Social media inside and outside the enterprise changes every stage of the traditional intelligence cycle. Social media moves more quickly than traditional media, gives us a two-way intimacy with sources and stakeholders and upends long-standing assumptions about secrecy. Technology and platforms change quickly, and CI professionals must develop an ability to experiment and adapt to these changes.
2. Page 2
The context for knowledge: our organization
EY is an organization of member
firms operating in 150 countries.
â–ş We collaborate globally to offer audit, tax, transaction
and advisory services.
â–ş Each service line has a wide, diverse range of business
units and offerings.
â–ş Our organization is constantly growing and evolving.
We compete in a market where insights are the
product: knowledge is and will be a key differentiator.
Rethinking the intelligence cycle using social media
3. Page 3
The context for knowledge: our people
Our 175,000 people are our greatest asset.
â–ş Their collective intelligence drives a client experience that is
connected, responsive and insightful.
â–ş They could be working from any site in any location.
â–ş We have a large population of millennials accustomed to
being self-sufficient through the internet and connected by
social networks.
We must be able to connect people to each other and
to the best of EY’s knowledge anytime, anywhere.
Rethinking the intelligence cycle using social media
4. Page 4
Social media impacts every stage of the
intelligence cycle
Plan
Collect
ProcessAnalyze
Comm-
unicate
Rethinking the intelligence cycle using social media
5. Page 5
Information is moving from proprietary
sources to social platforms
Plan
Collect
ProcessAnalyze
Comm-
unicate
â–şAlign decision support
and Key Intelligence
Topics (KITs) with social
media intelligence
â–şUnderstand how social
media compliments your
other intelligence
activities
â–şChoose your social
media platform(s) based
on your requirements and
market
Rethinking the intelligence cycle using social media
6. Page 6
Examine your decision support needs and
KITs for their social media potential
Rethinking the intelligence cycle using social media
Who are your
stakeholders?
What business
decisions do
they need to
make?
What
knowledge do
they need?
What
intelligence
can we
provide?
How will we develop
that intelligence?
What analysis
will we
perform?
What
information do
we need?
Who holds that
information?
Are they likely to
share that information
via social media?
Where?
How will you
collect it?
How will you
process and
analyze it?
7. Page 7
Social platforms have distinct value
propositions for competitive intelligence
Rethinking the intelligence cycle using social media
Facebook â–ş Official marketing presence for competitors
â–ş Business-to-consumer organizations are more likely to actively use Facebook as a
marketing platform
â–ş Useful to track competitor recruiting activities, particularly those focused on
university graduates and young professionals
LinkedIn â–ş The professional social network ideal for recruiting, job hunting and networking
â–ş Individual and company profiles
â–ş Discussions in industry-specific groups
â–ş Useful for developing profiles of prospective primary sources
Twitter â–ş Official marketing presence by companies and brands
â–ş Use in marketing, PR, customer support and recruiting
â–ş Often favored by academics, pundits and journalists
â–ş Commentary from individual employees and customer
â–ş Useful for broad collection and building an expert network
8. Page 8
Collection becomes about farming,
not hunting and gathering
â–şAllows us to cast a
wide net
â–şElements of primary and
secondary collection
â–şNear real-time stream
Plan
Collect
ProcessAnalyze
Comm-
unicate
Rethinking the intelligence cycle using social media
9. Page 9
Experiment with free and inexpensive social
media monitoring methods and tools
Price
High
Low
Monitoring
and listening
Limited Robust
Source: Oram, Nicholas. “Social Media/Web Collection Tools.” Mercyhurst University.
Rethinking the intelligence cycle using social media
Twitonomy
Tweet
Archivist
Quintly
Cyfe
Digimind
Sysomos
Radian 6
Engagor
Simply
Measured
10. Page 10
Look beyond traditional authority to build a
network of curators who scan and interpret
Rethinking the intelligence cycle using social media
Think about
your engage-
ment plan
1. Plan to spend 3-6 months building a social media presence and engaging with your
targets.
2. Understand who your targets are, and how can you reach them directly and
indirectly.
3. Budget your time accordingly: 30-60 minutes a day while you get up to speed.
Create your
own
professional
profile
1. Choose a unique handle; make it as short as you can.
2. Have a professional photo or appropriate tasteful image.
3. Write a short but clear description of your area of expertise.
4. Include a link to a blog or LinkedIn profile.
5. Clarify your corporate affiliation and that opinions are your own.
Find experts
on Twitter
1. Use a search engine to search for known experts on Twitter.
2. Look for other relevant lists that other Twitter users have added your targets to.
3. See who else is on these lists.
Build rapport
with your
experts
1. Start by retweeting content you find noteworthy to your followers.
2. Comment on tweets from others with public @ messages. Be supportive.
3. Direct items you know will be of interest to specific people. As people see your
value they will follow and message you, too.
11. Page 11
You will need to apply new criteria to
process information from social media
Plan
Collect
ProcessAnalyze
Comm-
unicate
â–şExpanding beyond
traditional authorities
requires new verification
and validation.
â–şYou will need to focus
on the specific social
media data that will
inform your analysis.
Rethinking the intelligence cycle using social media
12. Page 12
Journalists and humanitarian groups developed
methods to assess social media validity
► It’s better to emphasize
validity over speed.
â–ş Seek multiple
independent signals to
improve credibility of the
information from social
media and other sources.
â–ş The credibility of
information you find is
intimately tied to the
reliability of the source.
Rethinking the intelligence cycle using social media
Andrew Carvin, formerly of NPR, used Twitter to
crowd source real-time coverage of the Iranian
Green Revolution and the early days of the Arab
Spring.
Photo by Denis Bocquet
13. Page 13
Credibility of information is intimately tied to
the reliability of the source
â–ş Can you verify the identity of the source?
â–ş Do they have a complete and professional-looking social
media profile?
â–ş Are they present with a consistent presence across social
media platforms?
â–ş What is their history or longevity on a given social media
platform?
â–ş Whom do they follow, message and retweet and who
follows messages and retweets them?
â–ş Do they maintain authoritative lists and do they appear on
authoritative lists with other known experts?
Rethinking the intelligence cycle using social media
14. Page 14
Effective social media intelligence requires
considering a range of information
Rethinking the intelligence cycle using social media
â–ş Quantitative
metrics
â–ş Content
â–ş Sentiment
â–ş Volume
â–ş Aggregate
data
15. Page 15
Social requires new analytical techniques,
bringing new information to existing methods
â–şVolumes of social
content requires
semantic analytical
capabilities.
â–şSocial platforms drive
new types of content to
existing analytical
methods.
Plan
Collect
ProcessAnalyze
Comm-
unicate
Rethinking the intelligence cycle using social media
16. Page 16
Social moves us from snapshot analytical
methods to analysis of information streams
Rethinking the intelligence cycle using social media
Objective Traditional tool kit Social intelligence tool kit
Industry
dynamics
► Porter’s five forces
â–ş Value chain analysis
â–ş Interaction among industry players
â–ş Response to market changes
Competitive
landscape
â–ş War games
â–ş Benchmarking
â–ş SWOT
â–ş Track product and service uptake
Future trends â–ş STEEP/PESTLE
â–ş Scenario planning
â–ş Competitor trend exposure
â–ş Weak signal analysis
â–ş Crowd sourcing
Customer
insights
â–ş Win loss
â–ş Focus group
â–ş Sentiment and buzz analysis
â–ş Influencer intelligence
Based on Harrysson, Martin; Metayer, Estelle and Sarrazin, Hugo. “How social intelligence can guide decisions.” McKinsey Quarterly, November
2012. Accessed 2 June 2014.
17. Page 17
Social media inside the enterprise changes
how we communicate
â–şEnterprise social
enables two-way
discussions, in close to
real-time, across
flattened hierarchies.
â–şThe platforms make it
easier to target specific
insight.
â–şAs such, internal social
platforms can displace
legacy intelligence
portals while external
platforms enable private
curated news briefs.
Plan
Collect
ProcessAnalyze
Comm-
unicate
Rethinking the intelligence cycle using social media
18. Page 18
Social media enables competitive
intelligence at EY
Rethinking the intelligence cycle using social media
This 2x2 matrix is the product of Nicholas Oram of Mercyhurst University. He assessed several commercial social media monitoring tools and evaluated them for their monitoring and listing functionality and price.
My recommended approach to selecting a social media monitoring platform is to start with free or inexpensive platforms to become familiar with social media content, platforms, etc. Organizations “graduate” to higher platforms, and should be wise to choose a platform that does more than they really need.
There are multiple platforms listed here with which CI professionals may want to experiment. The tools with which I have direct experience are Radian6, Sysomos and Digimind.
The Digimind is a product is targeted towards CI professionals, and is my platform of choice. A free trial is available, and the platform is simple and easy to use.
Radian6 and Sysomos are both very powerful, and geared primary towards marketing and public relations professionals. They are expensive and have considerable learning curves. They may be necessary for enterprises that have extensive social media monitoring and reporting capabilities.
noram13@lakers.mercyhurst.edu
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/nicholas-oram/65/1b/b2a
There are some clues to consider when evaluating the expertise of individual Twitter profiles:
Based on their descriptions in their profiles and tweets do they appear relevant?
Are they followed by more people than they follow?
Who is following them?
How long have they been on Twitter?
What is the mix of original tweets, retweets and messages in their tweet stream?
Much of the information on this slide is derived from sources:
Meir, Patrick. Seeking the Trustworthy Tweet: Can “Tweetsourcing” Ever Fit the Needs of Humanitarian Organizations? http://irevolution.net/2011/06/05/tweetsourcing/. Accessed 1 June 2014.
Meir, Patrick. How to Verify Social Media Content: Some Tips and Tricks on Information Forensics.
http://irevolution.net/2011/06/21/information-forensics/. Accessed 1 June 2014.
Photo of Cairo, Graffiti, Tahrir Square, November 2011 by Denis Bocquet.
Shared with a Creative Commons Attribution license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
URL for original picture: https://www.flickr.com/photos/66944824@N05/6346562119/in/photolist-aEPMNP-aFZebF-9d2Ub8-aiFnUe-dH8isn-aEPNDB-aEPP34-aEPVX4-aEPP8R-arM9WT-aVSKCM-9sRY9Q-aFZbSP-aETCiJ-aJpjLx-aJpjzV-aFYgiV-aFZdm6-aFZ7Xr-bgQt8e-aBqydW-aBnR1R-aBqk1U-aFcLMa-bKb8VK-aFZ9yv-aFY8Sp-aFgzBu-ae7PBk-aJpnk4-aFcM8M-aFZ7Cv-aFZbye-aFZaYv-aFZarp-aFZ8Dc-aFZ7qg-aFZ7ar-aFZ6TZ-aFcLbX-aEPVon-aETLbu-aEPSG2-aFZ8Xg-aEPMXg-aWY962-aFZ9fX-aJpjsv-aFZ4gn-bz9Dpc/
Much of the information on this slide is derived from sources:
Meir, Patrick. Seeking the Trustworthy Tweet: Can “Tweetsourcing” Ever Fit the Needs of Humanitarian Organizations? http://irevolution.net/2011/06/05/tweetsourcing/. Accessed 1 June 2014.
Meir, Patrick. How to Verify Social Media Content: Some Tips and Tricks on Information Forensics.
http://irevolution.net/2011/06/21/information-forensics/. Accessed 1 June 2014.
Search results for social media generated by Sysomos MAP search for instances of “social media” on Twitter between 2 March and 1 June. Accessed 1 June 2014.
This is a screen shot from EY’s Competitive Intelligence Yammer group. No proprietary or sensitive information is contained in this graphic.