June 9, 2011

TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA RESEARCH ANALYSTS

TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA RESEARCH ANALYSTS (SMRAs)

By Virginia B. Bautista

1.

Thou shall get to know relevant information about the client. We

are supposed to do prior research, i.e. a quick visit to the corporate website of the client can give us an idea of the nature of the product/service. It also helps to see the clients portfolio, and to be aware of its previous campaigns or product launches. Doing so could help us in contextualizing buzz about the brand. Besides, being particularly interested in the brand is enough motivation to fuel our curiosity about the brand itself and its competitors in the market. Interest on the clients brand could make us go a long way.

2.

Thou shall have a good command of business English.

Our clients come from various industries, and as such, they expect us to be proficient not only in standard English, but particularly in written Business English.

3.

Thou shall be patient in searching for actionable insights. We are

researchers. We need to make sense out of numbers by digging in qualitative inputs that will substantiate our reports. Theres no reason to simply repeat what the charts, tables, and graphs show. Our clients need actionable insights. This justifies our jobs as research analysts. Numbers cant speak for themselves. Machines cant do the interpretation. The netizens insights are already there, swimming in the world of social media; we just have to find them. Lets be patient; the Eureka moment will also come as we dig in for more data.

4.

Thou shall read between and beyond netizens posts. As researchers,

we are not supposed to accept posts by face value. We evaluate them, whether they are significant or not. We must make inferences and learn to listen to what netizens dont literally say.

5.

Thou shall know the research analysts jargon by heart. We are not
real SMRAs if we dont know buzz, sentiments, social media equity, trends, channels, Twitter, blogs, forum, etc.

6.

Thou shall be familiar with the jargon in the clients industry. If our
client is from a banking industry, we must at least know the basic jargon in banking and finance, e.g. investment, stocks, trading, mobile banking, mortgage, etc. A background on this helps us easily understand whats going on in a forum, what a tweet is saying, and what bloggers reveal. Also, knowing the industrys jargon will assist us in preparing reports for our clients. The clients could easily decipher whether we know what we are talking about in our reports, or if we are just reporting without even knowing what we are talking about.

June 9, 2011

TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA RESEARCH ANALYSTS

7.

Thou shall have effective time management skills.

Lets face it. Deadlines are our enemies. Why not make deadlines our best friend by considering them as challenges that could make us more efficient? To do this, we need to set goals and devise our own techniques on how to accomplish them. We must know what technique works for us to maximize our outputs without ever sacrificing quality. We all have 24 hours. The difference lies on how we manage our time.

8.

Thou shall be objective in writing the report. As impartial researchers, we

dont choose information to include or to exclude in our reports based on our own built-in biases. For example, having a bad personal experience or attitude towards the brand should not have any impact on how we write and how we find key insights. We dont choose quotes to highlight based on our value judgment. Take note that our job does not include praising or cursing the brand. Our business is to report objectively, not to editorialize.

9.

Thou shall aim for accuracy and professionalism. Accuracy,

accuracy, accuracy! There is no substitute for accuracy. We shall check all facts and verify all information. Of course, we also need to be professional. Professionalism is expressed is many ways. The most obvious expression of professionalism is through the reports layout and packaging. A famous philosopher, Karl Marx, once said that work is an extension of ones self. Our works are reflections not only of how we value our job, but also how the company values the clients. The clients trust the company. The company trusts us. We know what to do deliver accurate information in a professional packaging nothing less.

10.

Thou shall embrace diversity. We are all part of the global village, as what
Marshall McLuhan, a Canadian communication guru calls it. We may be operating from different locations around the world, and speaking different languages, but as part of the global village, we must learn to work harmoniously. We need to operate with the same vision and mission despite our differences in our viewpoints, in our culture, our language, and even in our time zone. Remember, here at Brandtology, we mean business. We aim for intelligence!

###