This document discusses how to make a business case for social media analysis by following four key steps: 1) Define business benefits and social strategy, 2) Examine project benefits, costs and ROI, 3) Determine additional benefits, and 4) Define risks and uncertainties. It emphasizes that businesses now need deep insights from social media analysis to make sound decisions and drive business actions. A quality business case should quantify benefits, costs, ROI, risks, and other key components using a template as a guide.

1. How
To
Make
A
Business
Case
for
Social
Media
Dr.
Natalie
L.
Petouhoff
@drnatalie
www.DrNatalieNews.com

2. We
are
going
to
explore
the
4
KEY
Steps
to
Making
a
Business
Case
Step
1:
Define
Business
Benefits
&
Social
Strategy
– Start
with
one
simple
sentence
– Determine
ways
that
social
analysis
would
help
– Do
the
math
with
help
from
department
heads
Step
2:
Examine
Project
Benefits,
Costs
and
ROI
Step
3:
Determine
AddiIonal
Benefits
Step
4:
Define
Risks
and
UncertainIes
Using
A
Business
Case
Template:

3. >3.5
Billion
pieces
of
content
Shared
/
Week
By
2020
à
450
Billion
business
transacIons
/
day
How
can
we
make
sense
of
all
this?

4. People are Acting on Content

5.
Aren’t
the
Benefits
obvious?
CLEARLY,
PEOPLE
ARE
SHARING
MORE
THAN
EVER
SOCIAL
IS
HERE
TO
STAY.
SO
WHY
DO
WE
NEED
A
BUSINESS
CASE
FOR
THE
INVESTMENT
IN
SOCIAL
MEDIA
ANALYSIS?

6. • The first 2 phases
driven by Innovators &
Early Adopters
• They don’t need
business cases to
adopt something
WHAT’S SHIFTING THE NEED FOR A
SOCIAL MEDIA BUSINESS CASE?
We’re in the “third wave” of social media.
6

7. The
Third
Wave
is
Dominated
by
The
Early
Majority
Who
Are
PragmaMsts
–
• They
want
proof
• Love
business
cases

8. – Now
deep
insights
are
needed
– Based
on
proprietary
market
research
technology
to:
• Know
More
• Know
Why
• Know
How
Social
Media
Analysis
has
Evolved

9. To
make
sound
business
decisions…
Businesses
need
deep
insights
to
drive
business
acIons
– Who’s
talking
about
the
brand?
– What’s
being
said
about
the
products
&
services?
– How
are
those
online
and
offline
conversaIons
between
customers
affecIng
the
business?
– What
can
the
business
learn
from
these
conversaIons?
– What
can
the
business
learn
from
monitoring
their
compeIIon?

10. The Business Case Creation Process:
How to Justify an Initiative
Define
Gather
IdenMfy
Analyze
Choose
Implement
Measure
Define
Project
IdenIfy
Align
Stakeholders
Set
Goals,
Metrics
Gather
Financial
Data
Document
current
state
Define
Problems
to
Solve
IdenIfy
benefits
IdenIfy
costs
IdenIfy
risks
Create
business
case
Analyze
Create
ROI
Create
selecIon
criteria
Produce
RFP
Evaluate
vendors
Select
soluIon
Measure
baseline
before
Measure
acer
for
ROI
Refine
opImize
Gain
consensus

11. The components
of a quality
business case
– a template
Table
of
Contents
1. ExecuIve
Summary
• Background
2. Current
Business
• Business
Problem
To
be
Solved
3. Proposed
Project
• DescripIon/SoluIon
to
the
Business
Problem
4. OpIons
EvaluaIon
Approach
• Proposed
opIons
5. Investment
Analysis
• Costs,
Benefits,
ROI
• QuanIfy
/
Sell
the
Benefits
6. Risk
Analysis
MiIgaIon
•
Change
Management
/
Governance

12.
Poorly
communicaIng
the
anIcipated
payback
/
benefits
of
a
project
to
your
stakeholders—CxO’s,
Finance,
IT,
etc…
Is
a
sure
bet
to
stop
your
projects
from
being
funded…
Even
projects
you
know
would
strongly
benefit
the
company.

13. BEGIN
BY
DISTILLING
THE
BUSINESS
CASE
INTO
A
SINGLE
SENTENCE:
13
“We
will
___(DO
SOMETHING
=
Project)_____
to
improve
__(A
Business
SituaFon)________,
and
our
success
will
be
measured
by
_____(Benefits
as
Measure
by
Metrics)____,
which
is
worth
___(A
Dollar
Value)________.”

14. Example:
“We
will
use
social
media
monitoring
analysis
to
gain
strategic
insights,
And
our
success
will
be
measured
by
averFng
a
PR
crisis,
Which
is
worth,
on
average,
$2M
for
each
PR
crisis
averted.”
14

15. IN
ALL
SINGLE
SENTENCE
EXAMPLES…
This is the foundation of your business
case and keeps the effort focused!
AND -- You may find that you can garner
benefits in other departments
You can add additional sentences to your
business case
YOU PUT A STAKE IN THE GROUND:
i.e. – you say how you intend to use the social media
analysis to produce specific business results…
15

16. Example:
“We
will
use
social
media
monitoring
analysis
to
gain
real-­‐Fme
market
research
insights,
and
our
success
will
be
measured
by
increased
consumpFon
(sales)
marketshare,
which
is
worth
5%
increase
in
sales
equaling
$2M.”
16

17. BENEFITS
FIT
INTO
“5”
BUCKETS:
To
get
more
benefit,
make
friends
in
other
departments!
17
Revenue
Tech
investment
leads
to
incremental
revenue
Sales,
Mktng
Measured
in
incremental
gross
margin
User
ProducMvity
Tech
investment
leads
to
streamlined
efficiencies
Department
Head,
and
End
User;
Customer
Service,
Product
Development…
Increased
worker
output,
cost
saving
Asset
ProtecMon
Tech
investment
protects
against
potenMal
for
loss
or
exposure
PR,
Risk
Mgt,
Security,
IT
Measured
as
potenMal
direct
/
indirect
cost
avoidance
Compliance
Tech
investment
complies
with
gov't
regulaMons
Legal
Affairs,
Regulatory
Measured
as
direct
cost
avoidance
Capital
Efficiency
Tech
investment
allows
for
reuse
increased
output
for
exisMng
capital
Finance,
IT,
Dept.
Heads
Measured
as
increased
output
per
capital
investment,
direct
cost
avoidance
Benefit
Bucket
Value
Depts.
Measurement

18. HERE’S
THE
HARD
PART…
DO
THE
MATH
-­‐-­‐-­‐-­‐
QuanMfy
each
benefit
idenMfied!
18
What’s
necessary?
• Understanding
actual
departmental
funcIons,
costs
and
their
benefit(s)
• Make
friends
with
Finance
and
Quality
• Can’t
get
to
the
math
for
ROI
without
it
• Get
input
from
departmental
head(s)
to
discuss
operaIonal
costs
and
social
analysis
opportuniIes
• Vet
with
other
departments
–
part
of
the
change
management
process
–
so
down
the
line
you
don’t
get
resistance

19. HOW
TO
QUANTIFY
A
BENEFIT
19
Example
quesMons
to
ask
yourself
/
Dept.
Heads
when
quanMfying
a
benefit:
Q:
What’s
the
benefit
of
having
social
media
analysis
in
PR?
A:
Geong
deep
insights
on
brewing
issues
could
help
to
prevent
the
need
to
have
PR
damage
control
Q:
What
were
the
costs
associated
with
PR
damage
control?
A:
Decreased
shareholder
value,
cost
of
effort
to
restore
brand
equity,
resource/
PR
agency
overIme
costs,
irreparable
damage
to
brand
Q:
What
benefit
bucket
does
averted
PR
damage
control
belong
to?
A:
Cost
avoidance
fits
into
Asset
ProtecIon
benefit
bucket
Therefore,
Social
Media
monitoring
analysis,
from
a
PR
perspecIve,
is
protecIng
assets:
i.e.
earnings
shareholder
value
…

20. PR
Crisis
Recovery
ROI
CALCULATION
• What
is
the
cost
of
a
PR
Crisis
Recovery?
• Impact
to
annual
revenue
/shareholder
value?
• Revenue
lost
/
week
during
PR
Crisis?
• Length
of
PR
Crisis
without
social
media
monitoring?
• Length
of
PR
Crisis
with
social
media
monitoring?
• Cost
to
restore
corporate
brand
reputaIon
/
equity?
=
–
x
100
• People:
Staff
Salary
(exisIng)
• Process:
Training
to
use
the
system
(3
days)
• Technology:
Social
Analysis
Plarorm
ROI
On
average
research
shows:
Benefit:
$2M
to
restore
the
brand’s
reputaIon
Investment:
(1
year)
=
$5,000/mo
x
12
=
$60K
ROI
=
$2M
–
$60K
x
100
=
566%
ROI
$60K

21. 4
KEY
Steps
to
Making
a
Business
Case
Step
1:
Define
Business
Benefits
Social
Strategy
– Start
with
one
simple
sentence
– Determine
ways
that
social
analysis
would
help
– Do
the
math
with
help
from
department
heads
Step
2:
Examine
Project
Benefits,
Costs
and
ROI
Step
3:
Determine
AddiIonal
Benefits
Step
4:
Define
Risks
and
UncertainIes
Using
the
Business
Case
Template:

22. Examples:
Use
Cases
For
Social
Media
Monitoring
Analysis
22

23. Consumer Brands: Measuring Intent
Use Case: How does consumer behavior
respond to corporate actions or
other events?
Business
Application: Change activities based on
impact; investigate correlations
with other data sources.

24. Advertisers: Campaign Effectiveness
Use Case: To what extent did a specific
campaign meet its objectives?
Business
Application: Design future campaigns
accordingly; gain visibility into
elements of ROI.

25. B2B: Consumer Views on Industry Trends
Use Case: What risks or opportunities exist
in industry-level conversations?
Business
Application: Determine whether / how to
participate in high profile issues.

26. TV Media: Fine Tune Promotional Content
Use Case: What programming elements
drive passion from fans online?
Business
Application: Design or tweak promotional
content in order to highlight most
engaging topics to audiences.

27. Brand Audit - PR Use Case
SAMPLE CLIENT: A $200B global innovator that puts “imagination to work” to
make a better world (Crimson Hexagon serves 16 divisions)
QUESTION: What is happening to our brand?
Develop a framework for social media crisis analyses
communications by analyzing three crisis affecting the brand
over a 9-month period:
1
OFFSHORING JOBS
TO CHINA
TAX BREAKS IN A
BAD ECONOMY
2
NUCLEAR ENERGY
SAFETY CONCERNS
3

28. INSIGHTS and ANSWERS
ANALYTIC FINDINGS:
A. Meaningful negative sentiment over horizon
B. Greater negativity toward tax issues vs. outsourcing
vs. nuclear energy concerns
C. Bigger crisis was one of politics, not a single event,
impacting brand perception relative to competition
“I don’t think there is any question that the audit
had a real impact on how people understand the
brand… It’s fair to suggest that Crimson Hexagon
has had a hand to play in our re-positioning.
CLIENT FEEDBACK:
A
C
B UNEXPECTED
UNEXPECTED, UNINTENDED

29. How
to
make
a
business
case
for
Social
Media
Monitoring
Analysis
Dr.
Natalie
L.
Petouhoff
@drnatalie
www.DrNatalieNews.com
THANK
YOU