Action oriented insights through the use of data

Data is therefore indispensable in the communications profession and forms the basis for a good strategy, with optimal results. But where do you start? Why is tracking of online and offline resources so important to marketing, PR, sales, communications and service? And which analyses reveal the true result of your work? In this whitepaper, we’ll take you through the various analyses that ensure that you can make the results of your work transparent and measurable.

The rise of the internet and social media creates enormous opportunities for organisations, and monitoring and webcare (online customer support) have acquired a legitimate status for a number of years. Not surprising, because online channels have become places where consumers give (unsolicited) feedback. People share their first-hand experiences and opinions about products, services, events, etc. online.

What happens online also affects (offline) media and vice versa. These online and offline messages contain a lot of information that is important for forming the right strategy for your organisation. For example, this data provides insights into shifts in trends, but also into the reactions and the sentiment thereof to certain events. By analysing this data, you, as an organization, can coordinate communications or identify points that you need to work with in order to optimise your product or service.

If you want to take it even further, you can combine this publicly available data with internal organisation data, such as sales figures, statistics from telephone customer service, input from surveys, etc. This gives an extra layer to the analysis and provides action-oriented insights that fit within the overall picture of your organisation.

Data analysis and in-depth reports give you new insights on a weekly or monthly basis, but can also be used ad hoc. For example, with a specific incident or the launch of a new product. We’ve listed below a number of important analyses for you.

The world is constantly changing and market environments are becoming increasingly complex. In a short time we’ve already seen many changes that organisations should respond to, such as our changing society, increasin competition and increasingly critical consumers. This forces organisations to keep an eye on these developments and respond more quickly to new trends, market developments and the changing wishes and needs of stakeholders.

As a communications professional, you act as the “social antenna” of the organisation. Identifying, following, analysing and anticipating trends and developments are therefore a necessity rather than luxury. New opportunities and threats arise almost every day. A trend or development often means a new situation that may evoke a new frustration, need or problem, which you as an organisation can respond to.

With the help of a thorough industry report, you are well prepared for the future. You no longer act upon the issues of the day, but on a future-proof, long-term vision. You know exactly how the market in which your organisation is active is developing and are therefore the first to know about any new needs within this market. This way you get a firm grip on your position within the industry — or even on society, and plans are no longer based on a gut feeling, but on concrete data. An Industry Report provides a global answer to the following questions:

• What are relevant demographic, economic, social, technological, ecological and political developments within my market?
• How do these developments relate to the actions of my organisation?
• Which points for improvement come to light on the basis of this?
• What new opportunities can be identified within my market?

Both expected and unexpected, things can always happen with regard to your organisation that have a major impact on what is happening around the organisation. An impact analysis is used in times of commotion, crises or important publications concerning an organisation. These analyses are often ad hoc in nature and are made during or after an important event. Consider, for example, the publication of annual figures, the launch of new campaigns, news dissemination of mistakes or scandals, sponsoring or the introduction of new products or services.

Within this analysis, it is important to determine the course of the volume. Where did the news first appear and how does it spread over time? Which core messages are taken over in media reporting, and are they correct? In addition, important influencers and stakeholders are identified who play a role in the spread of the news.

Sentiment is considered in order to clearly chart impact. This not only looks at the sentiment around the organisation, but also at the sentiment within the various target groups. For example, are politicians more negative than journalists or vice versa? In this way we can see which pillars of reputation are affected by this news and you can make decisions from within the organisation regarding communications. Understanding the size, takeover and distribution of an incident, event, crisis or decision helps organisations optimise crisis communications and ultimately protect their reputation.

A topic or theme analysis is used by many marketing and communications professionals to launch or (re)position a brand, product or service or in the development of a campaign. The insights from this analysis help you make strategic choices for communications. Because the focus is on analysing online conversations, this analysis provides insight into the relevant topics, preferences, uncertainties and needs that are relevant to your target group.

It’s important to take a good look at the stakeholders in this analysis. Where are the opportunities within this group? What are people working on this theme talking about, and what do they say about it? But above all: what role do external factors play in this? Which competitors fall within the same market and how are these competitors judged by the target group? Which people are valuable as opinion leaders with regard to your brand, product or service? It’s also important to look at consumer behaviour. For example, it looks at how a product or service is used by the target group. What are the (dis)satisfiers, and how can we emphasise or remove them?

By retrieving all the above insights in one analysis, you gain insight into the market, target group and competition. This allows you to determine and optimise the position of your products or services. Within a campaign, you can target the right people and form an optimal communication strategy that fits with these people. Monitor your campaigns or products to see if they are indeed associated with themes, objectives and KPIs.

A target group analysis can be used to get a good picture of your brand or organisation’s community. The analysis can be performed only once, but it’s certainly also an idea to analyse the development per year after a 0 measurement. The target audience analysis maps out the followers, fans and consumers of your brand. Who are they? What topics are they talking about? What is the sentiment? And what kinds of less obvious topics and needs emerge?

Within this analysis, the focus is on a comprehensive profile. Where does the target group live? What is the average age? The topics this group talks about or general interests also provide interesting insights that help you to tailor your message. By identifying influentials and measuring sentiment, you get a good idea of the most important people in your community

Through an extensive target group analysis based on available data, you gain realistic insight into your target group. Based on this, you can optimally coordinate and organise your communications for the best results of your marketing and PR activities.

An analysis of webcare activities can provide valuable insights for determining whether webcare has been set up optimally within your organisation. A webcare analysis identifies strengths and weaknesses within webcare and provides insights into the important themes at play. What do you receive complaints about as an organisation? What do you get questions about? These insights give your organisation the opportunity to optimise the provision of information or improve products or services.

The difference in volume and sentiment on different channels, such as Facebook and WhatsApp, is made transparent in this analysis. But also the opportunities and challenges in respect to platforms, for example, and the tone of voice are mapped out. This kind of extensive analysis gives guidance for improving the service to your customers. After all, as we all know: service is the biggest distinguishing factor and webcare should not be overlooked in any organisation.

In addition to analysing volume, sentiment and the different sources where an organisation is discussed, this analysis also provides insights into the competitors. This means you always know where you stand in relation to the competition. A benchmark is set up that makes clear exactly what your position in the market is compared to the competitor. You can use this for examining your service further.

A webcare analysis can be used to determine the starting point of the webcare (when it’s not yet part of an organisation), but the analysis can also provide many internal insights as well. Are the right people handling the questions correctly? Does the team grab all the opportunities that can be identified within the market? Along with this, you’ll also gain insights into the workload of the team. When are the peak times, and what are the consequences for staffing, so you can be sure that every customer receives the best and fastest service? And, do you use webcare in the right way compared to other customer service channels?

Webcare contributes to the reputation and efficiency of your organisation. So don’t underestimate the value of an analysis regarding webcare. With the right approach, webcare also has the potential to increase engagement and customer satisfaction (NPS).

Media monitoring is important when drawing up your communication and PR strategy. If you, as an organisation, do not speak the language of the customer and other stakeholders, you basically miss the point and miss opportunities that contribute to the success of your organisation.

Do you want to take that extra step in the field of reputation management? Or do you want to map out the impact of a crisis? Our research department is happy to help you deal with the ever-increasing mountain of data in the best way possible.

By extracting the value and meaning from data, we provide action-oriented insights that allow you to optimise reputation management, communications strategies and PR activities.

Tailored advice
Our analysts are happy to advise you in order to ensure that your organisational objectives are achieved. We’ll help you make choices and “push the right buttons” so that your communications can be utilised as optimally as possible. We’ll also identify growth opportunities and improvement opportunities for your organisation or department. This way, you won’t have to rely on gut feelings, but rather, we’ll help you to fully optimise your work data-driven.

The reports made by our analysts are tailormade and tailored to your wishes and objectives. The reports can be drawn up on a one-time basis, or on a recurring basis: per week, month, quarter or year. Get the best out of data with OBI Insights!