Social Listening - SWOT Analysis: Threats

1. The lack of regulation is a problem as it means that reputation monitoring companies are not held accountable for the claims that they make.
   – There is strong competition in the market, which makes it important to differentiate between the players that offer simple keyword monitoring services, and those who offer sentiment analysis and business analytics.
   
2. A lack of standard measurement techniques makes it difficult to compare different software vendors and benchmark different tools.
   
3. There needs to be a more structured approach to measurement, and integrating different types of research would add weight to the credibility of the social monitoring tools sector.
   
4. A lack of senior management understanding may prevent some companies from investing in the right tools for measurement.
   
5. Companies need to have people with the right skills to make the most of measurement data and interpret the results appropriately.
   – There is a lack of specialist expertise, which means companies may not have the right resources to manage the processes and data.
   
6. Many companies now have a presence on social networks, but may not have the right organisational culture to effect change within their company and make use of the insights generated from reputation monitoring tools.
   
7. Unless marketers can accurately demonstrate return on value, this may lead to some companies feeling the effects of social media fatigue, reducing the demand for reputation monitoring tools.
   
8. Privacy is a significant threat. Social networks, including Facebook, have faced much opposition to the amount of public data shared, and it is worth remembering monitoring tools can only make use of public data.
   – If one or more social networks become more closed, this will affect the volume of data and insights generated from social media monitoring tools.
   
9. Free tools are also a threat to vendors, as some companies may opt to use these instead of investing in buzz monitoring tool.
   
10. Another threat comes from analytics companies that have started to offer social media add-ons in addition to their main analytics suite.
    – Some customers may opt for an analytics vendor (over a buzz monitoring platform) that has specialist expertise in online measurement across the vast spectrum of online channels. 
    

Social Listening - SWOT Analysis: Opportunities

1. Social media is slowly maturing and is becoming an established part of the marketing mix, which means there will be continued demand for tools to measure its impact.
2. There is increased demand for specialist social analytics services, particularly in sectors where legal issues are fundamental to the business, such as pharmaceuticals.
3. There are more case studies about the adverse effects of not having social monitoring tools in place, providing opportunities for vendors to communicate the benefits of such software.
4. A dominant player in the industry has not yet emerged, which means the field is still open for a company to gain competitive advantage and become an industry leader.
5. More companies are looking for complete business intelligence solutions that integrate the insights from social media with other channels.
6. More companies are interested in additional consulting services to make the most of social media monitoring data. There is greater focus on understanding how to use the data.
7. There is a clear opportunity for vendors to take a research-driven approach by integrating with other data sources in order to differentiate themselves from other players in the market.
8. Although there is a wealth of different tools, there is an opportunity for a savvy vendor to offer specialist services, such as the ability to offer sentiment analysis in different languages or for different regions.
9. Social CRM is a huge area of growth, and there are opportunities for reputation monitoring companies to partner with CRM companies to garner actionable insights and justify investment.