At Web 2.0 New York last fall, our half-day workshop included a “fireside chat” with the wise Peter Kim of the Dachis Group. The topic was the state of the market and how brands are currently using and how they want to be using social media.
I asked him a question that I hoped would be a layup —given that Scout Labs got him there on stage in front of hundreds of companies and made him look so good ;-).
I asked, “What are you seeing on the social media vendor landscape that’s interesting? How are we doing at meeting companies’ needs?” Again, I thought this was a layup, and that he would answer with glowing words about Scout Labs.
He did glow about Scout Labs, but Kim followed with:
“Actually, the vision of Social CRM is a great one. You have totally sold companies on the idea and they are ready for it. The reality is that you vendors are not delivering on the vision. You are not connecting the social media and customer data dots fast enough for most of the companies I work with.”
Ouch. But he’s right.
We SAY “customers are everywhere—tune in” but we social media platforms have focused on indexing, measuring and analyzing open social network content. Meanwhile, companies’ on-site customer communities and e-commerce sites are treasure troves of information on their own—game-changers when connected with social media data. But the platforms have not crossed that chasm.
We SAY that you should “know thy customer” but we only give you anonymous social media profile data that is virtually impossible to connect back to your customer lists for marketing, support, sales or REAL campaign ROI. Tech shops are hired to build one-off connectors. Agencies frantically export data, trying and connect the dots in Excel and Google Docs.
We find your influencers—brand advocates and detractors—but only in the channels we track right now. Its kind of like the old joke: Q: Why are you looking for your keys there under the street lamp? I thought you lost them in the bushes?” A: “Well, this is where the light is. We don’t know who’s influential on your site and how they travel, or more importantly, how their influence travels across channels.
Peter Kim is right. We are not going fast enough to meet the market’s seemingly insatiable desire for social media intelligence and customer engagement via the social web.
This is why I am so excited to announce, today, that Scout Labs, the leader in social media measurement and management, is merging with Lithium, the preeminent customer community and Social CRM company. Together, we create a true Social CRM platform with a lens on the whole customer. We have wide social media data. They have deep customer and community data. We help teams connect with social media. They help customers connect with each other.
To our beloved Scout Labs clients, you will not lose a thing. The Scout Labs team, the product, the brand, the culture, the commitment to actionable insight, ease of use and affordability—all are alive and well.
Together with Lithium we have different and complementary pieces of the customer data and analysis puzzle, but we are also very similar!
• We are united by data, data, data.
• We are united by serious IP around analysis and metrics.
• We are united by a passion for both quantitative + qualitative insight for our customers.
• We are united by our unwavering focus on the customer.
• We are united in our desire to be mission-critical across the organization—marketing, sales, community, commerce, support, etc.
• We both define success as delivering real business results across the organization.
• In diligence, we fought over whose customer list was more impressive. Now that we are one, we can honestly say that we (together) are the trusted partner to the world’s best, most customer-obsessed brands.
This combination is all about acceleration. This is about more data for you (data-junkies, we hear you standing and cheering). This is about features that you have been begging for, delivered sooner. This is about (finally!) connecting social media and customer data dots that will change the landscape forever.
To learn more, visit the microsite we’ve created which has much more information about the acquisition. Also, check out this blog post from Lithium CEO, Lyle Fong. Join us for our upcoming webcast on May 19th with Peter Kim, where you can learn more about the acquisition and what we see for the future of social media analytics.
We are looking forward to an exciting 2010 and beyond.
Previously posted on scoutlabs.com/blog on May 11, 2010
JoeC
on:
Lithium CM Certification: “We Did It!”
Claudius on: Congrats to our top kudo'd users in April
lolagoetz on: Community Management: An Emerging Discipline, a Ne...
