An online community intelligence audit follows a 4-step scalable process to deliver actionable insights for organizations: 1. Discovery - Define audit parameters mapped to objectives through keyword research and data modeling. 2. Data Modeling - Build and test a data model to ensure data integrity and validity. 3. Measurement - Measure community presence, reach, engagement and influence using benchmark metrics. 4. Analysis - Provide quantitative metrics and qualitative insights through measuring conversations and identifying themes. The process begins with data collection and sampling to understand where target audiences are active online and validate strategies. Both quantitative and qualitative analysis are used to understand perceptions and conversations to develop effective online strategies. Ongoing audits are recommended

1. Online Community Intelligence Audits
Process & Methodology

2. Every digital audit is like detective work. You must dive deep into the world of online
communities, meticulously extracting valuable insights that align perfectly with your audience
and project specifics. Imagine knowing precisely where your potential customers are discussing
the products, services, or brands that matter most to your organization. That's the promise of
online audits!
By setting crystal-clear goals, you’re on a quest to find those golden nuggets of actionable
information. This helps businesses like yours refine communication strategies and pinpoint
exactly where and how your target audience is interacting online.
The following framework allows you to get the pulse on community mentions, sentiments, and
even their specific needs and desires. Think of it as having ears everywhere: from the buzz on
major social media platforms to chatter on niche channels, from video-sharing sites to the latest
blogs. And while audits usually focus on a 30-day snapshot (it’s the sweet spot for both time
and budget), the insights audits pull can be broad, dynamic, and evolving.
The end game? Through the rich intelligence of auditing, businesses are able to get a clearer
picture of their audience. It's like a compass, guiding organizations to validate and refine their
strategies to match their big-picture goals.
But wait, there's more! Best practices encourage and recommend not just stopping at one audit.
The digital world is ever-changing. To keep your finger on the pulse, continuous monitoring will
be key. It's like having a pair of binoculars that lets you see the changing landscapes and
shifting consumer behaviors. Plus, it's a great way to measure the splash your strategies and
campaigns are making and how they're influencing your overall business performance over
time.
In a nutshell, if you're keen on amplifying your marketing game, understanding and riding the
waves of digital conversations and auditing is the way to go!

3. When you talk about Online Audits and Studies, think of them as treasure hunts. It’s diving deep
into the digital realm to unearth those hidden gems – Business Intelligence. This isn't just about
numbers; it's about understanding the sentiments, preferences, and conversations surrounding
markets, brands, products, or any subject of interest. The goal? To help organizations like yours
truly connect with online audiences and gauge how you're being perceived out there.
Now, every audit project initialized isn't a one-size-fits-all approach. The framework to follow is
a tried-and-true analytical method but can be tailored just for you, aligning with your unique
goals. This bespoke approach lets you to meticulously map, analyze, and understand your
brand's influence online.
But here's where it gets exciting. Depending on what you're aiming for, audits can adjust with
your focus. Want to understand the buzz around your brand versus your competitors? Curious
about the key influencers driving conversations or the sentiments dominating discussions?
Whether it's local chatter or global discussions, auditing can deliver those actionable insights.
However, a word to the wise: One study is just a snapshot. It's like trying to understand a movie
by watching just one scene. While these studies offer invaluable insights, the digital
conversation is ever-evolving. That's why savvy brands today are investing in ongoing analysis.
This continuous deep dive offers real-time intelligence, helping businesses sharpen their
communication strategies for tangible outcomes.
So, if you're considering getting started with an audit, remember – it's an incredible first step,
but it's just the beginning. In the fast-paced digital world, ongoing insights are the compass that
guide businesses, ensuring not just engagement, but measurable returns on your initiatives. Are
you ready to embark on this analytical journey?
Every project should be approached with a
unique custom framework, which is designed
based on individual organizational objectives
and goals to thoroughly measure, analyze and
study the online communities influence.

4. Auditing should use a scalable, four step process to deliver actionable insights.

5. Goal: A baseline study to represent where and how target
audiences are active online and to validate and/or
refine planned online marketing initiatives.
Focus: Target Audiences
Companies: Brand + Competitive
Industries: Brand Industries
Depth: Baseline Snapshot View
Geographies: United States
Language: English
Duration: 30-Day time period
Timeline: 60-Days to Completion
Deliverables: Report Style Format
Presence: Conversation Topic Amplitudes
Review: Audiences
Consumers, Suppliers, Vendors, Influencers
Brand + Competitive
Brand, Competitive Landscape
Community Audience Benchmarks
Presence, Use, Volume, Themes
Business Benchmarks
Perceptions, Sentiments, Needs, Desires
Advocacy
Business Channel Use
Performance, Best Practices
Channels, Content, Campaigns, Communications
Brand SWOT Analysis
Discovery Data Modeling Measurement Analysis
The use of Discovery as a first step provides concise audit parameters
mapped to corporate business objectives to guide the study for delivering
targeted, purposeful, meaningful and actionable intelligence.
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4
Representation

6. 59,759 People Like This
5,376
Followers
1,063 Views
Failure
Success
1.Develop list of brands to audit
2.Establish benchmark for bestpractices
3.Review historicalactivity
In Social Networks
4.Chartsocialpresences
for each brand
5.Documentsize,
makeup and velocity
ofeach community
6.Analyze history of
campaigns and create
timeline for each brand
7.Segment
internationalactivity
8.Review press for each
brand’s socialpresence
or campaign(s)
9.Delineate between brand
image vs.action / buy
10.Delineate between brand vs.productfocus
11.Plot the specific use of social
for each product/brand
12.Charttouchpoints
and call/ clicks to action
13.Link
offline / online activity
14.Study and
showcase consumer
sentimentand reactions
15.Revealstrengths
and weaknesses for
each brand /profile
16.Assess true
performance ofeach
program
17.Examine why / whatwas
Successfulvs.unsuccessful
18.Documentfindings and
presentresults
The depth of studies are based on your own unique needs and may (and
can) emphasize the following analytic benchmark views to find insights to
validate brand and audience findings.
Community Benchmarks
Channel Presence
Channel Use
Discussion Volume
Discussion Themes
Competitor Benchmarks
Brand Presence
Brand Channel Use
Brand Performance
Brand Best Practices
1. Develop list of brands to audit
2. Establish benchmark for best practices
3. Review historical online activity
4. Chart online presences
for each brand
5. Document size,
makeup and velocity
of each community
6. Analyze history of
campaigns and create
timeline for each brand
7. Segment
international activity
8. Review press for each
brand’s online presence
or campaign(s)
9. Delineate between brand
image vs. action / buy
10. Delineate between brand vs. product focus
11. Plot the specific use of online
for each product / brand
12. Chart touchpoints
and call / clicks to action
13. Link
offline / online activity
14. Study and
showcase consumer
sentiment and reactions
15. Reveal strengths
and weaknesses for
each brand / profile
16. Assess true
performance of each
program
17. Examine why / what was
Successful vs. unsuccessful
18. Document findings and
present results
Discovery Data Modeling Measurement Analysis
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

7. Auditing begins with data collection starting with building and testing a data
model based on SEO keyword research to develop Boolean logic to ensure data
integrity and validity for delivering business intelligence.
Discovery Data Modeling Measurement Analysis
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

8. As part of the data modeling process, the data model will test, refine and validate
data samples to build a statistically valid random sampling for the study.
Data sampling is the part of the statistical analytical data modeling process that governs the
selection and analysis of a subset of individuals from within a population (online community) to
yield the desired knowledge representative of the whole population, especially for the purposes
of making predictions based on statistical inference.
Researchers rarely survey the entire population for two reasons: the cost is too high, and the
population is dynamic in that the individuals making up the population may change over time.
The three main advantages of sampling are that the cost is lower, data collection is faster, and
since the data set is smaller, it is possible to ensure homogeneity and to improve the accuracy
and quality of the data.
In the scope of online audits and studies, it should be further noted that there are inherent
limitations with all data collection tools to eliminate data which produce inaccurate, inflated
statistics and results. Processes need to be tightly controlled and refined for data sampling,
validation, and scale while balancing steps to remove as much of data ‘clutter’ as possible to
produce accurate and honest results.
It is through this managed process that audits are able to deliver a higher level of data integrity
and validity, which leads to greater confidence and intelligence in the findings.
Discovery Data Modeling Measurement Analysis
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

9. The use of benchmark metrics will measure presence, reach, engagement,
and influence for defined targeted audience communities.
Quantitative Measurement includes the process of documenting community activity and
presence across the online landscape. Views are taken to measure the amplitude and
resonance of the active conversations to gauge where targeted audiences are congregating as
a critical step to strategically align a Brand’s own online presence.
The process starts with monitoring the conversation using the data model based on a set of pre-
defined search keyword set parameters. As data is collected, it is groomed and analyzed to
cross compare and measure conversational themes and topics against a Brand’s own business
interests as well as its online goals and objectives.
Once the findings are complete, a Brand is able (with confidence) to develop an online strategy
and consequently – a presence, based on applying resources and budgets across the most
appropriate channels according to its own set of unique needs.
Quantitative Analysis will include conversation volumes (amplitude), SOV benchmarks (brand
presence), and channel preferences and more.
Discovery Data Modeling Measurement Analysis
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

10. Knowledge [with] Understanding [leads to] Business Intelligence
Quantitative Analysis seeks to provide metrics driven insights which may include 1) measuring a
brand's online presence & engagement, 2) assess the scale of conversations, and 3) gauge frequency &
volume of specific themes.
Furthermore, it can provide a Market Overview to determine a brand's market share in the online
conversation and identify key areas of opportunity and saturation.
Conversely, Qualitative Analysis seeks to provide key takeaways with the goal to provide actionable
business insights and intelligence aligned to audit goals and objectives.
Analysis typically offers nuanced understanding for capturing the sentiment & tone of conversations
while unearthing underlying user motivations and concerns. It may also uncover competitive
landscape insights to understand how users perceive the brand vs. competitors, while further
identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats from real conversations.
Although business intelligence varies with each audit, findings and conclusions are derived by
connecting the dots from conversational trends linked to the quantitative measurements. In general,
audits harness the synergy of both quantitative and qualitative analyses to craft superior branding
strategies in a digital age.
Key Actionable Business Benefits are many but of significant note audits become actionable in
key business operational areas which may include:
 Create data-driven strategies to enhance brand image.
 Address user concerns effectively.
 Stay ahead in the competitive game by leveraging authentic insights.
Discovery Data Modeling Measurement Analysis
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

11. For more information, please contact Daniel McKean, senior marketing strategist and data analyst, mPact Works LLC,
949 338 4762, or via email at daniel@mpactworks.com.