Competitor Analysis_Interview

INTEROUTE COMPETITOR ANALYSIS

S I D DARTH MO O RTHY

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COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITY, CONCERNING INTEROUTE AND ITS COMPETITORS

OVERVIEW

1) Brand Asset Analysis of Interoute and competitors

2) Important Factors in Social Media Presence

3) Successes for Interoute

4) Lessons for Interoute

MAIN SUMMARY

• Interoute’s posts in social media are clear, coherent and well organised

• The use of photos, graphics and video is good, and utilises the multimedia capabilities of various platforms

• The online community is smaller than its competitors, but this can be easily improved

• Interoute might consider being more entertaining, rather than focusing on industry-specific discussions and other informative posts

• Informality should be embraced- it holds the attention of users and does not take away from the seriousness of the company

BRAND ASSET ANALYSIS (INTEROUTE)Apps/Games Appearance Tonality Style of Posts

Facebook~345 Likes

The apps in the tab link to Interoute’s Twitter and YouTube pages, as well as a link to a welcome page on Facebook which contains a customer application form

The appearance is neat, organised, but sparse. Many of the page’s posts are links to the Interoute website, rather than content created specifically for Facebook

The Facebook page is informative and focused- the followers of the page would not be confused by any of the content shared. It is; however, not memorable, as the posts are neutral and do not themselves offer any emotionality or insight

Link shares, self promotion

Twitter~1891 Followers N/A N/A

Interoute’s tweets are informative, interesting, and engaging. There is some customer engagement, but the majority of tweets are neutral

Information, link shares, conference reporting

Google+~56 Followers

There are links to the Interoute website and YouTube page. The YouTube page is quite good, with 20 well-produced videos

The appearance is neat, easy to navigate, but low on engagement. Google+ is not an active network, but there are very few +1s and shares

The tonality of posts is informative, neutral and promotional. Like with Facebook, the posts are without any insight. The Google+ page tells people what Interoute does, but does not give any feeling of company ideology or atmosphere

Link shares, self promotion, conference reporting

BRAND ASSET ANALYSIS (AWS)Apps/Games Appearance Tonality Style of Posts

Facebook~49,973 Likes N/A

The Facebook page indicates a high level of activity. There are several regular posts, with certain posts highlighted over others

The posts are neutral, brisk and informative. They do not stimulate conversation in users, which is a problem on Facebook, as this does not add value to the News Feeds of users. Since there is low participation on the page, it would be quite easy for the 50k users to forget that they clicked the “Like” button

Informative, self promotion, link shares, video shares

Twitter~86,635 Followers N/A N/A

The original posts are neutral and self-promoting, and the retweets are positive and complimentary. There is no feeling that these tweets are generated by a human, as they are without any personality- this makes the feed and service forgettable

Informative, self promotion, link shares, video shares

Google+~5,283 Followers

There are links to the AWS website, the AWS blog and the AWS YouTube page. There are more than 1,000 videos uploaded to YouTube, in several languages

The appearance is neat, and quite busy. As opposed to the Interoute G+ page, there is a relatively high level of engagement, with comments, +1s and shares prevalent

The posts are neutral to positive- they are informative and display a level of excitement for new product launches. These posts do not foster much discussion amongst users, they are relatively non-stimulating

Self promotion, link shares, video shares

BRAND ASSET ANALYSIS (RACKSPACE)Apps/Games Appearance Tonality Style of Posts

Facebook~86,674 Likes

There are links to a RackSpace Instagram feed, a survey function, the RackSpace blog, and Pinterest board

The Facebook page looks quite cluttered, but also quite active. No section has been hidden from the timeline, so the page is full. The benefit of this is that it makes the page look busy, but the downside is that it also looks disorganised

The posts are generally neutral, but very engaging. They do not concentrate on self promotion, but discuss the benefits of Cloud computing and its relevance to different groups of people. There is some self promotion, but it is done in a more subtle way

Link shares, articles, fact sharing, self promotion


The tweets are generally friendly and have a professional personality. You get the feeling that they are written by a person, and that this person is reliable. There is a high volume of customer care on the Twitter feed, but also a discussion about Cloud computing

Customer service, article shares, link shares, self promotion


There are links to the RackSpace website, as well as all of their social media accounts

The page is quite pleasing to the eye, with regular posts (mostly videos), but it is slightly on the cluttered side. It is easy to get confused when trying to figure out the chronology of the posts

The tonality is very informative- the posts discuss ideology, process and culture more than discussing RackSpace itself. RackSpace is always woven in, but in the context of other concepts, rather than concepts being woven into a RackSpace discussion

Video shares, link shares, hangouts, articles, self promotion

BRAND ASSET ANALYSIS (AZURE)Apps/Games Appearance Tonality Style of Posts


There is an app called “March Geekness” which is currently not functional. All other apps are standard for a Facebook page

The page is visually very consistent, with central colours being blue and green. This is important- Imagine switching between tabs frequently- you don’t need to do any reading to know you’re on Azure’s Facebook page

The posts are quite positive, friendly, relaxed and humourous. This is key in keeping people fixed on your post, rather than scrolling past it idly. There is some self promotion, but it’s hidden expertly in light-heartedness

Link shares, image shares, Q&A posts, statistics, humour


Tweets are generally small captions with links to the Azure website. They are somewhat “click-baity” but not necessarily shameless. Cloud computing is rarely mentioned.

Link shares, image shares, Q&A posts, statistics, humour

YouTube~6375 Subscribers

There are links to the Facebook, Twitter and Google+ pages. The G+ is not very helpful

Playlists are prevalent, indicating a level of organisation and de-cluttering. The page is easy to navigate

The videos are humourous and informative. They are definitely self-promotion, but entertainment is the main factor in the posts, rather than commercial interests

The videos are neat, bright, well produced, and are either informative or promotional material

BRAND ASSET ANALYSIS (DIGITALOCEAN)Apps/Games Appearance Tonality Style of Posts


There is a link to the DigitalOcean Instagram page, apart from the standard Facebook features

The page is quite cluttered and disorganized, but also not filled with text. Images are prominent and eye-catching

The posts are neutral, tech-y and informative. They also discuss the DigitalOcean community, sharing pictures of employees, etc.

Informative, technology based, company pride


The tweets are very friendly, warm, and funny. The retweets are compliments to DigitalOcean, which are quite sincere. Customer service is also prominent

Informal, helpful, light-hearted. Attentive customer service


There is a link to the DigitalOcean YouTube page, but nothing else is linked

The page is quite neat and pretty, due to images being the main style instead of text

The posts are mainly informative, but informal. They are self-promoting, but also discussing the DigitalOcean community, future steps for the company, etc. This would be very unobtrusive on a G+ home page. There is a decent level of user engagement, with frequent +1s and comments

Images, quick captions, tech advice, tutorials and Q&As

WHAT’S IMPORTANT?

A. Frequent posts

B. Consistency in ideology

All social media platforms should represent what the company thinks is important

Environment, technology, sports, pop culture, humour, politics, etc.

Posts don’t have to be about the company, they should be about creating a community of people who have more in common than being consumers of the same product/service

C. Unique posts for each social channel

Different channels have different personalities, and getting to the heart of them is the key to success online

There shouldn’t be complete uniformity in posts. LinkedIn is insightful, Twitter is short and disposable, Facebook is directive, Tumblr is artistic, Instagram is friendly, etc.

D. Accessibility

Make people feel like they can get in touch and they won’t be ignored. Give them something useful and relevant, and they’ll remember you.

E. Variety

Talk about different things, but make them all coherent under the company banner.

INTEROUTE’S SUCCESSESFacebook & Google+

• The posts are focused and consistent. There is an identity that can be inferred.

• The company appears trustworthy, due to the high volume of tech-related posts

• The posts are directive. There is a feeling in the posts of “Hey, check this out.”

Twitter• There are lots of retweets, which is

good for spreading the word and widening the community

• There are a good number of photos and images, which is good for the fast nature of Twitter

KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR INTEROUTEFewer Interoute-centric posts

• Social media presence should be about more than advertising yourself. It should make people like you based on what you say.

Less uniformity

• The posts on Twitter and Facebook are too similar. Consistency is better than uniformity.

More frequency

• In order to make the name, page and company more memorable, there should be between 2-5 original posts a day.

More interaction

• The feeds feel like monologues, not dialogues. This is much easier on Twitter than on Facebook, but it’s good to have open discussions with other companies as well as customers.

More entertainment

• You should feel free to cheer people up with humour, silliness and informality. This is a huge success on Azure’s part.

THANK YOU

Competitor Analysis_Interview

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