Digital Measurement & Research Analytic Tools useful at no cost in the Diaspera and also in Zion

Digital Measurement  & Research Analytic Tools useful at no cost in the Diaspera and also in Zion

Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of tools available to the digital analyst: tools that are free, and tools that are good. There is very little overlap between the two.

That said, there are still a few free-to-use services that one could use in measurement and research. Here are five of the most useful free social media analytics tools.

Content Metrics: In-Platform Analytics

This one’s a given, but it bears repeating. If you have the login credentials or admin privileges to a profile or page, you have access to post-level and page-level data. Most major social media platforms provide easy access to relevant metrics via web dashboards.

The real value of in-platform analytics, however, lies in the ability to export raw data. (Facebook and Twitter make this easier than most other social networks.) Once you have your hands on the raw data, you can crunch the numbers however you like, which can be very powerful.

Web Metrics: Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager and Google Search Console

Google’s Web Analytics suite has become something of an industry standard, and for good reason: it is fast, free, and flexible. You might not be as familiar with Google Tag Manager and Google Search Console, two tools that increase the raw utility and flexibility of Google Analytics substantially.

Google Search Console (formerly Google Webmaster Tools) provides insight into the search behaviors surrounding your web property. Search Console identifies the keywords driving traffic to your website, provides valuable insight into how Googlebot sees your website when crawling the web, demonstrates how your site will appear in Google search results, and can even catalogue where your site is linked all across the web.

Google Tag Manager provides a flexible container for custom tracking elements. Essentially, it enables the user to drop bits of JavaScript or HTML into a webpage without needing to publish code via a CMS. This enables us to easily implement retargeting pixels, for instance, or to track file downloads and exit click destinations on your website (neither of which, incidentally, Google Analytics does by default.)

Search Metrics: Google Search Trends and Google AdWords Keyword Planner

Search data provide a window into the specific language used by regular folks when looking for information, and they are an invaluable indicator of relative interest in a topic, issue, brand or organization.

Google Search Trends provides data on “search interest” – relative search volume for specific keywords and aggregated topic groups – dating back to 2004. Included are relative interest levels by geography, related search terms, and even news items that correspond with spikes in search activity. You can also compare relative search volume among a set of topics or keywords. And if that weren’t enough, Google allows you to export the raw data in CSV format for further manipulation. If Search Trends has a weakness, it’s that search interest is not provided in raw search volume terms; instead, Google offers relative volume, normalized on a unit-less scale from 0 to 100. Google’s AdWords Keyword Planner fills this gap somewhat, enabling analysts to estimate monthly search volume, to understand bid prices on target keywords, and to suggest related terms that may be high-value targets for SEM.

Audience Metrics: Facebook Audience Insights

Facebook Audience Insights is not the same as the Facebook Insights available to page administrators. Audience Insights was built to provide advertisers with deep insight into specific target audiences.

The tool allows users to define an audience by location, age and gender, interests and page likes, among other attributes. Once the audience is defined, Audience Insights provides data on demographics, lifestyle and purchase behaviors, device preference and activity level on-platform, geographic location, household income, spending patterns and more.

Perhaps the greatest added value of Audience Insights is that it presents data on a given audience – say, people who like your page – alongside points of comparison for Facebook as a whole. This enables communicators to understand how their audiences meaningfully differ from the norm.

Custom Analysis: Python, R, and Open APIs

There is an absolute glut of data freely available to the enterprising analyst. Facebook and Twitter make their data largely available to developers via open, well-documented APIs. Many other social networks and websites make their data available via APIs, though their documentation might not be as comprehensive. If you have a research question, it’s quite possible you can answer that question using public data, free tools and APIs.

For statistical analysis and data science, free tools do not get more flexible or capable than the combination of Python, a highly-readable general purpose programming language, and R, a programming language and software environment geared toward statistical analysis. There is a learning curve for each of these, of course, but the price is right and the payoff can be tremendous. Tutorials and sample code for both are widelyavailable on the web.

Key factors to consider when using Influencer Marketing

Influencer Marketing Insights You Need to Know Today1

t was an invitation.

Written with a spelling mistake or two and from someone I didn’t know. I went close to ignoring it.

“I think you are doing a great job with your blog and hope that you can share that with businesses here in New Zealand….Do you have any information on your costs?”

The art of creating and publishing online was revealing its promise.

Digital global content was defining the discovery of a personal brand. It was a revelation.

The pervasive content marketing strategy that we had worked on and created over time was working.

I then came across the annual Edelman Trust Barometer report which backed up the dinner insight. If your content or brand is seen just once your credibility and trust level is 6%. If it is noticed 3-5 times then it goes to 60%.

Being ubiquitous online is critical to brand trust building. So it wasn’t just the content that grows brand awareness. It was much more.

Global brand awareness powered by distribution on social also creating ripples in the data space time universe.

Data defines your brand

So content is not the only factor.

The sifting and tabulating of content with tweets, shares, traffic and even search engine authority are in the mix.

Machines are now looking for you. Are you noticed? Do you move the needle?

Technology is now measuring and evaluating the noise online. This has brought the “Influencer” into the marketing mix and it is now longer a fad but a “breakout trend” according to the data revealed in Google Trends.

Influencer marketing is not new

Mass media has being tapping into the stars and personalities of sport, popular culture and movies for decades. That is why Nike signed Tiger Woods and Basketball stars like LeBron James that are household names around the world

Minecraft has used YouTube influencers to help sell its game for years. It’s annual conference is also about training it’s passionate users to create content on YouTube. This has led to the rise of Minecraft influencers with tens of millions of YouTube views and subscribers.

Source: Technobuffalo.com

So the concept is not new. It’s just the medium has changed.

#1. Influencers are no longer just on YouTube

They are on Twitter, Instagram and even Snapchat.

A recent post on Buffer illustrated the power of Instagram influencers to sell fashion. 50 Instagram influencers were used to showcase one dress from a the fashion label Lord and Taylor.

It sold out the next weekend!

#2. The rise of influencer technology

To keep it simple it is useful to break the technology into two categories. Platforms and tools.

We can distinguish Influencer tools versus platforms this way:

Influencer tools can be used to find influencers around content and the social networks and media. Influencer platforms are where you can sign up to connect brands with influencers and manage the process. But they are sometimes combined.

Platforms

Here are 3 very different influencer platforms worth checking out.

• IZEA
• Tribe
• Influencers Club

For reviews, overviews and even some Instagram only influencer platforms here are some more resources worth checking out.

The Most Popular Influencer Marketing Platforms Reviewed

The Top 13 Instagram Influencer Marketing Platforms

5 Influencer Marketing Platforms You Need To Know

Tools

Influencer tools are the research machines to do the homework. They can help you identify who are the author’s, blogs and influencers that are creating the most buzz around your topics.

3 tools worth checking out are:

1. BuzzSumo
2. Traackr
3. Followerwonk

For a more complete list you can check out Lee Odden’s post “9 Tools To Discover the Influencers in Your Industry”

#3. Traditional digital advertising is less effective

Ad blocking technology and the ever changing behaviour of the computer user is now becoming a real issue. Banner blindness of the traditional digital website banner is a fact. The data also reveals that only 2.8% of online browsers think that ads are relevant.

Here are some facts revealed in a Hubspot post that show the extent of these changes.

• Ad blocking grew by 41% globally in the last 12 months. (Source: PageFair)
• There are now 198 million active ad block users around the world. (Source:PageFair)
• A 2013 study revealed that 28% of respondents admitted to hiding their activities from advertisers — second only to criminals. (Source: Pew Research Center)

This is leading to native advertising, sponsored content and influencer marketing becoming some of the most effective ways to engage with your target audience.

#4. You now need to pay them

There is different opinions on this. But an influencer and an online thought leader has earned the right to be rewarded. They have put the time and effort into developing expertise, reach and put years of unrelenting effort.

Just because the medium has changed doesn’t mean its free. But the web has created a culture of free.

Nike and other brands pay big bucks for mass media influence because they know it works. Niche influencers that are on Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and Twitter can be very effective in building a brand’s engagement and trust with its targeted audience.

The rise of the influencer platforms that connect influencers and brands is changing the game. The use of the mobile apps such as used by the Tribe platform are making it simple and easy to bring influencers and talent agents together.

#5. Influencers are not just journalists

Journalists were one of the first media gatekeepers. Many PR companies, digital agencies and brands are still treating influencers like a journalist.

There is a big difference.

A journalist is paid by media to write about events that are happening in your city or around the world. They are on the payroll. They are paid an hourly rate or contracted to attend an event. Maybe even paid by the word.

Influencers aren’t paid a wage.

They only make money from their blog, products they sell and other multiple revenue streams. It’s time to stop taking them for granted or just throw freebies and baubles at them.

#6. Its about niche influence

Kim Kardashian is popular for popularity’s sake.

What is her expertise? Being popular. What does she offer? Large mass media and social reach. It is visible and obvious

But now the big data machines can find the veins of gold in smaller but global niches that in the past were hidden.

In this knowledge economy they are seen as subject experts. They usually have higher engagement with their audience as they are more about education than just entertainment. Often they won’t have an audience on social networks of millions but still have influence within their tribe.

They can also be found on Twitter.

Infographic source: Twitter

To help scale niche influence you will need to coordinate with several of these to create the impact you may be looking for.

Kerry Jones in a post on Marketing Land has this to say about this approach “Coordinating…..so the influencers spread your content or message within the same time frame to increase the appearance of popularity” is key.

#7. Influencer marketing needs goals

In the past the blunt role and primary goal of the mass media influencer was “awareness”. This goal sits at the top of the funnel.

But in an article on Social Media Today Kirsty Sharman highlights what she believes what most businesses are looking for from influencer marketing.

“Getting others talking about your brand“

 

Why?

Because she says it it creates three types of influence. “Liking, authority and social proof” as listed in Robert Cialdini’s book “Influence: The Psychology of Influence and Persuasion“.

For small and medium businesses they will want something more measureable as well.

Traffic, leads and sales.