Skip links

[Podcast] Bringing Social Data to Life: Malena Roche on the Art of Insight Discovery

A Podcast Series Dedicated to the Women in Social Listening & Insights

In this podcast series, Convosphere’s CEO, Jackie Cuyvers, meets some of the leading women in the industry. Each episode delves into their unique career paths, experiences and perspectives in the ever-evolving world of social listening, market research and digital insights. This series not only highlights the significant contributions of women in the field but also serves as a platform for sharing knowledge, challenges and triumphs.

Jackie Cuyvers meets Malena Roche, founder of Ignited Insights

In this episode of the Women in Social Listening and Insights podcast, host Jackie Cuyvers speaks with Malena Roche, founder of Ignited Insights. With a background in linguistics, Malena has successfully navigated the world of social intelligence, honing her expertise in digital insights and strategy by working with a range of data sources including social media, search and surveys. They delve into Malena’s distinctive path in the field, the key skills needed for success and the influence of cultural differences on research approaches. Malena also shares her passion for problem-solving and explores the evolving role of AI, machine learning and social intelligence in areas such as product development and tracking consumer trends. Listen in for her thoughts on the future of social listening, recommended resources for staying current and her advice for those looking to enter this fast-growing field.

Time Stamped Overview of the Podcast

00:00 – Showcasing Women’s Work in Social Intelligence

04:40 – Different Clients Need Varying Levels of Detail

08:45 – International Teams Offer Valuable Cultural Insights

11:02 – Conduct Independent Research Analyse and Identify Key Takeaways

14:18 – Overlaying Trends with Search Data Reveals Interest

19:10 – Reading Behavioural Science Aids Understanding Social Insights

22:48 – Diverse Academic Backgrounds Support Social Media Careers

25:11 – Thanks and Subscribe to Our Podcast Updates


Podcast Transcript

Jackie Cuyvers:
Welcome to the Women in Social Listening and Insights podcast where we showcase the incredible work of women working in the field of social intelligence. My name is Jackie Cuyvers and I’ll be your host for this journey. In this podcast, we’ll be speaking with women from enterprise, agencies and academia who are leading the charge in the world of social listening and insights. Together, we’ll be exploring their careers, the challenges they’ve faced and overcome, and the innovative solutions they’ve developed. Our goal is to provide valuable insights and advice to our listeners who are passionate about this field and committed to advancing their careers. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just starting out, you’ll find inspiration and guidance in these conversations. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn from the women who are shaping the future of social intelligence. Let’s get started.

Jackie Cuyvers:
Today, I’m joined by Malena Roche. Malena, it’s lovely to have you. Please introduce yourself.

Malena Roche:
Hi, Jackie. Thank you for having me. My name is Malena Roche. I have, since January, my own company called Ignited Insights, where I do a mix of digital insights and strategy, mostly with social media data, search data and survey data.

Jackie Cuyvers:
That sounds like a lot of different datasets you’re working with. Can you tell us a little bit about your background, how you first got into this field of social intelligence, and perhaps what your path looked like?

Malena Roche:
Yeah. Definitely. I think everyone’s path is so different. It’s not one of those jobs where you go to uni for a certain thing, finish, and that’s what you do because there’s no degree in social listening. In my case, I did linguistics at university. I did an applied master’s, which meant that when I left university, I knew how to do Boolean queries, which was super handy for using software like Brandwatch, Talkwalker and Pulsar.

Malena Roche:
So I was just doing some work within that, within translation, and I actually came full circle. Convosphere was one of the first places I freelanced at.

Jackie Cuyvers:
So coming full circle, working for companies like Convosphere to now launching your own business, what really inspires you to do this work?

Malena Roche:
That is a vague question, but I was recently speaking to Natalia Lau, who was also on this podcast. One of the things that’s key is being a curious person. To be good at this job, you have to have a curious nature. That’s one of the things I really like about the job – problem solving, finding new ways of doing things, answers to things that aren’t always on the surface, you know, and you have to really dig deep to find that insight. So, yeah, I guess I love problem solving.

Jackie Cuyvers:
So you’ve mentioned problem solving and curiosity. What skills do you think are essential for success in communicating with stakeholders or collaborating with partners?

Malena Roche:
Yeah. I think sometimes when you’re in a particularly larger organisation, and there may be some people who are not day-to-day looking at data or aren’t so data savvy, a lot of it has to do with practical applications of things. So not so much being in every detail of every finding that you have, but more about, okay, this is what I found. This is what this department can do with it. This is what this other department can do with it and how they can use that, probably tailoring things to the stakeholder you’re talking to. So, obviously, if you’re doing something for marketing, it’s going to be different than if you’re doing something for the talent team or the product development team.

Jackie Cuyvers:
That’s a lot of different stakeholder requirements to take into consideration. How do you balance the need for real-time insights for one stakeholder versus the need for more in-depth analysis and interpretation of the data for different stakeholders?

Malena Roche:
That’s a really good question, and I think something that I’ve learned working across different projects with different clients is that sometimes what some people really want is a summary, and then other people will want, you know, a big deck with a lot of graphs and a lot of detail. So a lot of the time, what I’ll do or I have done with teams in the past is send almost like in-progress emails where we’ll say, okay, at a first glance of the data, this is what we found. Here are some bullet points. Then when the project is done, there’ll be maybe, like, a smaller deck with an executive summary and a little bit more. And then there’ll be the full research, but not everyone’s going to look at that longer piece.

Jackie Cuyvers:
So understanding the output that your stakeholder is looking for or able to consume and work with seems to be important.

Malena Roche:
Yeah. Everyone’s needs are going to be different, especially if you’re working with a big organisation.

Jackie Cuyvers:
Can you perhaps walk us through a recent project you worked on and what you learned from it?

Malena Roche:
Yeah. For sure. I think because we were talking at first about working with different data sources, something that I found really interesting recently is how you can complement a lot of things like data points from survey data, even if it’s not surveys you run yourself, even if it’s data points from GWI or Statista. And I think sometimes social listening can be a really good complement for that. I can give you an example. Sometimes with survey data, there aren’t qualitative questions, only quantitative, which makes it hard to bring the insight to life.

Jackie Cuyvers:
And how was the work received?

Malena Roche:
Really well. I was really happy with how it turned out. I’ll definitely be doing more of that in the future.

Jackie Cuyvers:
Sounds good. Can you walk us through the process of conducting social listening research across multiple markets or languages?

Malena Roche:
Yeah. I’ve done a lot of EMEA-wide work. I speak Spanish and German, and I can also read other Romance languages like Portuguese and Italian, which is really handy because even if I’m not the one writing all the queries for the projects, I can understand and review them and give feedback. So that’s really useful.

Malena Roche:
Sometimes if you start with a query in English and just translate it, it doesn’t work as well because there are a lot of nuances in the language and a lot of slang. So I think even though a lot of people rely on tools like ChatGPT nowadays, it’s so important to have native speakers involved in the process, especially in interpreting the data and getting those cultural nuances right.

Jackie Cuyvers:
I 100% agree. Cultural context really matters. Can you share a time when you had to adapt your research methodology to accommodate different markets or languages?

Malena Roche:
Yes, speaking again of cultural nuances, one of the positives of having an international team is that they bring those cultural insights. For example, if I were doing a project on Latin America and Brazil had issues with data availability, I would need someone local to help find alternate data sources. This has happened on various projects, where data sources in some markets are limited, and we’ve had to look elsewhere for insights. Sometimes people think localisation just means translation, but it’s much more than that – having native speakers can provide much more than just translating queries.

Jackie Cuyvers:
And I think about data and platforms not just being different in terms of access, but even if the platforms exist in different markets, the audiences interact with them differently. For example, how people use Facebook varies between countries compared to how it’s used in the US.

Malena Roche:
Yes, and even behavioural insights differ. In some cultures, people are more private and may read your content but not interact with it as much, or they may like posts but not comment much. These differences need to be considered, as they could impact your engagement rates.

Jackie Cuyvers:
Exactly. So how do you ensure your insights and recommendations are relevant across different markets or languages?

Malena Roche:
I like to do the pieces of research independently, and then at the end of the process, look for differences and similarities across markets. If a client doesn’t have the resources to do a different strategy for each market, I’ll focus on the key takeaways and ensure they understand which areas need extra consideration or cultural sensitivity.

Jackie Cuyvers:
How do you see the relationship between social intelligence and other areas of marketing and data analysis, such as customer experience or customer relationship management?

Malena Roche:
That’s a great question. One thing I think companies often do is send out customer satisfaction surveys, but it’s interesting to compare those results with what people say in public forums like Google reviews. The more data sources, the better, and I’d encourage companies to look beyond just their own datasets.

Jackie Cuyvers:
Can you discuss the role of social intelligence in product development and innovation?

Malena Roche:
It’s one of my favourite applications of social media data. I think more companies could use social listening for trendspotting, to identify white spaces in product categories. I’ve worked on some interesting projects in this area, though it’s not something I get to do as often as I’d like.

Jackie Cuyvers:
We’ve used it with innovation teams too, and it could definitely be used more broadly. Speaking of social data, how do you detect emerging trends in consumer behaviour, especially in relation to fads versus long-term trends?

Malena Roche:
It’s fascinating when you overlay social media data with search data. This combination helps to see what’s trending, what’s being googled, and what’s being discussed online. Sometimes trends are just fads, but social and search data together can reveal whether they have staying power.

Jackie Cuyvers:
How do you stay current with the latest developments in social listening and insights? What resources do you rely on?

Malena Roche:
I try to make time for webinars, conferences, and reading. I’m a big fan of Canvas8, and I also keep up with anything coming from the Social Intelligence Lab. Jill May does great work in the field.

Jackie Cuyvers:
AI, machine learning, Gen AI – it’s all big in the industry right now. How do you see AI changing social listening and insights?Malena Roche:
I’ve been thinking a lot about this, especially with AI-generated content like deepfakes becoming more common. We’re going to need tools that can detect what’s real and what isn’t. It ties into data literacy too – helping people understand what’s real and what’s AI-generated.

Jackie Cuyvers:
How do you see the field of social listening and insights evolving in the next 5 to 10 years?

Malena Roche:
I think we’re going to see more regulation around disinformation, especially with platforms like TikTok and what’s happened with X in Brazil. It feels like a bit of a Wild West right now, but I expect that to change soon.

Jackie Cuyvers:
Are there any books that have shaped your career? What would you recommend to other social listening and insights professionals?Malena Roche:
I’m a huge bookworm! I’d recommend The Choice Factory by Richard Shotton and Hooked by Patrick Fagan. They explain behavioural science concepts in an accessible way. I also love Using Semiotics in Marketing by Rachel Lawes – cross-disciplinary reading is so valuable.

Jackie Cuyvers:
Can you share some advice for individuals interested in pursuing a career in social intelligence?Malena Roche:
I’d say don’t be put off by the idea that you need to be a maths whiz to work with data. I’m not great at maths either, but tools like Excel make it manageable. Curiosity, problem solving and flexibility are key skills.

Jackie Cuyvers:
Thank you so much, Malena. This has been an absolute joy. I really appreciate you sharing your story.

Malena Roche:
Thank you for having me. It’s been a bit of a full-circle moment for me, and I was thrilled to be invited.

Jackie Cuyvers:
And that’s a wrap for this episode of the Women in Social Listening and Insights podcast. I hope you’ve enjoyed this conversation and gained some valuable insights. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes or Spotify so you never miss an episode. Thanks again to our guest for sharing her expertise, and until next time, I’m Jackie Cuyvers – thanks for listening!