Are You A Social CEO?

In the age of social networking, is it enough that only your company and its brands have a social presence? Or is it essential for the top leadership of the company also to be active and engaging on the social media?

Weber Shandwick, a digital communications agency released a research report in May this year titled The Social CEO: Executives Tell All which explored the question- are socially active CEOs beneficial for an organisation and its executives. Here is what the report revealed:

76% of executives (surveyed worldwide) wanted their CEOs to be active and engaging on social media. 

The benefits (according to the executives) of a social CEO were many, like being able to share company news, impart thought, leadership information, build company (and employees) reputation and initiate one-to-one communication with employees and customers alike.

52% of executives said that social CEOs were a source of inspiration.

46% of the executives felt that having social CEOs made them feel technologically advanced.

So you see, as consumers seek interesting but authentic and authoritative communication from brands, the onus falls on the CEOs to step on the social bandwagon and lead from the front in listening to and engaging with their customers.

One such social CEO is Peter Aceto of ING Direct Canada. One of his admirers, Carmine Galloa a communications guru and also a Forbes contributor, describes Aceto as “active, authentic and very transparent bank executive and a “student of leadership who shares case studies and best practices from leaders in other fields”. In fact, Aceto was named Toronto’s Communicator of the Year in 2010.

According to Carmine Gallo, Aceto’s social media efforts are very open and direct. He openly communicates with his customers and employees like you would do with your friends and family members. He uses his Twitter handle @CEO_INGDIRECT to talk to his customers and stakeholders about finance related issues. 

In fact Aceto (in conversation with Gallo) seconds the Weber Shandwick study finding when he stresses that it is essential for CEOs to be engaging on social media because this increases the credibility of the organisation and motivates employees. Also, in the wake turbulent markets and global financial crisis, consumers are cautious about receiving information from third parties (read random news articles and blog posts). Therefore, CEO’s blogs, tweets, posts, webinars etc go a long way in restoring the customers’ faith and trust in organisations.

Do you know want CEOs to be active and engaging on the social media? Share your thoughts in the comments. 

Social Media Analysis Tools: A Crafty Approach to Market Research

Social Media Analysis Tools: A Crafty Approach to Market Research

Market research is an important and integral part of any product development and management process. Often, it is through an exhaustive and well spanned out research that brand managers know how well a to-be launched product is going to fare in the market. Managers use traditional market research methodologies to

Social Analyzing

Understand consumer needs and opinions.

•   To develop a product that is tailor made for their target market
•   Optimize their market reach
•   To assess the existing market trends and based on that predict consumer behavior.
•   To make product enhancements and modifications

But, this is the age of social media and networking, where purchases are made based on friend recommendations and reviews, likes and shares from like minded individuals. Consumers prefer to talk about their favorite products and engage in discussions on social media channels than fill out survey forms or take questions from a market research personnel.

So, don’t you think it’s time that the market researchers made the much needed shift from traditional market research methods to modern social media analytics tools in order to get in-depth and insightful market research data, that too in real time?

How do Social Media Analytics Tools Aid Market Research?

a)Derives Market Insights from Social Conversations

The social channels are all about sharing information and building conversations. For brands and organizations, these candid conversations are a key to useful insights on consumer needs, brand perception among consumers, their products and services. Using social media analysis tools, market researchers and brand managers can very effectively and easily analyze millions of such conversations and derive decisive insights from it, to strategize, improvise and modify their marketing initiatives.

b)Helps Understand Target Markets

Market researchers, using the conventional methods, would have to solely rely on extensive surveys using lengthy questionnaires in order to understand their target market. However, social media analysis tools, with their Sentiment and Intent Analysis abilities, tells researchers everything about their target audience – from demographics to consumer opinions without using any surveys or questionnaires.

c) Assists in Predicting Trends and Managing Competition

Organizations do not have to wait for the results of the market surveys that they conduct to know the market trends or understand their competitors. Social media analysis tools with their Competition Analysis techniques does this for the market researchers.

Therefore, social media analysis tools are extremely useful in carrying out effective market research. I strongly believe that the time is just right for market research departments to embrace social media analysis tools and make the best use of what it has to offer in terms of cost-effectiveness and clarity within minimal space and time.

Shout Analytics is one such high-end social media analytics tool that help organizations manage and improve their market research activities using data available in social media. To know more about Shout Analytics, visit http://www.shoutanalytics.com/.