IntroductionThe purpose of this report is to provide information about Radian6's social media monitoring software and the use of its software to manage marketing information. The primary objective of this report is to analyze the key issues facing marketing researchers in relation to the use of Radian6 software and to provide advice to marketers who are considering using the software to collect marketing insights and engage customers. clients. This report consists of four key issues: choosing the right tools to collect primary data, ensuring the relevance of netnographic data, gaining data insights, and using market data to help manage customer relationships. Radian6 offers cloud-based software that collects people's posts or comments (reactions) from online social media channels [see Appendix D]. Concrete Issues Choosing the right tools to collect primary data Collecting primary data is the key issue here because the sheer amount of data available makes it difficult to collect data cost-effectively and segment it appropriately, and choosing the right tools for data collection can make a big difference in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. Radian6's research approach is a form of ethnographic research known as netnography, a term coined by Kozinets (1998) and later defined by Kozinets (200 2, p. 1) as “ethnography adapted to the study of online communities.” This netnographic approach used by Radian6 means that marketers can gain insights into customer opinions without bias caused by traditional contact methods and without invasion of customer privacy. Langer and Beckman (2005) found that cosmetic surgery consumers freely offered experiences and opinions via Internet discussion forums due to...... middle of paper......evangelists, viewed June 30, 2011 , http://www .radian6.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/R6_FindYourBrandEvangelists.pdfRadian6 (2010b) Radian6 Playbook, viewed June 28, 2011, http://www.radian6.com/wp-content/ uploads/2010/07/Radian6_PlayBook .pdfRadian6 (2011) Radian6 Insights Overview, video recording, viewed 29 June 2011, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgshLf8HaDU&feature=player_detailpage#t=29sRouholamini, M. and Venkatesh, S. (2011) International Journal of Information Technology and Knowledge Management, 4, 2, pp. 723-729, accessed 30 June 2011, http://www.csjournals.com/IJITKM/PDF%204-2/Article_71.pdfvan Herk, H., Poortinga, YH, Verhallen, TMM (2005) Data equivalence survey: relevance for international marketing European Journal of Marketing, 39, 3/4, pp. 351-364, viewed July 1, 2011, http://iba8010kelly.alliant.wikispaces. net/file/view/equivalence.pdf