Blog Monitoring Service Analyzes Tribal Interests

Online discussion monitoring services don’t come cheap — particularly the ones that can do deep-dive analysis of a consumer segment’s shared opinions and interests. The custom reports offered by Cymfony, Nielsen BuzzMetrics and Brandimensions are beyond the means of the typical brand manager at a medium-sized business.

Market intelligence firm Umbria hopes a planned subscription-based “Blog Tribe Analysis” service will help bridge the budget gap and win over cash-strapped marketing organizations eager to glean consumer insights without breaking the bank.

The product will attempt to identify the shared interests of subsets of online consumers. If, for instance, a marketer’s primary targets are solar panel buyers, Umbria’s reports might help determine ancillary group characteristics, such as a predilection for organic food or an interest in hang gliding.

Such data can be put to use in the development of marketing materials and media buys, and can contribute to product development and expansion. “It’s that wider set of conversations that provide…richer context,” said Umbria CEO Janet Eden-Harris.

Umbria’s methodology works by identifying bloggers with common characteristics, then analyzing all posts to discover adjacent interests.

At the outset, Tribe Analysis reports will be client-specific, “or at least consortium-specific,” Eden-Harris said, but she added the eventual goal is to create syndicated packages for dispersal to a larger client base.

“Syndication of this data puts the research analysis at a price point that’s more affordable for the SMB market,” according to Peter Kim, a senior analyst at Forrester Research who was briefed on Umbria’s offering. Kim said deal sizes in the buzz measurement space are getting larger and larger, in some cases breaking seven figures.

Now in beta, Umbria’s Tribe Analysis will be widely available later this year, the company said.