The Essential Guide to Digital Ethnography Digital ethnography is an immersive technique that uses online channels for consumer learning. Researching and sorting through digital content is becoming more popular with brands since it provides access to in-depth, timely information about consumers’ lifestyles. It also enables you to save time and money by doing research to stay close to the consumer—right at 
your desk. This guide gives you top strategies and tactics to take advantage of the social web to learn about consumers and influencers. Supercharge Your Social Listening Ready to get started? Get the 3-point checklist to get started, followed by 20 tips and tools to use during your digital ethnographic journey. Then find out the most effective way to organize and present your findings. Get The Essential Guide to Digital Ethnography today to uncover proven methods to listen, explore and monitor consumers.

1. Digitize your consumer learning for lower cost,
faster insights and ideas about your consumer.
THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE
TO DIGITAL ETHNOGRAPHY

2. 2
THE POWER OF DIGITAL
ETHNOGRAPHY
Digital ethnography is an immersive technique that uses online
channels for consumer learning. Researching and sorting through
digital content is becoming more popular with brands since it
provides access to in-depth, timely information about consumers’
lifestyles. It also enables brands to:
»» Look at real-time consumer sentiments
»» Find and capture examples of microtrends or emerging trends
»» Find previously undiscovered pain points
»» Know what consumers are saying about a brand
»» Gather intelligence on potential community influencers or
industry insiders
»» Act more quickly on changes in the marketplace
»» Save time and money by doing research right at
your desk
Understanding
the consumer
is everyone’s job.

3. 3
YOUR 3-POINT CHECKLIST
TO GET STARTED
You don’t have to use all the tools mentioned
in this guide, but it does help to start with
these 3 things in mind:
DESIRED OUTCOME TOOLS TO CAPTURE YOUR AUDIENCE

4. 4YOUR 3-POINT CHECKLIST TO GET STARTED
You’re ready to start to explore the world and better understand the
consumer experience. But first, capture your research objectives, or
the main questions you seek to answer with your research.
Within Batterii, create a project Room so that you can have an
interactive space for all your observations and content you will be
gathering. Capture desired outcomes on your Research Brief to
frame your problem as accurately as possible from the get-go. Add
any other key goals, background knowledge, or other supporting
assets you already have to support your Brief.
PRO TIP
Set up some of the tags you might
want to use to categorize all your
observations and assets during
your exploration.
DESIRED OUTCOME: WHAT ARE THE
QUESTIONS YOU WANT TO ANSWER?
You’re putting
time and resources
into your digital
research, so define
what success might
look like.

5. 5
Creativity hinges on
connecting all the
observations we’ve
catalogued.
YOUR 3-POINT CHECKLIST TO GET STARTED
TOOLS TO CAPTURE: HOW WILL
YOU STORE, ORGANIZE & SYNTHESIZE
ALL YOUR OBSERVATIONS?
It is now time to make sure you have the right tools to capture all
your information. Begin to design the Walls of your Batterii Room to
be as specific as you need, where each Wall represents a common
theme or topic you’re exploring.
Setting up your group of Walls this way will make your sense-making
even easier later. Your Batterii Walls will capture screenshots,
websites and articles, sticky notes, videos and photos you find. Later,
you’ll be able to drag, drop, sort and filter in this space.
Install the Batterii Web Clipper (a browser extension) so you can
capture and “clip” links, screenshots, images, or notes right from
any website. The Batterii Web Clipper lets you send them directly
to the Batterii Wall you choose.
PRO TIP
Add a Batterii Backdrop such as
the Empathy Map to add a visual
that will guide you as you frame
and communicate your findings.

6. 6YOUR 3-POINT CHECKLIST TO GET STARTED
YOUR AUDIENCE: WHERE ARE
CONSUMERS SPENDING TIME?
Just like with any other kind of market research, digital learning is
most effective when we know a starting place of where to look for
our consumers. We want to see what they are thinking, how they
are behaving, and what their journey looks like—and that requires
observing them in their natural state online.
Do your best to capture what you know about consumers’
communities, preferred social media channels, or what kind
of content they consume. Your research can help you uncover,
challenge or confirm what you already know about your
target audience.
PRO TIP
Think about consumers relative
to their lifestyle, how they make
decisions, what they value, how
they find meaning and anything
you know about their aspirations.
Innovation is
fueled when
we know how
consumers think,
feel & behave.

7. 7
GET TO KNOW YOUR CONSUMER
IN THE SOCIAL WEB
Here’s a look at a few activities you can utilize
to see how consumers live, play, and work.
LISTEN EXPLORE MONITOR

8. 8
LISTEN: REMOVE BIAS & TAKE
NOTICE TO RECOGNIZE CONSUMER
WANTS & DESIRES
A crucial step in keeping our finger on the pulse of the consumer
is to take time to listen to them. To build authentic relationships,
to build our capacity to empathize, and to know the language
they speak, we first have to dedicate time to hear and observe
their natural conversations and behaviors across social media.
Setting up our social listening tools means we can cut down on the
time required to keep tabs on our consumers. It is also one of the
best ways we can stay up-to-date on diverse and ever-changing
consumer sentiments.
PRO TIP
While being efficient with research
is important, listening activities
can take many paths and a lot of
time. We recommend limiting
yourself to a certain amount of
time for each session.
GET TO KNOW YOUR CONSUMER IN THE SOCIAL WEB

9. 9
3. Use Websta.me to search and discover new, relevant
hashtags being used on Instagram. You can also use the
site to efficiently look through who an influencer followers
on Instagram.
1. Search Yelp to read consumer experiences and to see
their recommendations. This tactic can be especially useful
when looking at independent businesses rather than chains.
2. Use Facebook search to look at conversations around
specific hashtags or to see consumer reviews and comments.
You can also use Facebook search to look for real-time posts,
photos or links being shared. Simply use the search bar along
the top or go to search.fb.com. Filter the search results along
the top of the site by Top, Latest, People, Photos, Videos, Pages,
Places, Groups, Apps and Events—giving you just about
everything you might want to find.
Yelp Websta
Facebook
Search
GET TO KNOW YOUR CONSUMER IN THE SOCIAL WEB

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4. Use hashtagify.me to search hashtags, see top recent
media related to that hashtag and to see some of the top
influencers using that hashtag. By going to the “related
hashtags” section of the site, you can also find other tags
that are closely related to any given topic.
6. Never miss what people are posting at an event or given
location, whether you are there in person or not thanks to
Pixifly. Pixifly allows you to search photos that are being
shared by your location of choice.
5. Visit LinkedIn publisher if you want to find fresh content
around areas or topics that you want to know more about. You
can discover new content by exploring news outlets, general
topics (called channels), brands/publishers and influencers.
Hashtagify Pixifly
LinkedIn
Publisher
GET TO KNOW YOUR CONSUMER IN THE SOCIAL WEB

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7. Take advantage of Twitter search to see what is currently
happening around the world. Use the advanced search
on your desktop to filter by specific phrases and words,
hashtags, date, comments made by location, positive or
negative tone, and more. You can also click “More Options”
and then “Save this search” for the future. Next time you
go to your search box, that saved search will display for
quick access.
8. Join a Twitter chat to get an inside look at a specific
community. These are chats, held on Twitter, where people
come together to discuss a topic that’s important to them.
Twitter chats can also help you narrow in on people or
groups you want to further engage. Depending on your
objective, you can just listen or join the conversation.
Twitter
Search
Twitter
Chat
PRO TIP
As you search through Twitter, use
the Web Clipper to capture all your
observations. Don’t worry about
organizing everything at first—later
you will be able to use the drag and
drop feature in Batterii to move
content assets from one Batterii
Room or Wall to another as you
sort and synthesize.
GET TO KNOW YOUR CONSUMER IN THE SOCIAL WEB

12. 12GET TO KNOW YOUR CONSUMER IN THE SOCIAL WEB
EXPLORE: SCOUR & SEARCH FOR
DISCOVERIES ABOUT THE CONSUMER
& THE MARKETPLACE
Exploration allows us to see and observe the often complex,
intricate and up-close realities of our consumers, or aspirational
consumers, online. In other forms of market research, we may
have to ask questions that we’re able to see unfold right before our
eyes in the digital realm. Instead of having to ask consumers about
their routines, why they act a certain way, or what their opinions
are—we’re able to see that information in real-time.
PRO TIP
Mixing up where you look—and
how you look—will give you a
more diverse set of observations
to work from.

13. 13
9. Use SocialMention.com to see a real-time, social media
snapshot that shows you topics being discussed on the
Internet. You can see similar keywords to any given search
query, hashtags that are used with the topic, and a real-time
view of sentiment for that topic.
GET TO KNOW YOUR CONSUMER IN THE SOCIAL WEB
Social
Mention
PRO TIP
You can take any number of
search queries you create, and
make an RSS feed for each.

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11. Use Google Maps to see reviews for places, including
photos people have uploaded. Sometimes it will also
feature other reviews you can browse through.
10. Explore apps such as Swarm or Foursquare to see what
people about saying about the places they visit. You can
see reviews, insider tips, and even photos they have posted.
Google
Maps
Swarm
GET TO KNOW YOUR CONSUMER IN THE SOCIAL WEB
PRO TIP
As you gather more assets, don’t
forget about Batterii global search
which lets you easily find content
no matter where you originally
placed the asset within Batterii.

15. 15
PRO TIP
Use Batterii’s Web Clipper as you
go through your top blogs and
find something you want to save
for later.
12. Sometimes we can get intelligence on our consumers
or competitors by lookingback in time. Use The Wayback
Machine to see any website that’s been archived on the
web. Simply type in any URL and you can capture and save
a website as it used to appear.
13. Quora has been called the “best answer to any question.”
Utilize the Q&A site to see questions and answers being asked
to a community of people. You can even ask a question
yourself. Be strategic when you sign up for an account, since
you’ll be able select certain topics you want to follow and
receive notifications for.
GET TO KNOW YOUR CONSUMER IN THE SOCIAL WEB
Wayback
Machine
Quora

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14. Use Followerwonk to search social media profiles (and
even bios) to find your target audience. You can also use
the site to compare social media users to one another.
Once you’ve identified an influencer or specific audience,
you can see when they are most engaged on Twitter and
where they are located.
15. Use Twitter lists to take advantage of the work other
people have done. You can use Twitter lists to find groups
of likeminded users you want to monitor and/or engage
with. If you visit the Twitter profile of an influencer, click on
“Lists” to see what list they are member of—or even what
lists they subscribe to and follow. In many cases you’ll find
more people on Twitter who share their interests.
GET TO KNOW YOUR CONSUMER IN THE SOCIAL WEB
Follower-
wonk
Twitter
Lists
PRO TIP
You can create your own Twitter
lists: start by creating a few private
lists of influencers, loyal consum-
ers or even brands you want to
keep an eye on.

17. 17GET TO KNOW YOUR CONSUMER IN THE SOCIAL WEB
MONITOR: RECEIVE UP-TO-DATE
INFORMATION TO IMPROVE YOUR
RELATIONSHIPS WITH CONSUMERS
Social monitoring gives us the ability to see who is talking about
our brand. We’re able to grow our relationships with consumers
by monitoring the conversations happening around our category
or brand.
Monitoring is powerful because it lets us see what consumers are
saying online, in real-time—no matter where they are located. But
effective monitoring tactics also give us a better, more accurate
sense of long-term sentiments held by our consumers.
PRO TIP
Having information pushed
directly to us saves us time since
we don’t have to go out and
search the web for it ourselves.

18. 18GET TO KNOW YOUR CONSUMER IN THE SOCIAL WEB
16. Looking for the most relevant influencers on any given
topic? Use Buzz Sumo to see the most shared content,
broken down by social media network. Then see the other
articles that link to any specific piece of content, which can
help you better understand a niche community. Besides
filtering by date, language and content type, you can even
save searches. After you fine tune results to get what you’re
looking for, set up email alerts to stay on top of the “most
shared” and the most relevant authors in any niche.
17. Use Google Alerts to set up timely notifications on
specific phrases from anywhere on the web. Never miss out
on an article or information you want to hear again. Visit the
Google Alerts site and type in the topic, just like if you were
doing a Google Search for that theme. You can monitor
your brand, a competitor, or a specific topic area: simply
use those phrases, and select how often you want those
alerts to be sent to your email. Google even gives you a
preview so that you can see the kind of articles that would be
pushed to your email.
Buzz
Sumo
Google
Alerts
PRO TIP
Want to see another brand’s most
popular content? With Buzzsumo,
you can view the most popular
content for any given domain.

19. 19GET TO KNOW YOUR CONSUMER IN THE SOCIAL WEB
18. Media monitoring and social listening tools like
Mention.com save you time by optimizing the keyword
monitoring process, and they also help you cut through
the noise. Using Mention, you can create a dashboard that
lets you watch how your brand is being talked about. After
setting up your alert(s), you can select how you want to
filter and then analyze through a custom report. A report
is created that will show trends, sentiment, top sources
and more. It’s a useful tool whether you use it for specific
campaigns, to watch the competition, or to analyze
emerging trends over time.
19. Use a service such as Hootsuite Syndicator or Feedly
to take advantage of content that can be pushed to you.
Services such as Feedly (RSS Readers) save you time and
allow you to efficiently read dozens of blogs and digital
publications. Instead of having to visit each blog or site you
want to follow, you can see the latest, all in one centralized
place. You can organize your content and even get ideas for
new blogs similar to those you’ve subscribed to.
20. If you don’t want to use an RSS reader, consider taking
advantage of email newsletters. Maybe your target audience
regularly consumes a certain blog or publication. Don’t
overlook how simple it is to subscribe to that blog so you
can stay up-to-date on what they are reading. You can even
set up a separate email address where you deliver all the
content. Then, catch up on all your newsletters at once.
Mention Email
RSS
Readers

20. 20
ORGANIZE & PRESENT
YOUR LEARNINGS
You’ve collected a wealth of knowledge. Now you’re tasked with
cross-pollinating your findings & formalizing what you learned.
You now have captured deep knowledge about the consumer,
including previously unarticulated insights into their beliefs and
aspirations. You are ready to start organizing, making sense of all
your observations, and building on those ideas within Batterii.
Open up the problem solving process to your team as you nurture
your ideas, build solutions and evaluate them. If you started with
questions or a hypothesis to frame your research, work with
colleagues to “connect the dots” to support or argue against those
initial hunches.
Batterii helps provide the ideal living, breathing repository to
deposit all your support, research, new ideas and insights.
Use sticky notes, color-coding, and backdrops (visual
guides) such as Storyboards, Timeline, Experience Map,
Empathy Map, Business Model Canvas, Persona Maps, and
more, to drive more solutions and possibilities.
Use Batterii to
organize your
learning and
build ideas.

21. 21
SUPERCHARGE YOUR
SOCIAL LISTENING
Social media intelligence is most useful when content is shared
and insights are acted upon. It’s not just about listening, monitoring
or capturing content: the power comes from what you do next.
Make social scraping a habit by scheduling at least 30 minutes per week
to listen, review and then build upon information you discover.
Before you know it, you’ll have a wealth of information on how your
brand is perceived, what’s on the mind of consumers, and you will
have your finger on the pulse of any marketplace shifts.
What are the tools you use as you look to build
more loyal consumers?
Let us know at @Batterii on Twitter.
Make it part
of your routine.

22. 22
A Smarter Way to Capture &
Synthesize Your Digital Ethnography
If you want a more savvy way to curate, aggregate, prioritize and
synthesize your insights, give Batterii a try.
Visit www.batterii.com or click here to schedule a demo.