Observations from updating the various SageCircle directories

This weekend we spent considerable hours updating the SageCircle directories. This exercise always generates interesting insights such as: 

Analyst  Twitter Directory – 46 additions, 4 updates. Change can come quite quickly. The IDC Financial Insights team members decided to put more emphasis on Twitter as part of an overall plan to increase their visibility. This resulted in seven analysts starting to use Twitter in just a couple of weeks. Take away – Keep your fingers on the pulse of your analysts’ usage of social media, because changes come quickly.

AR Twitter Directory – 34 additions, 6 updates. Members of the AR community continue to adopt Twitter in a steady fashion. However, AR is still underrepresented on Twitter and members of the community are missing out on a great tool for understanding the analysts and their priorities. Take away – AR professionals not on Twitter need to take the plunge and add Twitter to their communications toolbox. Even if their analysts are not heavy users of Twitter, early adopters develop skills that permit them to react quickly to changes in social media usage.

AR Contractors Directory – 9 additions. There are now a number of interesting AR contractors in the directory. The presence of contractors gives AR managers useful alternatives to hiring new staff or having to rely on a PR agency that does not understand the analysts. Take away – AR managers faced with hiring freezes should consider using an experienced AR contractor to plug the holes in AR activity.

Gartner Blog Network Directory – 3 additions. The Gartnerians continue to plug away at blogging. 39 of the 53 blogs have already had posts in January with five more posting in December. Interesting additions include two team blogs for conferences. Valuable insights continue to pop up, such as which analysts are managing the conference agendas. Take away – AR needs to monitor all analyst blogs in a timely fashion in order to gleam useful intelligence about opinions and activities.

SageCircle Technique:

• AR professionals not already on Twitter should join ASAP and start experimenting (Plus, send your new Twitter handle to info at sagecircle dot com for inclusion in the AR Twitter Directory)
• AR teams should implement a program of monitoring analyst attitude toward and usage of social media
• AR teams should incorporate social media tracking in their measurement programs
• AR teams should incorporate social media into their overall AR plan

Bottom Line: Social media is here to stay and its usage is only growing. AR programs that adopt social media today can reap many benefits.

Question: If you are not using social media, why not?

 

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