Businessmodel of Meltwater

Customer Segments

Meltwater has a mass market business model, with no significant differentiation between customer segments. The company targets its offering at firms of all industries that want online insights.

Value Proposition

Meltwater offers three primary value propositions: convenience, customization, and brand/status.

The company offers convenience by simplifying operations for clients. Its solution enables users to easily track billions of editorial, social media, and blog conversations about their firms. Users can receive summaries of the information through real-time alerts or daily digests. They can then set up a dashboard and analyze the data (e.g., sentiment, media exposure over time) to obtain insights.

The company enables customization by allowing customers to shape how they distribute the insights they uncover to third parties. With the press, they can either target key influencers and journalists by contacting them on their preferred channel, or sending out press releases via a wire service to achieve broader reach. With social media, they can schedule posts to appear on platforms days, weeks, and even months in advance. They can also create customized newsletters for other parties.

The company has established a strong brand due to its success. It has over 50 offices on six continents that serve over 25,000 companies in more than 108 countries. It has also won many honors, including the following:

• Recognition as a Finalist for a 2016 SIIA CODiE Award in the Content Analytics Solution category
• Recognition as one of “Britain’s Top Employers” by the CRF Institute in 2012
• Recognition as a “Great Place to Work” in Canada, Germany, Australia, Sweden, and Norway ### Channels

Meltwater’s main channels are its direct sales team and its website, through which it offers a demo. The company promotes its offering through its social media pages and participation in conferences.

Customer Relationships

Meltwater’s customer relationship is primarily of a self-service, automated nature.

Customers utilize the service through the main platform while having limited interaction with employees. The company’s site has an “Insights” section that features eBooks, case studies, videos, and webinars. The site also provides product guides, a blog, and answers to frequently asked questions. That said, there is a personal assistance component in the form of phone and e-mail support.

Key Activities

Meltwater’s business model entails maintaining a robust cloud platform for its clients.

Key Partners

Meltwater has been named a partner to Export to Japan, a nonprofit organization led by UK Trade and Investment, which aims to help UK firms enter and thrive in the Japanese market. The company does not maintain a formal partnership program, but has formed strategic alliances with other firms from time to time in order to expand its reach. Examples of these deals include the following:

• Meltwater has partnered with Marketwired, a provider of news distribution and social communication solutions for PR, IR and marketing professionals. Clients receive greater visibility into the success of their releases through Marketwired’s post-distribution analytics reporting.
• Meltwater has partnered with Sprout Social, a provider of social media management tools. Insights from its solution will power Sprout Social’s social engagement platform and help clients find the right message to reach the right person at the right time.
• Meltwater has partnered with Strutta Media, a provider of social marketing applications and analytics for online promotions. Clients will be able to more easily design and manage their contets, sweepstakes, etc. ### Key Resources

Meltwater’s main resource is its proprietary software platform, which serves over 25,000 companies.  It also depends on human resources in the form of technology employees to maintain the platform, sales staff to promote it, and customer service staff to provide support.

Cost Structure

Meltwater has a cost-driven structure, aiming to minimize expenses through significant automation.

Its biggest cost driver is likely sales/marketing, a fixed cost. Other major drivers are in the areas of administration and customer support/operations, both fixed expenses.

Revenue Streams

Meltwater has one revenue stream: revenues it generates from the subscription fees it charges for regular access to its software-as-a-service platform. Sales staff must be contacted directly for pricing.