Nielsen announced today the addition of advanced analytics to its Social Content Ratings service, enabling the analysis of owned and organic activity within the total social TV conversation.  This enhancement measures all content engagement achieved by owned accounts associated with a program or network in addition to organic accounts from the general viewing audience. Currently available using Twitter data, Nielsen intends to roll out Facebook and Instagram at a later date.
Since its inception, Nielsen Social has been focused on measuring social media activity and the important role it plays in ascertaining the strength of cross-platform marketing initiatives.  As we now know, not all social activity is the same.  There are different levels of engagement across platforms, interfaces and even the level of influence a celebrity or consumer commands.  Nielsen's new service enhancement can pinpoint engagement within the social conversation about TV for both:
● Owned activity, or the buzz generated by official accounts associated with a program or network.
● Organic activity, or the buzz originated by the general viewing audience.
Nielsen found that, for a week in March, across all program types and series genres, 64% of program-related Twitter engagement was driven by organic content, compared to 36% driven by owned tweets.  The percentages varied by program and genre with sports tending to have a higher share of organic engagement compared to series.
Why is this important?  "We know that large social fanbases for OWN shows like Greenleaf and Queen Sugar help drive their success. With these advanced analytics, we can now optimize the content distributed on our social platforms and identify our most engaging content and handles, as well as key audience influencers," said Harriet Seitler, Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.
Nielsen Social tracks over 50,000 unique program, network, cast, team and athlete social accounts around the clock with the ability to access full-fidelity APIs from Twitter.  Currently it is the only measurement provider with direct access to aggregate, anonymous program-related Facebook topic data to measure total social TV activity across social networks. The enhancement is available in Australia, Italy, Mexico and the U.S.
"Networks and advertisers need to understand how social content is resonating with their audiences and whether owned strategies are driving impact," said Johann Dudley, Senior Vice President, Product Leadership, Nielsen Social.  "In-depth analysis of owned and organic activity, now available within Social Content Ratings, elevates these performance measures while also quantifying how Twitter content from owned program handles, talent accounts and influential audience members builds program buzz during program airtime and beyond."
For marketers who want to maximize the impact and value of their cross-platform marketing campaigns, the ability to parse owned versus organic engagement activity is a vital tool for success.