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The Social Network Effect

Just read a very smart post about social network analysis by technology marketer Paul Barsch. Paul provides a good example of how social network analysis can contribute to a company’s decision about “how profitable” a customer really is — by not just looking at the revenue and costs associated with that customer, but also looking at the Advocacy and influence that customer has with other profitable customers. Paul also provides some perspective on why social network analysis “isn’t a savior to marketing decision making” and is just one of many measurement tools to get the job done.

I couldn’t agree more. Social network analysis is one of the many exciting new approaches to measurement and strategy that are available to today’s communicators and marketers. Surveys and focus groups continue to be powerful tools, but we now also have a broad set of other tools — including media content analysis, web site analytics, search engines, word-of-mouth metrics and a whole host of emerging online and offline tools. 

As you might expect, we’re big advocates for social network analysis as part of our work with clients to drive Advocacy for their products, brands and ideas. It’s not the only measure, by any stretch, but it helps add critical dimensions to ensure a more holistic and extended view of an organization’s stakeholder relationships. It’s also a good counter-balance to the “linear” view that dominates a lot of marketing, which assumes companies have a 1:1 relationship with their customers that is driven by direct marketing, advertising and other communication in isolation.

The reality, of course, is that influence is multi-dimensional and can be impacted by many sources — whether they’re Advocates or badvocates or somewhere in between. Fortunately, more and more organizations are realizing that’s the case, and today’s communicators have more and more tools available to shine the light on that reality.