SOCIAL INFLUENCE ANALYSIS: A NEW INSIGHT TERRITORY

SOCIAL INFLUENCE ANALYSIS: A NEW INSIGHT TERRITORY Luis Fernandes - Expedia EMEA Research and Consumer Insights Director Anthony Fradet - Linkfluence UK Chief Operating Officer @anthonyfradet

The mission of the researcher

The traditional toolkit QUANT QUAL

The new toolkit QUANT SOCIAL QUAL

Qualitative data on a quantitative scale In vivo (vs in vitro)

Social data: qualitative data on a quantitative scale Vast collection of individual opinions Identification of major trends and weak signal Wide possibilities from social KPI measurement to in-depth content analysis

Social data: in vivo (vs in vitro) Untamed, spontaneous material No interrogation bias Opinions expressed reach an audience, triggering tangible influence mechanisms

What makes research methodologies fit for insight generation?

Traditional research Business Question Quotas Samples Representativeness Discussion guides Structured / bias-controlled data Framed Analysis Valid Insight

Social media research (for him) Business Question Quotas Samples Representativeness Discussion guides Lack of control on key parameters Unstructured / biased data Framed Analysis Valid Insight

Social media research Business Question Unstructured data Structured data Framed Analysis Valid Insight

Exploiting unstructured data is one of the greatest technological leap ever

Technology is adapting to humans Social data is an opportunity for research to adapt to consumers

1) Definition of the data universe (semantic profiles) 2) Data segmentation 3) Data contextualisation through relevant social analysis frames

Social influence is an element of context unique to social data

Social influence? An individual s ability to affect other people's thinking in an online community

Numbers?

We are in the age of the tyranny of numbers

Numbers are good liars

Social influence goes beyond numbers, it is 100% contextual and based on relationships and influence dynamics

Understand the context

TECHNOLOGY (RADARLY) CLIENT SERVICES MARKETING INTELLIGENCE

01 UK POLITICAL WEB OBSERVATORY HOW NETWORK ECOSYSTEM ANALYSIS PREDICTED THE EU REFERENDUM RESULT

Published early June 2016 www.politicalweb.co.uk

Colours refer to communities Nodes are websites Node size indicates the level of influence of a website Links are hypertext links between two websites (inbound/outbound) www.politicalweb.co.uk

02 DANONE CITIES HOW SOCIAL AUDIENCE MAPPING HELPS UNDERSTAND CONSUMER MINDSET

2 objectives Identify the key communities of interest structuring the social landscape in 4 major cities Recommend smart actions to engage these communities in a meaningful way

Can we trust individuals to tell the truth about what they are influential on?

Good proportion of what I post Good proportion of what I post Post rarely Almost never post Don t trust what people say they are! Interest is not influence

To make sense of audiences, content analysis at scale is necessary

The key Organising individuals in communities based on the topics they really talk about (not what they say they are)

Topic Drops

Key outcomes for Danone Sharp understanding of cultural background Identification of relevant content area Food for innovation in brand initiative

03 EXPEDIA - DIGITAL FOOTPRINT HOW HIGHLY CONTEXTUALISED INFLUENCE ANALYSIS INFORMED EXPEDIA S INFLUENCER STRATEGY

Modes & context

121

Business objective Increase site visits and number of transactions

How to achieve this? Increase brand presence throughout the decision making process prior to booking Identify the right influencers for the right mode at the right time

How is the travel ecosystem structured in different markets?

The UK Travel Ecosystem Colours refer to communities Nodes are websites Node size indicates of the level of influence of a website Links are hypertext links between two websites (inbound/outbound)

Travel Online Ecosystem UK vs Germany 1,685 websites 25 sub-communities 2,051 websites

Travel Online Ecosystem UK vs Germany Travel News 1% Sports 2% Family 4% Innovation & Tech 4% Business & Finance 5% Travel 31% Online Media 22% Beauty & Fashion 15% Travel 12% Lifestyle 11% Food & Drinks 10% Culture & Entertainment 3% Business & Finance 4% Beauty & Fashion 4% Family 5% Food & Drinks 7% Lifestyle 9% Online Media 15%

How to integrate context into affluence and make it operational?

Contextualised influencer identification Social audience Blogs with a high influence score * Sites with strong social following Influence score* Monthly visits and views Potential for working with brands Identification of matching Expedia Travel Mode Relevance for Expedia *Influence score: Score (from 0 to 100) based on the inbound links received by the websites within the ecosystem.

Travel modes in the UK travel ecosystem Share of influencers by travel mode 10% 7% 31% TRAVEL MODE A, B & D are the three main travel modes in the Travel Ecosystem, with 83% of the top influencers within the UK Travel ecosystem. 10% These three travel modes provided most traffic. Travel mode B gathers the stronger follower base, with an average 880k followers. 26% 26% The most influential opinion leaders: Key influencers Cumulated social audience Dominant Travel Mode 25.5m TRAVEL MODE A 4.2m TRAVEL MODE B 1.8m TRAVEL MODE C 1.5m TRAVEL MODE B 1.4m TRAVEL MODE D AVERAGE MONTHLY VISITS AVERAGE SOCIAL FOLLOWERS TRAVEL MODE A 368K 197K TRAVEL MODE B 35,5k 880K TRAVEL MODE C 71,4k 84,9K TRAVEL MODE D 103K 295K TRAVEL MODE E 13,8K 18,1K TRAVEL MODE F 95,3K 46,2K

Travel mode C 103k MONTHLY SITE VISITS ON AVERAGE 295k SOCIAL FOLLOWERS PER INFLUENCER (AGGREGATED AVERAGE) Place of travel within their life Travels to relax mentally and physically Booking Behaviour Destination is less important than an ideal resort. Likely to book all inclusive packages, sometimes offline Want hassle-free booking What kind of content do they produce? Visual posts, documenting breaks that are largely relaxation, culture or luxury focused (e.g. warm destinations, spa days, boutique hotels) Other interests Food Fashion Style Weekend breaks Health

Outcome for Expedia: Involvement in contextual conversations - Opportunities to develop more relevant content for specific context or simply to share it in the right place - Key influencers to work with beyond number of followers

Two things to remember

The new toolkit QUANT SOCIAL QUAL

Context is everything One thing to remember

Luis Fernandes - Expedia EMEA Research and Consumer Insights Director Anthony Fradet - Linkfluence UK Chief Operating Officer @anthonyfradet