Any company or agency tracking online mentions through web and social media monitoring is going to want to customize the data reporting in a way that makes the most sense to their client. (That’s why they call it “business intelligence.”) And every client will have a different set of metrics that makes sense for them.

That makes two things vitally important for any monitoring campaign:

1. The platform must give you the ability to filter and sort the data every which way but loose.

… and if the exact metric you need isn’t displayed through one of the platform’s charts and graphs …

2. It must allow you to export into a format that you can integrate into your client’s customized metrics.

As Jay Baer mentioned in a blog post last week, “The disheartening truth is that there is very little ‘standardized’ reporting available if you’re going to do social listening and analysis at the highest level.”

It’s true. But as long as you have the option to delve deep into your social media and web data and can import it in the format in which its best understood, you can contextualize your results. That’s the golden egg. Make the data impactful. Illustrate value. It’s what everybody is looking for, and its out there for the taking!

Many companies use Excel because its easy to create and populate templates. You can also sort, re-sort, and plug in information in every conceivable way. Spiral16 allows you to export all results into Excel, and our tool sorts it by metrics such as influence ranking, date posted, URL, site type, and sentiment, among other things.

If you need to export charts and graphs into Word documents, PDFs, or JPEGs, we’ve got you covered there as well. Clients will want results delivered to them in a certain way, so flexibility is very important when choosing a web and social media monitoring platform.

Do you ever wonder what the buzz on Internet Monitoring is all about?

If you want to find out about monitoring the web and social media, Spiral16 has a social media monitoring presentation below.  This short slideshow lays out why Internet monitoring a valuable way to stay ahead of your competitors

Brian Solis says context is king.

MediaPost’s Laurie Sullivan wrote a great post today recapping Brian Solis’s presentation to Linked OC, a group of business professionals in Orange County, CA.

In that presentation, Solis discussed Google’s latest announcement about indexing and locating real time content from Facebook, Twitter, etc., online and what that means to marketers. He opined that thetrue value for marketers and brands when it comes to search is in the context contained within that data, not the content itself.

Data is great, and an important part of any marketer’s arsenal of tools. But hidden within the data is context. What people are saying and who they are saying it to and with is another part of the equation. And digging even deeper, their circles of connectivity is also an integral part of today’s marketing equation.

Solis says that conversations occur around specific keywords. Using social media monitoring tools, marketers can break out conversations that are occurring into niches and see how those influence business. Then they can tailor their marketing efforts accordingly.

This is why measurement of marketing initiatives is so critical and why tools like landing pages and targeted calls to action will be a huge part of successful marketing campaigns.  Solis is spot on with his assessments and these are strategies we’re implementing in our own marketing efforts. It will be interesting to see how this evolves and how quickly marketers figure out that when it comes to business intelligence gathering, it’s not what they say, it’s the context in which they say it and their respective niches, that can really be a critical part of the equation.

And, at the risk of being redundant, if you’re a marketer looking to stay ahead of what’s going on in the digital space, grab a copy of Solis’s Engage, read it, stalk him on Twitter, read his blog and learn from him whenever you can. In our book, he’s “good people.”

Check out Laurie Sullivan’s awesome article over on MediaPost.

Forrester Research Inc. says social media is the fastest-growing segment in interactive marketing.  The auto industry alone will spend about $1.2 billion this year on social media marketing and that number is projected to grow to $4.6 billion by 2015, according to Ad Age.

But even with the jaw-dropping growth of social media and the growing importance of monitoring social media and the web, many brands still aren’t sure how to use monitoring platforms like Spiral16 for their business.

Social media monitoring gives your business the ability to tap into the Web, which is the world’s largest opinion database.

We are publishing case studies over the next few weeks, to lay out specific examples of the different ways our current clients use our monitoring to improve their business.  One of the many ways our current clients use Spiral16 is to gain information for new business development or to research market expansion.

Case Study

The American Outdoorsman Used Spiral16 Web and Social Media Monitoring to Research New Market and Engage New Customers

The Client
The American Outdoorsman is the country’s longest-running hunting and fishing TV show. The popular syndicated series has been around for years. The American Outdoorsman is introducing a line of branded outdoor products.

The Challenge
The American Outdoorsman was looking to expand into a broader outdoor-activity market. The brand was expanding their product line to include products for hiking, kayaking and mountain biking.

How They Used Spiral16 Monitoring
The brand used Spiral16 web and social media monitoring to identify websites and blogs where online discussions about hiking, kayaking, and mountain biking were occurring. The American Outdoorsman engaged with the readers of these blogs and websites about some of their new product lines. Over time, the brand found individuals who were active and influential in the outdoor-activity community online and received valuable feedback about their products.

Why This Matters for Your Business
At Spiral16, our monitoring tool doesn’t just check the RSS feeds for information. We dig way deeper into the web, using a proprietary web crawler and other tools to collect, organize and analyze more relevant digital content.

With our 3D data Virtualization, you can get the big picture of your brand presence and target the websites that are truly influential.

Seeing is believing. With our monitoring tool, you can know at a glance what websites and online communities are influential for the topics that matter most to your business. Spiral16′s 3D view of the data allows you to see a snapshot of the communication surrounding your brand.

Our influence-ranking system allows you to go beyond the “top-ranked blogs” and allows you to get a deeper view of the connections and the way a message spreads across the Web.

Kevin Rose, founder of Digg says that the launch of Apple’s all-new iTV set top box “will change everything”.  The Digg founder posted on his blog that the revamped Apple TV hardware will change the way we watch TV and share content—and all we’ll need is an Internet connection.

Rose says that Apple will launch its all-new iTV set top box, powered by the iOS operating system, in September for $99.

iTV Device Will Change the Way We Watch Television
The new iTV device will have access to the Apple App store, just like the iPhone and iPad. Apple’s new iTV users will be able to download software to run on their device. According to Rose, the iTV device will change the way people watch content on their television. Using these applications, content providers will be able to provide iTV owners “a la carte” stations.

“With Apple’s iAds, content producers (eg. ABC/NBC/etc.) can directly monetize and distribute their content,” he said. “This will eventually destroy the television side of the cable and satellite industry, as your only requirement to access these on-demand stations will be an internet connection. Say goodbye to your monthly cable bill.”

Other reasons why iTV is going to be a game-changer?  Video sharing with family and friends via iTV is going to be huge and the iPad will evolve into a “badass remote control”:

The iPad will turn into one big badass remote control: The iPad will be the preferred input device for the iTV. You’ll be able to editing videos, control games, and extend the interactive television experience. Imagine watching Monday night football on the TV while viewing/exploring other camera angles on the iPad.

Go to the blog to read the rest of the Kevin Rose’s predictions on the future of TV and content generation.

What do you think of this blog post? Rumor? Hype?

Spiral16 CEO Tracy Panko recently made a presentation on Social Media ROI to the International Association of Business Communicators.

The Kansas City chapter of IABC asked our CEO to speak about ROI in social media marketing at a special August 19 breakfast meeting.  Tracy created an overview and a list of Social Media ROI resources for the attendees of the breakfast and for anyone who wants to know more about ROI.

Resources – Social Media Marketing ROI

Social Media Marketing ROI is a subject without a clear-cut answer. Establishing what you want to measure and determining the objective of each of your social media marketing campaigns before you begin is critical. Defining a clear strategy can help you reach our social media goals, including:

• Sales
• Registrations
• Referrals
• Links (the currency of the social web)
• Votes
• Reduction in costs and processes
• Decrease in customer issues
• Lead generation
• Conversion
• Reduced sale cycles
• Inbound activity
• Opt in subscribers
• Likes on Facebook
• Interactions/engagement/conversation on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,

Not all campaigns are meant to drive conversions, some are to capture subscribers or fans or Webinar participants. These small conversions are small successes that can lead to more social media reach and influence. The higher your reach and influence, the more qualified leads your business can capture through social media.

BOOKS

Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media and Blogs by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah

Engage! by Brian Solis

The New Rules of Marketing & PR: How to Use Social Media, Blogs, News Releases, Online Video and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly by David Meerman Scott

Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith

ONLINE RESOURCES

Mashable – The Maturation of ROI
http://mashable.com/2010/01/26/maturation-social-media-roi/

Forrester Research
http://bit.ly/cqLFb7

ClickZ -7 Easy Metrics for Measuring ROI
http://bit.ly/bJU6Vr

B2B Social Media Marketing

30 B2B Social Media Resources
http://bit.ly/94gjZ8

B2B Social Media Case Studies
http://bit.ly/bdTOjw

Below you will find Tracy Panko’s powerpoint presentation on ROI, which is also available on Slideshare.

More proof of the growing importance of  business intelligence: IBM announced yesterday the acquisition of Unica, a marketing software company.

Unica’s software automates the process of predicting customer preferences, and designing ad campaigns based on that information.  The software also monitors the effectiveness of ad campaigns.

The Boston Herald, here are the details of the IBM-Unica deal:

The $480 million all-cash acquisition would give IBM the tools to meet its customers growing demand for targeted advertising, a relatively new area for the company. In June, the Armonk, N.Y., company agreed to buy Coremetrics Inc., a company that helps target online marketing.

Unica is well-known in the CRM industry.   We found the IBM-Unica deal very interesting since Unica monitors the market for customer feedback, and monitors ad campaigns.  The power of information is a valuable tool and we see it everyday.   In a random bit of trivia:

Unica’s chief executive, Yuchun Lee, was one of the MIT math students involved in the blackjack card-counting teams depicted in the book “Bringing Down the House” and the movie “21.”

Francisco Rosales is the man behind the popular social media blog SocialMouths. It’s one of our favorite blogs about social media because Francisco’s advice is grounded in common sense–with a little attitude.

SocialMouths is on the Ad Age Power 150 list of marketing blogs, so clearly others like his social media advice.

Why He’s a Rock Star
The tag line for SocialMouths is “Social Media Strategies for Everyone”.  He’s an expert who doesn’t need to impress you by using social media marketing lingo.  Francisco keeps it simple. According to Rosales:

My favorite 2 words are: Common Sense.

I believe in leadership and change. I love simplicity, truth and honest open communications. I own a creative mind, just like everybody else. I try to help others achieve. I promote independence as individuals and forms of personal talent and expertise as a tool of generating income and collaborating with each other to reach goals.

Rosales is the Social Media Director at Plural And Partners, an interactive agency with offices in L.A. and Santiago, Chile.  They work with a few companies and brands you might have heard of. Toyota, Playstation and Comcast.

Social Mouths Posts to Check Out

7 Examples of Kick Ass Personal Branding

How to Compare Your Social Media Presence to Your Competitors

8 Tools to Turn Your Blog into a Profit Center

You can also find SocialMouths on Facebook or follow Francisco on Twitter @socialmouths

Social media generates leads and there are a growing number of studies to prove it.

Your brand’s online presence is a big factor in lead generation.  A recent survey reports that 74 percent of tech marketing professionals cite social media as the top channel for lead generation.

Another study shows that 51 percent of Facebook fans and 67 percent of Twitter followers said they were more likely to buy the brands they like on Facebook or follow on Twitter, strengthening the argument that social media is one of the most important emerging channels for lead generation.

Resources on Using Social Media for Lead Generation

Marketing Profs has a killer article on 3 Ways to Improve Lead Generation Efforts

Mashable’s Erica Swallow has an really helpful post on How to Use Social Media for Lead Generation over on the AMEX OPEN blog.

Hubspot has amazing resources on using social media and your company website for lead generation.  Two of our favorite resources:

B2B Guide for Twitter Lead Generation

Hubspot Lead Generation Webinar

BTW, how your website looks also impacts your ability to generate leads for your organization.

A study conducted by RainToday.com reports that 83% of those surveyed say that a service provider’s website holds at least “some influence” over their decision to engage in initial discussions.  The study included more than 200 buyers responsible for purchasing more than $1.7 billion in professional services.

Social media is NOT just for tech geeks and kids.  Nielsen Online reports that time spent by Americans on social networks grew 43% over the past year!  According to the Nielsen report:

• Americans are changing their Internet usage habits,  spending a bulk of their time on social networks such as Facebook
• Americans increased time spent on social networks.  Time spent on social networks grew 43 percent from last year
• We spent a total of 22.7 percent of our time on social networks
• Americans are watching more online video/movies and online games–both saw double-digit gains
• Online video/movies increased 12 percent
• Online game use grew 10 percent

Social media accounts for nearly 23% of time spent online in the US, according to Nielsen, and with increases of 43% in one year, even the most conservative businesses should sit up and take notice.

How to Sell Social Media to the C-Suite

We know that it can still be tough to sell social media to the people in the boardroom. Here are a few resources that can help you show the value of social media to your company’s bottom line.

1. Brian Solis has a great webinar on Selling Social Media to the C-Suite

2. Jay Baer has information on Social Media Scoreboards over on his blog, ConvinceandConvert.com. Scoreboards are a way to communicate value to the people in the boardroom, who are used to dealing with charts and formulas.

3. Spiral16 Slideshare Presentation – We created a presentation about why social media (and monitoring) makes sense for business. There are some great stats on the exploding growth of social media and of course some information on why monitoring social media is good for the bottom line.