Blending the mix - Latest Comments in You’re only as good as the monitoring tool you use

Re: You’re only as good as the monitoring tool you use

paulfabretti — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 07:55:01 -0000

@Matthew, thanks for stopping by. Got sorted on Friday thanks to the guys back at base so would look forward to seeing what we can do going forward.

@David thanks for your help setting this all up too. very useful.

@Pete agreed, there has to be the flexibility in these tools to allow them to evolve, but I think that's inherent with any software.

I think the main issue facing the monitoring market is the people buying the services themselves.

I know first hand that one of the biggest problems any buyer of these services faces is not knowing how each tool works or how each tool finds the content. They want to know what makes each tool different and why they cost different amounts? And why are they not free like other tools on the web that seem to pull in relevant conversations?

Then they are faced with the issue of what to do with the content when it all arrives.

As the industry goes through it's typical "land-grab" for market dominance, the company who can explain what it does, how it does it but more importantly, advises the client on what to do with the information at the end has every chance of being as successful as the company with the leading technology.

Re: You’re only as good as the monitoring tool you use

Peter Young — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 04:27:49 -0000

Good post, certainly seems to have provoked some debate.

Think its worth bearing in mind with regards to many of these monitoring systems (ie Radian 6, Market Sentinel, Brandwatch etc), that many of them are 'new' (in the grand scheme of things - and I do use the word new very loosely there) and having to deal with a constantly changing environment.

Certainly some of the systems evaluated over the course of the last six months or so have come along way, however there is still a long way to go imo, particularly in terms of deeper level monitoring and analysis.

Re: You’re only as good as the monitoring tool you use

David Alston — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 17:01:47 -0000

Oh, I forgot to on the UK content point you made in the post. We do cover all of the UK content comprehensively but when using regional filtering it's unfortunately not a perfect science (as you touched on) so often sources can get classified in the US bucket. There are a few ways to help this out with the addition of UK site source filters. The gang is around to go deeper on this anytime.

Cheers. David

Re: You’re only as good as the monitoring tool you use

David Alston — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 16:30:54 -0000

Hey there Paul, glad we got things all figured out for you today. And hey thanks for the kudos on the vid. It was a hoot to make. :)

Cheers. David

Re: You’re only as good as the monitoring tool you use

paulfabretti — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 12:39:24 -0000

Matthew, likewise, thanks for stopping by and taking the time to leave a comment.

I take your point about the the comment about the product itself is more important than the location of the comment itself, but the problem still remains that the focus seems to be so much on US content that smaller UK brands just do not appear on the radar.

That said, I am signing up to you guys again, now I have moved on, so it isn't all bad!!

Re: You’re only as good as the monitoring tool you use

Matthew Brazil — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 12:13:38 -0000

Just a note on region filtering.

As a consumer I will be influenced by the commentary I view. If I search for a product and read reviews on it my buying decision may or may not be altered by what I read. I will NOT care if the comment was made in the US, UK, Europe or other.

Agree that the Johnny Cache video by D.Alston is a work of genius.

Re: You’re only as good as the monitoring tool you use

paulfabretti — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 10:07:52 -0000

Hey Jeremiah, I really appreciate you stopping by and taking the time to leave a comment!

It was your very first comment that surprised me "Thank god for the recession, as now the social media gurus are on the way out." It just struck me as a bit odd!

I'm really glad you brought up the whole topic though as I think it is important that the industry begins to demonstrate credibility through accountability - or else disappear in a cloud of virtual hot air, along with any marketing budgets that may have been set aside.

Re: You’re only as good as the monitoring tool you use

Jeremiah Owyang — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 09:55:25 -0000

Thanks for this, but where did I say that I take pleasure or even indicate that anyone be unemployed? Being out of work sucks, I'm compassionate to that.

The big message is (which you clearly get) is that it's time to be accountable, so even those bullsh*tters that aren't measuring will need to mature.

I'm not in the business of taking pleasure over someone's pain, my job as an industry analyst is to say what I see happening, and I did just that.