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By now, you’ve likely heard news that Salesforce.com has acquired Radian6. In fact, given the nature of the news and our collective industry, I would be shocked if you hadn’t. Twitter has been buzzing all day with reactions to the announcement, and the tech blogs have all weighed in with their opinions and theories of what it means for both parties and the industry as a whole. So it seemed appropriate to contribute my POV here.
This acquisition validates the importance of social media monitoring as something all organizations must embrace. The market is one we’ve fully invested in since our own acquisition of SM2/Techrigy in July of 2009, bringing the capability to mainstream marketers. It almost seems cliché anymore to say the customer is now in control, yet marketers who do not acknowledge this shift and engage with their customer only set their brands up for failure.
This union not only validates the market, but it brings social media marketing to the masses and sets the stage for a deeper dive into social media insights. Simply having access to social media monitoring tools is not enough; marketers must understand how to analyse and act on the data they collect, incorporating it into the broader marketing mix. Alterian’s acquisition of Intrepid last September addressed an increased awareness that consumer expectations have changed dramatically, based on the emergence of new digital channels and social media, and many brands struggle to harness this new communication. With Intrepid’s social media monitoring insight services, using social media data for market research as well as consulting, Alterian has been well-placed to help our partners and clients generate value across the organization.
With Salesforce.com’s core business being customer service and lead generation, it makes sense that the newly forged companies will focus on helping companies build social CRM strategies. However, one of the true values of social media monitoring will remain in its data, insights and the way it can therefore be used to understand and shape the business and marketing strategy.
