Conducting a Social Media Partner Assessment and How It Helps to Analyze the Partner Eco System

A complete, in depth assessment provides the foundation of a comprehensive social media strategy, aligned with corporate objectives and the corresponding market. Many are surprised by how much is really going on in the social web ...amazed by how active their partners are, and how much buzz goes on around them without their knowledge. Not all buzz is 'good buzz'.  It's important to know when there's 'good' buzz, where there's 'not so good' buzz, and where there's 'no buzz or presence at all'.

Using the Social Media Academy's 4 Quadrant Assessment Method, it is possible to analyze and understand the market from a social point of view.

Key components of conducting a Partner Assessment are: 

1. Identifying the places and spaces where an organization's partners are present;
2. Defining the partner's topics and their second degree eco system, 'their customers';
3. Identifying the key individuals and primary influencers of those conversations; and  
4. Creating a factual analysis, including identifying opportunities and threats and making initial suggestions about how to best leverage the conversation. 

Identifying major influencers and the level of influence a network has is an essential component of any comprehensive strategy in the social web. This is particularly valuable when assessing the partner landscape, in that businesses that market and sell through their alliance channels recognize the importance of integrating their partner – as they typically control the social relationship with one’s customers.

Deploying a systematic and comprehensive assessment of the organization’s partners and key alliances, including where they are active in the social web, their sentiment analysis, key interests and reflections; results in better alignment with one’s customers and the development of a stronger and more mutually beneficial relationship with partners, alliances and resellers.

The Partner Assessment discussed in this post is only one component of the 4 Quadrant Assessment Method. If you don't have a social media strategy or engagement plan, the first thing you may want to consider is a professional assessment of your eco system. The main objective of a corporate social media engagement should be to create a better business experience for a company's eco system. Social media is a cross functional, corporate culture related engagement - not a marketing campaign.

If you need help figuring out where to start engaging in the Social Web, visit us at: http://www.caffesocialmedia.com.