Almost two-thirds of brand marketers say that monitoring trends and headlines is essential for best practice real-time community management in social media. Yet over half (51%) say getting real-time data and insights is the biggest challenge.
Almost two-thirds of brand marketers say that monitoring trends and headlines is essential for best practice real-time community management in social media.
Yet over half (51%) say getting real-time data and insights is the biggest challenge.
A survey by Immediate Future, of well-known brands across industry sectors, reveals that whilst most brands want real-time monitoring, data and insights, only 27% consider best practice is to use monitoring tools. When tools are used, free tools top the bill. Google Analytics is most popular (62%), followed by the analysis functions on a social profile or page (53%)
“Of course brands are using paid for tools too”, says Katy Howell, CEO at social digital consultancy, Immediate Future.
She said: “In fact 43% use open web tools and the same number use buzz monitoring. In truth, brands are using a mix of tools – free and paid. And this makes data collation, comparison and analysis so much more complex. It is no surprise that marketers find distilling real-time insights a challenge.”
The survey is detailed in a new report, called ‘In The Social Moment’, from Immediate Future that benchmarks how brands are managing real-time social engagement. It uncovers the benefits, challenges, tools and operational preferences – to give a snapshot of how companies are facing the new, more agile, communications.
Marketers depend on information to drive strategy, so finding a way to gather insights across the real-time spectrum is vital for measuring success.
Click here to get the full report.
I think the challenge is not only monitoring and having the right tools, but also making sense of the data. Some marketers are not very good at recording exactly what they did (or did not do) to generate the engagement. Content and context are critical in my opinion.