Social networking footprint

Social networks have changed how people connect, exchange information and relate to organisations. A social networking footprint attempts to describe how effectively a brand participates in that environment.

When to use it

• Answer the performance question: “How well are we using the internet to build our brand?”
• Assess online presence within the marketing and sales perspective.
• Define the required collection method, formula, reporting frequency and data ownership.
• Compare performance with relevant targets, historical trends and defensible peer benchmarks.

Origins

The metric developed in practice as mass social platforms extended older audience-reach and network-size measures to connections, followers, mentions and multi-platform presence. There is no standard formula. Because a nominal network can include inactive, duplicated or irrelevant accounts, footprint measures should be interpreted alongside engagement quality, audience fit and business outcomes.

What it is

Perspective: Marketing and sales perspective.

Key performance question: How well are we using the internet to build our brand?

The following statistics are historical rather than current benchmarks. Nielsen reported that social networks and blogs led online categories by average time spent in December. Facebook recorded 206.9 million unique visitors, ranked No. 1 among global social-networking destinations in December 2009 and was visited by 67% of global social-media users that month. Users spent nearly six hours a month on the site. Average time spent by US users grew year over year by 200% for Facebook and 368% for Twitter, outpacing category growth. Among the five leading US sites, Twitter was the fastest growing by unique visitors in December 2009: a 579% rise from 2.7 million in December 2008 to 18.1 million in December 2009, despite a month-over-month fall of 5%.

The audience was also broadening beyond younger users. Between January 2007 and December 2008, Facebook gained nearly twice as many visitors aged 50–64, an increase of 24 million, as visitors under 18, an increase of 7.3 million. More than a quarter of visitors were over 50.

A concentrated and engaged audience creates opportunities to reach customers internationally, develop brand affinity and invite participation. It also creates risks. Organisations benefit only when their messages and behaviour fit the norms of the networks in which they participate. That challenge remains strategically important in a 21st-century economy built on knowledge and connection.

How to use it

Measurement

Define whether the footprint is intended to measure presence, conversation, audience, engagement, message penetration, sentiment or a combination. Report the component measures as well as any composite score.

Data collection method

Use platform data and appropriately governed listening or analytics tools to observe how consumers encounter and interact with the brand. Collection may be performed internally or by a specialist in social-media research and marketing.

Formula

Several proprietary systems combine footprint dimensions using different methods. One historical example is the Digital Footprint Index (DFI) from the US-based Zócalo Group, developed with DePaul University’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. The methodology was designed to help marketers:

• Locate where and how consumers engage with the brand.
• Identify the social channels used for brand interaction.
• Assess whether consumers understand and repeat the intended message.
• Estimate how marketing activity affects earned conversation.
• Compare the brand’s social presence with key competitors.
• Monitor change over time.

DFI describes earned online presence through three dimensions:

• Height: the amount of brand-related conversation and content across blogs, forums, social networks, microblogs and media-sharing or bookmarking services.
• Width: the extent of consumer interaction, engagement and sharing across those channels.
• Depth: the penetration of the message and the sentiment or tone attached to it.

Frequency

Collection can be continuous. Marketing teams may review operational data monthly and provide a more strategic summary to management each quarter, adjusting the cadence when reputational or campaign risk requires faster attention.

Source of the data

Use governed data from relevant social platforms and websites, such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, while documenting access limitations and changing metric definitions.

Cost/effort in collecting the data

Specialist external collection and analysis may be expensive, especially where the organisation requires broad listening, language coverage or custom interpretation. Automation can reduce routine effort, but validation, privacy controls and expert judgement remain necessary.

Target setting/benchmarks

Targets and comparisons are difficult because platforms, audiences and measurement rules differ. Build an internal baseline first, define the desired behaviour and compare like with like. As data practices mature, industry benchmarks may become easier to establish, but volume alone is rarely an adequate target.

Example

Starbucks was an early corporate adopter of social networking for brand and customer engagement. In March 2008, it launched MyStarbucksIdea.com so customers could suggest changes, discuss them and contribute to the company’s future.

Users submitted ideas for community voting; Starbucks highlighted popular proposals and reviewed them. An “Ideas in Action” blog then reported what happened to suggestions. The technical platform was only part of the work: affected departments appointed representatives responsible for handling relevant ideas.

By the end of 2009, Starbucks had more than 5 million Facebook fans and about 550,000 Twitter followers. It used Twitter for real-time conversation, maintained a YouTube channel and a LinkedIn presence, and created the Shared Planet corporate-responsibility network. The example illustrates that a footprint becomes valuable when the organisation connects listening, response and operational ownership.

Top practical tip

Measure participation and response, not only audience size. Assign an owner who can route customer input to the department capable of acting on it.

Top pitfall

Do not exploit personal data in ways that violate the social context. The advertising Catch-22 is that better targeting can increase commercial relevance while making members feel watched. An Australian Nielsen survey found that in December 2008, 38% considered social-network advertising intrusive, up from 29%, while acceptance of interest-based ads declined from 51% to 47%. Organisations running their own communities must also relinquish one-way message control and accept candid conversation.

Further reading

Global Faces and Networked Places, A Nielsen Report on Social Networking’s New Global Footprint, www.nielsen-online.com

www.zocalogroup.com/

www.MyStarbucksIdea.com