| Social Networks Provide Richest Source of Opinions |
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| Wednesday, 12 November 2008 | |
  
The study reveals that 86 percent of LinkedIn members who responded to the survey were not part of other online survey panels, and a majority of the respondents surveyed (66 percent) had decision making power or influence over purchase decisions. These same members were also more active on LinkedIn and had the most “connections.” This shows that market researchers have the potential to efficiently reach the richest source of qualified opinions, and also reach the “influencers” of the group. Using SPSS Predictive Analytics data and text mining software, Anderson Analytics was also able to identify four distinct categories of networkers from the 30 million users within LinkedIn. These segments – “Savvy Networkers,” “Senior Executives,” “Late Adopters,” and “Exploring Options” – illustrate how market researchers can identify disparate groups and then best communicate to these individuals, based on their participation levels on the networking site. The popularity and increasing importance of Web 2.0 and Social Networking Services (SNS) has marketers scrambling to understand how to take advantage of this unlimited raw intelligence and get direct access to the subscribers. SNS, like LinkedIn, are changing how firms understand – and respond – to customers’ needs, wants and behaviors. These sites represent a tremendous opportunity for marketers to communicate with hard to reach segments through targeted advertising. And, the connected nature of SNS also makes word-of-mouth marketing especially attractive. Tom H. C. Anderson, managing partner at Anderson Analytics, said, “Our findings prove that SNS provide market researchers with a more focused population of respondents who are willing to participate in surveys and offer honest feedback on their preferences, motivations, and intentions. The use of SNS is also more economical, easier and an efficient way to reach millions of consumers who could never be found in focus groups or research panels.” The use of SPSS Predictive Analytics data and text mining software enables market researchers to explore “unstructured” information within SNS to pull key concepts and extract sentiments, such as emotional responses, preferences and opinions, and draw more reliable conclusions of customers’ behaviors and attitudes by particular segments. Olivier Jouve, vice president of corporate development at SPSS, said, “SPSS Predictive Analytics software gives market researchers the ability to easily capture feedback, analyze ‘Voice of the Customer’ data, segment different groupings of individuals, and then deploy those results to optimise marketing efforts that reduce customer churn, improve satisfaction, or increase revenues.” The four categories of networkers were distinguished by analyzing behavioral and attitudinal data such as number of connections, logins, usage style, and networking interests. They are defined as: • “Savvy Networkers” (9 million) are likely to have started using social networking earlier than others, are more tech savvy, and more likely to be active on other SNS sites like Facebook. Savvy Networkers have the most connections (61 on average) and are more likely to use LinkedIn for almost every purpose other than job searching. Savvy Networkers have the second highest personal income ($93,500) and usually have “Consultant” in their job description. • “Senior Executives” (8.4 million) are somewhat less tech savvy and are using LinkedIn to connect to their existing corporate networks. They have power jobs which they are quite content with, and are likely to have been invited by a colleague, then realized how many key contacts were on the site and started building connections (32 on average). Senior Executives have the highest average personal income ($104,000) and have titles such as Owner, Partner, Executive or Associate. • “Late Adopters” (6.6 million) are likely to have received numerous requests from friends and co-workers before deciding to join. They are somewhat less tech savvy and are careful in how they use LinkedIn, tending to connect only to close friends and colleagues and have the fewest number of connections (23 on average). Late Adopters have the lowest average personal income ($88,000) and have titles such as Teacher, Medical Professional, Lawyer, or the word “Account” or “Assistant” in their job description. • “Exploring Options” (6.1 million) may be working, but are open and looking for other job options often on Careerbuilder.com, perhaps in part because they have the lowest personal income ($87,500). They are fairly tech savvy, and use SNS for both corporate and personal interests. |
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