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Idiro SNA Plus, the Mobile Operator's Service Targeting System
May 26, 2009
Churn has always been a significant issue for mobile operators — though most have traditionally sought to offset churn by signing greater numbers of new subscribers. However, as the mobile adoption rates creeps higher, the potential new subscriber pool is shrinking. Furthermore, with the launch of new, innovative mobile devices, subscriber loyalty is, at best wavering. Instead, many are finding it easier to switch carriers when their existing contracts expire in order to have the latest and greatest devices — take a look at how many iPhones and Storms were purchased when they were released.
What it amounts to is that mobile operators have to find other ways to retain their subscribers — for instance, using social network analysis, or analyzing the roles individual subscribers play in their communities. The goal is to identify those subscribers with the strongest influence within their particular communities (i.e., family, circle of friends, workplace, etc.), and leverage that knowledge to help proliferate new services that can help increase brand loyalty and reduce churn.
This is important because both churn and product adoption are highly contagious, and can be significantly impacted by viral marketing campaigns that leverage an understanding of social roles and influences. In fact, research has identified the influence of friends and family as the single greatest factor for deciding which carrier to choose. That’s a strong statement, and deserves attention from the smart operator.
“But, it’s not as simple as targeting the single most influential person in a community — you have to find people who have credibility for that product or service,” explains Aidan Connolly, CEO at Idiro, which specializes in social network analysis (SNA) for mobile operators.
In fact, Connolly notes that Idiro’s solution looks further into the social network, down to the individual product or service level, to identify which subscribers have the greatest influence on individual campaigns. It makes sense, given the breadth of services designed to appeals to a wide range of subscribers — in other words, not all subscribers are equal in terms of influence or interest level when it comes to individual services.
In today’s ultra-competitive landscape, operators’ targeting has to be effective, meaning they must be able to identify the best targets for creating viral diffusion of services
Idiro uses a complex series of data including networks, service adoption, call frequencies, call durations, rate of reciprocation, and more, to weigh each subscriber relationship and map it into a greater subscriber community, including assigning a level of influence to each relationship.
In other words, Idiro “looks at interpersonal relationships, identifying how people influence each other, using that to identify people who are likely to behave similarly,” said Connolly. “Idiro seeks to identify which subscribers have influence over specific products or initiatives through a number of metrics that indentifies which subscribers have influence in which categories.”
Now, following what has already become a successful model for many service providers, Idiro is offering its SNA solution as a managed service, Idiro SNA Plus. It is a fixed-fee, end-to-end managed service, combining the requisite hardware for running the analytics, software for reporting, system implementation and management, training, and support.
In addition, Idiro provides education on how to successfully conduct viral marketing and viral churn reduction campaigns. Its “Viral Marketing Workshops” give operators hands-on training in driving the campaigns, and its ongoing consultation helps them evaluate their ongoing campaigns, providing a significant value-add for its customers, which include some 30 mobile network operators.
“This is a very powerful solution in this economic climate,” says Connolly. “Operators can’t afford to lose customers, which means they really need to control churn. But, customers aren’t really looking to spend more money, so carriers need to find a way to increase revenue by selling additional services in a cost effective manner.”
Of course, mobile operators also don’t want an expensive, time consuming integration process, which is why the Idiro SNA Plus is an ideal solution — it is quickly deployed and, as a managed service, avoids much of the complexity and cost associated with a traditional on-premises solution.
The Idiro SNA Plus solution includes a series of optional modules:
- Idiro Social Model — The analytics engine that powers Idiro’s SNA solutions
- Idiro Retention — Predicts churners and influencers who can impact churn
- Idiro Viral Marketing — Identifies appropriate subscribers to initiate and maximize word-of-mouth cross-sell and up-sell campaigns
- Idiro Acquisition — Brings the science of SNA to member-get-member campaigns
- Idiro Families — Identifies families, households, and their leaders
- Idiro Fingerprinting — Identifies rotational churners (spinners)
Combined, the modules form a complete managed solution that gives mobile operators the information they need to quickly and successfully roll out new services and products. With success predicated more than even on instant uptake, the right targets are more critical than ever — which is just what Idiro SNA Plus seeks to provide.
Erik Linask (News - Alert) is Group Managing Editor of TMCnet, which brings news and compelling feature articles, podcasts, and videos to nearly 3,000,000 visitors each month. To see more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Erik Linask
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