR relationships, guest blogging etc (see recommendations table for

specific tasks).


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RESEARCH BRIEF

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

• Inform future campaigns and activity in the online landscape in an intelligent and

targeted way by understanding existing online behaviour

• Identify key channels in which business intelligence and relevant content is being

discussed online • Understand the key topics driving discourse within the key channels • Investigate the brand reputation within the key channels • Investigate the share of voice of the brand against key market competitors (Oracle,

SAP, IBM) • Identify the channel preference of the target customer • Identify what type of content they are engaging with and who is producing it • Identify how the customer is engaging with the content

TARGET CUSTOMER Technical Decision Makers

Business Decision Makers

Start Finish RESEARCH PERIOD

1st January 2011 30th June 2011

FOCUS Context: • Business Intelligence

Keyword Triggers: • Data Management • Data Analysis • Data Sharing • Data Presentation • Data Platform

CUSTOMER GEOGRAPHY United Kingdom (3% of daily traffic to the host domain must come from the UK to qualify the channel for

consideration of inclusion in the key channel list)

RESEARCH SCOPE The Social Web: Blog, Comparison Site, Content Hosting, Donation, Ecommerce, Forum, Networking, Review Site, Web Portal (See Terminology for definitions)


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RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY

HUMAN DIGITAL RAN SELECTED KEYWORD TRIGGERS THROUGH A THREE-STAGE PROCESS OF RESEARCH, ANALYSIS AND INSIGHT.

1 - PROCESS FLOW: RESEARCH • Keyword identification relevant to the customer (brand

agnostic): Context

o Business Intelligence

Keywords (x5)

o Data management o Data analysis o Data sharing o Data presentation o Data platform

• These keywords are manually filtered through 12 sources of

information that replicate the user journey:

o Search Engines: Google, Bing, Ask, Yahoo

o Social Bookmarking Tools: DIGG, Delicious,

Stumbleupon

o Networking Platforms: LinkedIn, Facebook,

Twitter

o Content Hosting Platforms: YouTube, Flickr

• Sites are rinsed through five filters using proprietary algorithms:

1. Traffic (is the site attracting sufficient traffic on a daily basis? Relevant traffic index of the channels analysed is at least 1,000. Small, technical sites were not analysed due to the size of their customer.)

2. Demographics (if relevant, does the primary customer to this channel represent my target customer?)

3. Geography (does the customer to this channel represent feature sufficient traffic from the target country? See Research Brief for Threshold Details)

Methodology developed in partnership with the London School of Economics.

!Microsoft BI | UK Online Customer Behaviour Audit!

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4. Content (is the site active? What is its primary purpose?) 5. Final Qualitative Analysis (the Analyst asks ‘does this website

represent a key channel for my target customer? ’)

• Confirmed sites make up a validated data set of key channels. Passive Channels (those without user-generated content) are filtered out at this stage, i.e. corporate homepages and brochure channels without analysable content.

• All data and content analysed is sourced from these channels.

• The process is human-led, ensuring that the consumer experience is replicated and the data set is verified against the stated criteria.

2 - PROCESS FLOW: ANALYSIS • Conversations and content within the validated data set are analysed

against the following: o Channel (brand agnostic) o Customer (brand agnostic) o Themes (against competitor brands) o Sentiment (client only) o Share of Voice (against competitor brands)

• This is an exclusively manual analysis process against a repeatable

methodology, utilizing academics for research verification and analysis.

• Conversation sample size for analysis is 1,000. 3 - PROCESS FLOW: INSIGHTS • Behavioural Analysts assess the data for trends and patterns.

• The analysis of the key channels directly contributes towards

answering the following business-critical questions about the online landscape:

O WHAT WEBSITES ARE IMPORTANT TO MY CUSTOMER? O WHAT ARE MY CUSTOMERS TALKING ABOUT? O ARE THEY TALKING POSITIVELY OR NEGATIVELY ABOUT MY

BRAND? O HOW MUCH ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT MY BRAND VS. MY

COMPETITOR SET? O WHAT TYPE OF WEBSITES ARE THEY ENGAGING WITH? O WHAT TYPE OF CONTENT DRIVES THEIR ENGAGEMENT? O HOW ARE THEY ENGAGING WITH RELEVANT CONTENT?

• This report is a culmination of the research, analysis and insight

across the customer’s key channels. • Insights into customer behaviour and tactical

recommendations are based on this online research only .

Methodology developed in partnership with the London School of Economics.


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TERMINOLOGY

WHAT WEBSITES ARE IMPORTANT TO MY CUSTOMER? Shape of Nodes represents Channel Types. Please see ‘What type of websites are my customers using?’ for detailed descriptions. Size of the Nodes represents brand share of voice. Hollow shapes indicate that the brand is not mentioned in analysed conversations. Position on the ‘y’ (vertical) axis represents Impact on the target customer. This is calculated utilizing a proprietary algorithm. Position on the ‘x’ (horizontal) axis represents advocacy of the target customer. This is calculated utilizing a proprietary algorithm. WHAT ARE MY CUSTOMERS TALKING ABOUT? The share of conversations of each of the topics within the landscape is analysed.

o Product Research/Analysis: Conversations researching or analysing products related to BI

o New Product Development: Mentions of product and product features releases

o Coding/Programming: Conversations related to matters of coding or programming

o Security Concerns: Mentions of concerns related to security o Data Implementation / Use: Mentions related to implementing and using

data and data programs o Software: Conversations discussing specific software for matters related

to BI o Seeking Support/Advice: Individuals looking for support or advice from

peers on BI related matters

ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT MY BRAND POSITIVELY OR NEGATIVELY? Conversations on each channel are analysed to determine whether the customer and commentators on these channels are positive, neutral or negative to the brand (not competitors).

HOW MUCH ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT MY BRAND? Share of voice percentages against the identified competitor set.

WHAT TYPE OF WEBSITES ARE MY CUSTOMERS USING?

o Networking: Platform where users create profiles and connect with other users, either by invite or in groups.

o Peer-to-Peer Forum: Community bulletin board; agenda is driven by peers o Individual Authority: commentators of authority, such as journalists and

bloggers


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WHAT TYPE OF CONTENT DRIVES THEIR ENGAGEMENT? Content analysed includes all analysed conversations. This question is addressed in two parts: content type and content motivation. Type:

o Text: written commentary o Moving Image: video, animation o Still Image: photograph, illustration

Motivation: o News: Objective reporting of news o Objective Review: Objective review of products or services o Subjective Point of View: Contains subjective opinion of an individual

HOW DO MY CUSTOMERS ENGAGE WITH THAT CONTENT? This analysis understands which engagement mechanics are offered to the target customer.

o Comments: Response to original content o Resourced Content: Content was published elsewhere before o ‘Likes’ / Social Bookmarking: Social sharing via Facebook-specific

sharing mechanic or bookmarking sites

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WHAT WEBSITES ARE IMPORTANT TO THE

CUSTOMER?

UK ONLINE AUDIENCE BEHAVIOUR

AUDIT

JULY 2011


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WHAT WEBSITES ARE IMPORTANT TO THE CUSTOMER?

• There are 3 key channels, with significant impact, which mention MSFT

positively. These are PC Pro, Business Software and ZD Net (main

graphic).

• Much of the rest of the landscape (for specific URLS see appendix) has a

relatively low impact on the target customer, but in aggregate

represents significant reach.

• Many channels are impacting the target customer (see left graphic) but

do not currently mention Microsoft in the relevant context. These sites

include TechRepublic, The Register, Wise Geek and several significant

LinkedIn groups.

• All of the impactful URLs (whether mentioning MSFT or not) are

individual authorities, which contrasts with the widely held assumption

that most tech communities are participatory in nature.

• MSFT BI is visible on IT Pro (www.itpro.co.uk) and PC Pro

(www.pcpro.co.uk) evidenced by the large size of the nodes on the

landscape (representing share of voice).

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WHAT IS THE CUSTOMER TALKING

ABOUT?


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WHAT IS THE CUSTOMER TALKING ABOUT?

• At 40%, Software is the leading topic of conversation in the landscape.

Much of this is business and commercial news (e.g. new product

releases, white paper reports, etc).

• Conversation about Data Implementation and Use is second most

discussed but is only mentioned in conjunction with Software.

• Product Research / Analysis (11%) and Seeking Support / Advice (9%) is

the customer crowd-sourcing opinion from peers. This represents one in

five of all conversations.

• No specific brand has emerged as a market leader based on its share of

actual conversations.

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IS THE CUSTOMER TALKING POSITIVELY

OR NEGATIVELY ABOUT THE BRAND?


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IS THE CUSTOMER TALKING POSITIVELY OR NEGATIVELY ABOUT THE BRAND?

• Sentiment around the MSFT brand is only 3% negative. MSFT does not

have a reputation management issue in this landscape.

• The large proportion of neutral sentiment (67%) is mainly driven by

objectively reported news.

• The small overall volumes of positive sentiment are related to software

conversations (see Soundbites).

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HOW MUCH IS THE CUSTOMER TALKING ABOUT MY BRAND?


AUDIT

JULY 2011


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HOW MUCH IS THE CUSTOMER

TALKING ABOUT MY BRAND?

• MSFT’s main competitors in the landscape for BI are Oracle, SAP, IBM.

• In comparison to these, MSFT over-indexes in terms of the Share of

Voice with 42%.

• MSFT is always mentioned in conjunction with at least one of its

competitors.

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WHAT TYPES OF WEBSITES ARE THEY

ENGAGING WITH?


AUDIT

JULY 2011


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WHAT TYPES OF WEBSITES ARE THEY ENGAGING WITH?

OUTER RING

• Around half (51%) of the channels with impact have a commercial

motivation outside of selling IT or technology related products (e.g.

online magazines that make money off advertising revenue).

• 34% of the channels are classified as consumer owned channels (e.g.

LinkedIn Groups and Forums).

• Two of MSFT’s owned channels (TechNet & On-Windows) are part of the

landscape, representing 6% of the landscape.

INNER RING

• 62% of the channels are platforms for individual authorities, such as

journalists and bloggers. These platforms command the highest traffic in

the landscape.

• 38% of the channels are pure social channels (networking platforms and

P2P forums).

• The BI community is consuming information from individual authorities

more than they are discussing issues amongst peers.

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WHAT TYPE OF CONTENT DRIVES THE

ENGAGEMENT?


AUDIT

JULY 2011


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WHAT TYPE OF CONTENT

DRIVES THE ENGAGEMENT?

OUTER RING

• News (47%) and the expression of a subjective point of view (47%), in

the form of reviews and thought leadership pieces, between them

constitute the bulk of content type.

INNER RING

• The majority of all engagement in the landscape is text-based (90%).

• Video is not widely used in the landscape (several YouTube channels

exist with relevant content but their customer numbers resulted in them

not making it into our sample).

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HOW ARE THE CUSTOMERS

ENGAGING WITH RELEVANT CONTENT?


AUDIT

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HOW ARE THE CUSTOMERS

ENGAGING WITH RELEVANT

CONTENT? !

• 73% of the content analysed in the landscape was an original piece of

content.

• The majority of comments are responses to forum posts rather than to

blogs, news or thought leadership pieces.

• Just 3% of content has been published somewhere else before. Re-

blogging and reposting is not seen in any large amount.

• Social bookmarking is rare.

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APPENDIX


AUDIT

JULY 2011

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KEY CHANNEL IDENTIFICATION

©Human Digital Limited

KEY INFLUENCERS - UK

ID Name URL Geography Channel

High Influence

1 XXX http://www.xxx.com/ UK Individual Authority




5 XXX http://www.xxx.com/ UK P2P Forum





Medium Influence



12 XXX http://www.xxx.com/ UK Networking Platform







Low Influence









JULY 2011

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