Audit example

MICROSOFT
BUSINESS
INTELLIGENCE

UK ONLINE CUSTOMER BEHAVIOUR
BENCHMARKING AUDIT

JULY 2011

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| UK Online Customer Behaviour Audit!

MICROSOFT
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
UK ONLINE CUSTOMER BEHAVIOUR
BENCHMARKING AUDIT
JULY 2011

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
1. Executive Summary
2. Research Brief
3. Research and Analysis Methodology
4. Terminology

RESEARCH FINDINGS
5. Channel Influence and Customer Affinity
6. Discourse Analysis
7. Sentiment Analysis
8. Share of Voice
9. Channel Preference
10. Content Preference
11. Engagement Preference

APPENDIX
Key Channel List
Recommendations Table
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• Business Intelligence online produces low volumes of conversation
relative to other IT disciplines, such as cloud computing. There are few
dedicated channels devoted to the subject and it is rarely a prominent
topic on multi-issue channels.

• There are dedicated communities in LinkedIn groups. These channels
represent the highest saturation of relevant content. Although traffic is
low (resulting in low impact on the overall customer) direct peer-to-
peer engagement is high, and as such affords an opportunity to directly
engage with the customer.

• Four key channels for the business intellience community are: Tech
Republic (www.techrepublic.com), PC Pro (www.pcpro.co.uk), ZD Net
(www.ZDnet.co.uk) and Business Software Informer
(www.business.software.informer.com).

• There is low negative sentiment towards MSFT BI, suggesting the brand
does not have a reputation management problem online.

• MSFT has a higher share of voice online than the key competitors
(Oracle, IBM, SAP). There is no indication that this has fostered brand
loyalty - decisions and opinions are still based on quality of the
products, which are frequently compared with each other.

• 51% of channels have an overt commercial motivation. 62% are
platforms for individual authorities.

• There is little utilization of bookmarking functionality and social
networks (with the exception of LinkedIn). MSFT activity in the key
channel landscape should be measured by traffic, referrals, click-through
rates and ultimately sales, as opposed to engagement measurements
such as comments, ‘likes’ and re-tweets.

• Overall, the landscape appears to present the opportunity for MSFT BI to
gain traction in the space using a range of different media – bought
(advertising), owned (MSFT’s own websites) and earned (social media) -
established social media engagement mechanics - affiliate partnerships,
PR relationships, guest blogging etc (see recommendations table for
specific tasks).

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RESEARCH BRIEF

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES • Inform future campaigns and activity in the online landscape in an intelligent and
targeted way by understanding existing online behaviour

• Identify key channels in which business intelligence and relevant content is being
discussed online
• Understand the key topics driving discourse within the key channels
• Investigate the brand reputation within the key channels
• Investigate the share of voice of the brand against key market competitors (Oracle,
SAP, IBM)
• Identify the channel preference of the target customer
• Identify what type of content they are engaging with and who is producing it
• Identify how the customer is engaging with the content

TARGET CUSTOMER Technical Decision Makers
Business Decision Makers

RESEARCH PERIOD Start Finish

1st January 2011 30th June 2011

FOCUS Context:
• Business Intelligence

Keyword Triggers:
• Data Management
• Data Analysis
• Data Sharing
• Data Presentation
• Data Platform

CUSTOMER GEOGRAPHY United Kingdom
(3% of daily traffic to the host domain must come from the UK to qualify the channel for
consideration of inclusion in the key channel list)

RESEARCH SCOPE The Social Web:
Blog, Comparison Site, Content Hosting, Donation, Ecommerce, Forum, Networking, Review
Site, Web Portal
(See Terminology for definitions)

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Methodology developed
in partnership with the RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS
London School of
Economics.
METHODOLOGY

HUMAN DIGITAL RAN SELECTED KEYWORD
TRIGGERS THROUGH A THREE-STAGE PROCESS
OF RESEARCH, ANALYSIS AND INSIGHT.

1 - PROCESS FLOW: RESEARCH

• Keyword identification relevant to the customer (brand
agnostic):

Context

o Business Intelligence

Keywords (x5)

o Data management
o Data analysis
o Data sharing
o Data presentation
o Data platform

• These keywords are manually filtered through 12 sources of
information that replicate the user journey:

o Search Engines: Google, Bing, Ask, Yahoo
o Social Bookmarking Tools: DIGG, Delicious,
Stumbleupon
o Networking Platforms: LinkedIn, Facebook,
Twitter
o Content Hosting Platforms: YouTube, Flickr

• Sites are rinsed through five filters using proprietary algorithms:
1. Traffic (is the site attracting sufficient traffic on a daily basis?
Relevant traffic index of the channels analysed is at least 1,000.
Small, technical sites were not analysed due to the size of their
customer.)
2. Demographics (if relevant, does the primary customer to this
channel represent my target customer?)
3. Geography (does the customer to this channel represent feature
sufficient traffic from the target country? See Research Brief for
Threshold Details)

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Microsoft BI | UK Online Customer Behaviour Audit!

4. Content (is the site active? What is its primary purpose?)
5. Final Qualitative Analysis (the Analyst asks ‘does this website
Methodology developed
in partnership with the represent a key channel for my target customer?’)
London School of
Economics. • Confirmed sites make up a validated data set of key channels.
Passive Channels (those without user-generated content) are filtered
out at this stage, i.e. corporate homepages and brochure channels
without analysable content.

• All data and content analysed is sourced from these channels.

• The process is human-led, ensuring that the consumer experience is
replicated and the data set is verified against the stated criteria.

2 - PROCESS FLOW: ANALYSIS
• Conversations and content within the validated data set are analysed
against the following:
o Channel (brand agnostic)
o Customer (brand agnostic)
o Themes (against competitor brands)
o Sentiment (client only)
o Share of Voice (against competitor brands)

• This is an exclusively manual analysis process against a repeatable
methodology, utilizing academics for research verification and
analysis.

• Conversation sample size for analysis is 1,000.

3 - PROCESS FLOW: INSIGHTS
• Behavioural Analysts assess the data for trends and patterns.

• The analysis of the key channels directly contributes towards
answering the following business-critical questions about the online
landscape:
O WHAT WEBSITES ARE IMPORTANT TO MY CUSTOMER?
O WHAT ARE MY CUSTOMERS TALKING ABOUT?
O ARE THEY TALKING POSITIVELY OR NEGATIVELY ABOUT MY
BRAND?
O HOW MUCH ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT MY BRAND VS. MY
COMPETITOR SET?
O WHAT TYPE OF WEBSITES ARE THEY ENGAGING WITH?
O WHAT TYPE OF CONTENT DRIVES THEIR ENGAGEMENT?
O HOW ARE THEY ENGAGING WITH RELEVANT CONTENT?

• This report is a culmination of the research, analysis and insight
across the customer’s key channels.

• Insights into customer behaviour and tactical
recommendations are based on this online research only.

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TERMINOLOGY

WHAT WEBSITES ARE IMPORTANT TO MY CUSTOMER?

Shape of Nodes represents Channel Types. Please see ‘What type of websites are
my customers using?’ for detailed descriptions.

Size of the Nodes represents brand share of voice. Hollow shapes indicate that the
brand is not mentioned in analysed conversations.

Position on the ‘y’ (vertical) axis represents Impact on the target customer. This is
calculated utilizing a proprietary algorithm.

Position on the ‘x’ (horizontal) axis represents advocacy of the target customer.
This is calculated utilizing a proprietary algorithm.

WHAT ARE MY CUSTOMERS TALKING ABOUT?

The share of conversations of each of the topics within the landscape is analysed.

o Product Research/Analysis: Conversations researching or analysing
products related to BI
o New Product Development: Mentions of product and product features
releases
o Coding/Programming: Conversations related to matters of coding or
programming
o Security Concerns: Mentions of concerns related to security
o Data Implementation / Use: Mentions related to implementing and using
data and data programs
o Software: Conversations discussing specific software for matters related
to BI
o Seeking Support/Advice: Individuals looking for support or advice from
peers on BI related matters

ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT MY BRAND POSITIVELY OR
NEGATIVELY?
Conversations on each channel are analysed to determine whether the customer
and commentators on these channels are positive, neutral or negative to the brand
(not competitors).

HOW MUCH ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT MY BRAND?
Share of voice percentages against the identified competitor set.

WHAT TYPE OF WEBSITES ARE MY CUSTOMERS USING?

o Networking: Platform where users create profiles and connect with other
users, either by invite or in groups.
o Peer-to-Peer Forum: Community bulletin board; agenda is driven by peers
o Individual Authority: commentators of authority, such as journalists and
bloggers

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WHAT TYPE OF CONTENT DRIVES THEIR ENGAGEMENT?

Content analysed includes all analysed conversations. This question is addressed
in two parts: content type and content motivation.

Type:
o Text: written commentary
o Moving Image: video, animation
o Still Image: photograph, illustration

Motivation:
o News: Objective reporting of news
o Objective Review: Objective review of products or services
o Subjective Point of View: Contains subjective opinion of an individual

HOW DO MY CUSTOMERS ENGAGE WITH THAT CONTENT?
This analysis understands which engagement mechanics are offered to the target
customer.

o Comments: Response to original content
o Resourced Content: Content was published elsewhere before
o ‘Likes’ / Social Bookmarking: Social sharing via Facebook-specific
sharing mechanic or bookmarking sites

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WHAT WEBSITES ARE
IMPORTANT TO THE
CUSTOMER?

UK ONLINE AUDIENCE BEHAVIOUR
AUDIT

JULY 2011

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WHAT WEBSITES ARE
IMPORTANT TO THE CUSTOMER?

• There are 3 key channels, with significant impact, which mention MSFT
positively. These are PC Pro, Business Software and ZD Net (main
graphic).

• Much of the rest of the landscape (for specific URLS see appendix) has a
relatively low impact on the target customer, but in aggregate
represents significant reach.

• Many channels are impacting the target customer (see left graphic) but
do not currently mention Microsoft in the relevant context. These sites
include TechRepublic, The Register, Wise Geek and several significant
LinkedIn groups.

• All of the impactful URLs (whether mentioning MSFT or not) are
individual authorities, which contrasts with the widely held assumption
that most tech communities are participatory in nature.

• MSFT BI is visible on IT Pro (www.itpro.co.uk) and PC Pro
(www.pcpro.co.uk) evidenced by the large size of the nodes on the
landscape (representing share of voice).

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WHAT IS THE
CUSTOMER TALKING
ABOUT?

AUDIT

JULY 2011

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WHAT IS THE CUSTOMER
TALKING ABOUT?

• At 40%, Software is the leading topic of conversation in the landscape.
Much of this is business and commercial news (e.g. new product
releases, white paper reports, etc).

• Conversation about Data Implementation and Use is second most
discussed but is only mentioned in conjunction with Software.

• Product Research / Analysis (11%) and Seeking Support / Advice (9%) is
the customer crowd-sourcing opinion from peers. This represents one in
five of all conversations.

• No specific brand has emerged as a market leader based on its share of
actual conversations.

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IS THE CUSTOMER
TALKING POSITIVELY
OR NEGATIVELY
ABOUT THE BRAND?

AUDIT

JULY 2011

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IS THE CUSTOMER TALKING
POSITIVELY OR NEGATIVELY
ABOUT THE BRAND?

• Sentiment around the MSFT brand is only 3% negative. MSFT does not
have a reputation management issue in this landscape.

• The large proportion of neutral sentiment (67%) is mainly driven by
objectively reported news.

• The small overall volumes of positive sentiment are related to software
conversations (see Soundbites).

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HOW MUCH IS THE
CUSTOMER TALKING
ABOUT MY BRAND?

AUDIT

JULY 2011

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HOW MUCH IS THE CUSTOMER
TALKING ABOUT MY BRAND?

• MSFT’s main competitors in the landscape for BI are Oracle, SAP, IBM.

• In comparison to these, MSFT over-indexes in terms of the Share of
Voice with 42%.

• MSFT is always mentioned in conjunction with at least one of its
competitors.

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WHAT TYPES OF
WEBSITES ARE THEY
ENGAGING WITH?

AUDIT

JULY 2011

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WHAT TYPES OF WEBSITES ARE
THEY ENGAGING WITH?

OUTER RING

• Around half (51%) of the channels with impact have a commercial
motivation outside of selling IT or technology related products (e.g.
online magazines that make money off advertising revenue).

• 34% of the channels are classified as consumer owned channels (e.g.
LinkedIn Groups and Forums).

• Two of MSFT’s owned channels (TechNet & On-Windows) are part of the
landscape, representing 6% of the landscape.

INNER RING

• 62% of the channels are platforms for individual authorities, such as
journalists and bloggers. These platforms command the highest traffic in
the landscape.

• 38% of the channels are pure social channels (networking platforms and
P2P forums).

• The BI community is consuming information from individual authorities
more than they are discussing issues amongst peers.

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WHAT TYPE OF
CONTENT DRIVES THE
ENGAGEMENT?

AUDIT

JULY 2011

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WHAT TYPE OF CONTENT
DRIVES THE ENGAGEMENT?

OUTER RING

• News (47%) and the expression of a subjective point of view (47%), in
the form of reviews and thought leadership pieces, between them
constitute the bulk of content type.

INNER RING

• The majority of all engagement in the landscape is text-based (90%).

• Video is not widely used in the landscape (several YouTube channels
exist with relevant content but their customer numbers resulted in them
not making it into our sample).

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HOW ARE THE
CUSTOMERS
ENGAGING WITH
RELEVANT CONTENT?

AUDIT

JULY 2011

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HOW ARE THE CUSTOMERS
ENGAGING WITH RELEVANT
CONTENT? !

• 73% of the content analysed in the landscape was an original piece of
content.

• The majority of comments are responses to forum posts rather than to
blogs, news or thought leadership pieces.

• Just 3% of content has been published somewhere else before. Re-
blogging and reposting is not seen in any large amount.

• Social bookmarking is rare.

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APPENDIX

AUDIT

JULY 2011

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KEY CHANNEL IDENTIFICATION
JULY 2011
©Human Digital Limited

KEY INFLUENCERS - UK
ID Name URL Geography Channel

High Influence

1 XXX http://www.xxx.com/ UK Individual Authority




5 XXX http://www.xxx.com/ UK P2P Forum





Medium Influence



12 XXX http://www.xxx.com/ UK Networking Platform







Low Influence









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