BIA/Kelsey Expands Social Media Focus

Today I am excited to announce that BIA/Kelsey has greatly enhanced its focus on social media to include dedicated coverage on our Local Media Watch blog and a new Continuous Advisory Service called Social Local Media.

BIA/Kelsey Analyst Jed Williams and BIA/Kelsey Associate Andrew Shotland, a.k.a. the Local SEO Guy, are teaming up to lead our coverage of this fast-growing and complex marketplace.

As you’ve likely read here or elsewhere, there are some astounding facts underscoring our decision to invest in social: More than half a billion Facebook users, Twitter’s exponential growth and, and perhaps most important, the millions of SMBs that are turning to Facebook and other social media platforms to acquire and retain customers.

Our aim in initiating coverage of social media is not to overwhelm you with data, but rather to help you make sense of this fascinating and important market by offering deep analysis, thoughtful insight and grounded recommendations.

So how will BIA/Kelsey approach its social local media coverage? We’ll do it by focusing on two central sets of questions:

1) “How is the social local media landscape evolving, and what are the implications for various players in the space?”

2) “As a media company, agency, SMB, etc., how exactly do I do social?”

The companies we profile, the trends we study, and the analysis we offer will center on answering one or both of these questions. As a result, our social-related blog coverage will assume a variety of forms. Predominant among these will be news-analysis — what’s happening, how does it change the social local landscape, and what are implications for our various constituents? We will also offer case studies, data synthesis, executive interviews, op-eds and other approaches to understanding this evolving space.

Your input and engagement with us, our analysts and each other will be a key ingredient in our serving up the best possible coverage of this dynamic and rapidly changing marketplace. As Jed and Andrew lead our rollout of this exciting new coverage area, they will need your direct and constant feedback to evolve the direction and emphasis of Social Local Media.