Blogs, ImpactWatch, Monitoring, PR, Web 2.0
Jul 17, 2007
Steve Petersen
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Measuring Dell Hells

ImpactWatch is one of our main products. It is a PR measurement tool that our clients use for mainstream media coverage, but blogosphere measurement is harder to assess since readership and authority aren’t easily quantifiable.

Companies simply lack the resources to closely monitor all that is said about them, and blogs have expanded their radar screen. I don’t know if the blogosphere has increased the number of people who chit chat about a company with others, but it has created a forum in which many more voices are measurable.

However, not all voices are equal in their importance to a company. Concerning this fact, one of issues I’ve grappled with is how to weigh general influence and influence within a specific topic.

For instance, using Dell as an example, most of the A-list bloggers very rarely discuss the company and its products directly. Granted, top blogs like Engadget and Techcrunch should interest Dell since they focus on technology, but what about other blogs like Boing Boing and The Huffington Post?

I use Dell as an example since the company has had to deal with a top blog that doesn’t focus on its arena. Remember Dell Hell?

Although Jeff Jarvis and his BuzzMachine blog are prominent, they focus on media, not technology. Thus, they typically shouldn’t worry Dell, but when Jarvis blogged about his “Dell Hell,” the rules changed. In fact, sometimes when bloggers (especially an A-lister) complain about a company and its products, word can spread fast. Sometimes even the mainstream media picks up on such rants.

Measurement is tough in situations like Dell Hell. Does Dell need to devote resources to scrupulously follow BuzzMachine? No, since Jarvis mainly blogs about media and not computer hardware and software. However, Jarvis was worth Dell’s attention for a while.

How can a company determine which bloggers who don’t focus on the company and its field require their attention? Then, when should they start and stop monitoring such blogs?

  • http://www.bivingsreport.com Todd Zeigler

    In my opinion, there are two approaches:

    (1) You can track everything anyone says about you. This is probably preferred, but most companies aren’t going to have the bandwidth for this.

    (2) You can track the blogs in your sector that are well read (the influencers)and supplement it with coverage from aggregator sites like Digg, Techmeme, etc. Under this approach you’ll not get everything, but you’ll get the msot important stuff. And items like “Dell Hell” will inevitably appear on these other sites even if Buzz Machine isn’t on your tracking list.

  • http://www.bivingsreport.com Todd Zeigler

    In my opinion, there are two approaches:

    (1) You can track everything anyone says about you. This is probably preferred, but most companies aren’t going to have the bandwidth for this.

    (2) You can track the blogs in your sector that are well read (the influencers)and supplement it with coverage from aggregator sites like Digg, Techmeme, etc. Under this approach you’ll not get everything, but you’ll get the msot important stuff. And items like “Dell Hell” will inevitably appear on these other sites even if Buzz Machine isn’t on your tracking list.

  • http://www.buzzmachine.com/2007/07/17/measuring-influence/ BuzzMachine » Blog Archive » Measuring influence

    [...] : LATER: And just as I published that, I read a post by Steve Peterson of the Bivings Report about just this: trying to measure influence in a given topic about a given subject. His example is Dell Hell: However, not all voices are equal in their importance to a company. Concerning this fact, one of issues I’ve grappled with is how to weigh general influence and influence within a specific topic. [...]

  • http://www.bivingsreport.com/2007/measuring-blog-relationships/ Measuring Blog Relationships » The Bivings Report

    [...] measuring Dell Hells, it is helpful for those who track blogs to measure relationships between [...]

  • http://www.direct2dell.com JohnP@Dell

    Monitoring can be a vexing proposition, for sure. But based on our experiences at Dell, and given the dynamics of democratization and aggregation in the blogosphere, companies that ignore the sub A-listers and bloggers outside of their sector do so at their own risk.

  • http://www.direct2dell.com JohnP@Dell

    Monitoring can be a vexing proposition, for sure. But based on our experiences at Dell, and given the dynamics of democratization and aggregation in the blogosphere, companies that ignore the sub A-listers and bloggers outside of their sector do so at their own risk.

  • http://www.behindthebuzz.com/links-for-2007-07-18/ links for 2007-07-18

    [...] Measuring Dell Hells » The Bivings Report A post by Steve Petersen looking at the influence and how it is quality again, it’s about how not all voices are equal (tags: influence metrics socialmedia) [...]

  • http://blog.vsiai.com/measuring-dell-hells/ Measuring Dell Hells : Wonderful Thoughts

    [...] Share This [...]

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