Currently I work part-time at a company called Meltwater. Meltwater is a SaaS company that allows the clients to identify real time opportunities and threats using AI, media monitoring, social media management and influencer management. I believe the (social) media monitoring is where the real unique value of Meltwater lies. Using the software is pretty straightforward while the backside can be more complicated.
Using crawlers Meltwater is able to locate a large amount of articles and sources, resulting in a database 20x as large as Google’s database. A client is then able to create a specific search using Boolean queries. By placing these searches in a widget they are able to view the historical and real time online media (news articles, forums, blogs) and social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) data. The data is enriched through API’s, adding reach, add value equivalency (AVE), sentiment data and more.
Besides using the dashboards in which the widgets reside, clients can choose to receive a monthly/quarterly/yearly report. This is where my role comes into play. Together with some colleagues I’m responsible for using the back-office online media and social media data to create insights not achieved with the widgets. This is done using analytical tools and adding qualitative information, such as explanations why a peak in exposure or reach occurs during a certain period. For example, look at the image displayed below. I’ve created a search and dashboard for Apple with four widgets. Why do you think there’s a peak on the 12th of September? And what about the small peak on the 21st of September?
Dependent on the client a variety of insights will be given. While pharmaceutical companies would be much more concerned with sentiment of the reviews of their products, technology companies are often more concerned with the developments of their competitors in their field.
The real challenge in this job lies in the different type of insights clients need dependent on their goals and the industry they are in. In the end we only provide the necessary insights, since the actions taken using these insights are made by the clients themselves.
Since this forum is used by BIM students and thoughtful comments can be expected I ask you this: How can a company use these insights to create actions? In which industries would a product like this be very effective? For which industries do you think it wouldn’t?
Very interesting article Cas! To answer your question I would guess that most firms would use this information analyze their current market and how their industry is behaving. I would also say that it would not work for organisations in the public sector (?)