When CMOs talk about “cross-platform marketing” today, social media is almost certainly one (or more) of the platforms that they mean. But do marketers see social media insights as having strategic value?
As with so many other aspects of digital marketing, the oceans of social media data at marketers’ fingertips are not matched by a depth of insight into their implications or potential uses. Masses of data are only as valuable as the priorities used to sort them. When only 10 or 15 data points appear on a dashboard, and thousands or millions remain behind the scenes, we need to recognize that a lot of decisions have been made before our CMO or CRO or CDO turns on his computer in the morning.
The truth is that too much social media data reporting and analysis supports a short-term, reactive approach to marketing and communications. We can start with the dashboards that the sites provide on their own, rudimentary tallies for the broadest swaths of users, all with the aim of selling advertising or sponsored posts. It may be good news that a brand’s Facebook views have risen by 56% this year, but what can that tell us about the next wave of innovation, or how the brand needs to refresh and re-engage in the coming five years?
The strategic importance of social data may not be readily apparent or widely acknowledged, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be found. Defining that strategic value, and then putting it to work, requires a counterintuitive approach to social analytics. At a time when automated processing of vast quantities of data seems like the solution to everything, we need to take a step back—to human study and interpretation of selected quantities of social posts.
The fact is that, while marketers may see social media interactions in terms of thousands or millions of followers or “likes,” the brand experience for each of those users often is intensely personal. The good or bad impressions of products that consumers acquire on the Web—from causes supported to discounts offered—can have as direct an impact on brand loyalty as use of the product, itself. These impressions and interactions all channel to the simplest of metrics: “How do I feel about brand X? Will I buy this brand or another one the next time that I go shopping?”
