It is my great pleasure to share “Social Data Intelligence,” the latest research report by industry analyst and my colleague, Susan Etlinger. This report might be considered a glimpse into where we are (as a market) in the evolution of social business from a data perspective.
“Social Data Intelligence: Integrating Social & Enterprise Data for Competitive Advantage” illustrates how leading companies are starting to integrate social data sets into other traditional business data sets. Think Supply Chain, Business Intelligence, Market Research, Sales, Product Development, etc.
According to Altimeter Group research, the average enterprise-class company owns 178 social media accounts, while 13 departments are actively engaging in social media.
But while applications of social data outside of marketing are not terribly new anymore, leveraging social data to drive these applications in real-time is new. Social Media, and as a result, social data, have remained mostly silo’d from other business-critical enterprise data sources and functions. This partial view– lacking some of the most critical (read: behavioral, preferential, and historical) customer insights– in the context of other enterprise and external data leaves businesses half-blind, and at risk:
- Partially informed decision-making
- Missed opportunities
- Duplicated or inconsistent efforts
- Poor customer experience
- Increased costs
Yet its potential to transform business agility, awareness, processes, and insight, creates a real imperative for businesses to take advantage of Social Data Intelligence.
Social Data Intelligence: Insight derived from social data that organizations can use confidently, at scale, and in conjunction with other data sources to make strategic decisions.
One key finding of this report is that this is still a relatively nascent market; Even large brands with ‘deep pockets’ are just beginning to dip their toes in. Across the 34 companies (11 brands and 23 vendors and agencies) we interviewed, there were only a handful who were fully integrated and acting on social data in real time, and many others still in the implementation phase. (Be sure to check out the case examples in the report, for Symantec, Caesar’s Entertainment, Parasole Restaurant Holdings, and more.)
While early, this trend is beginning to pervade. Even if data is not fully integrated, our research found more and more companies are looking at social data in conjunction with other data sets. In an Altimeter Group survey of 27 enterprise-class organizations, 70% stated that they are viewing social data in the context of other enterprise data to make business decisions. While this is indeed a limited sample size and should be interpreted anecdotally, it’s serves as an early indication that social data is on its way to being considered a legitimate source of intelligence.
The most common and logical initial point of integration is business intelligence, as it is an analytics-driven function to begin with. Indeed, other teams, such as market research and customer experience, are beginning to incorporate social data into their purview as well to identify trends, influences, touchpoints, etc.
This market-defining research report reflects input from 34 enterprise-class organizations and technology ecosystem contributors, and lays out the business case for Social Data Intelligence, by identifying:
- Key dimensions that organizations must understand to apply data and scale
- Successful businesses using social data in the context of other critical enterprise data to drive measurable value throughout the organization
- Pragmatic steps businesses can take toward mature integration
We also introduce a Social Data Maturity Map to be used as a yardstick for businesses to both understand where they stand today and what evolution across each phase looks like requires.
I invite you to read this report and let us know what you think. You can download the full report here:
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Where do you fall on the Social Data Maturity Map? Where are you integrating social data today? Where do you struggle to integrate and where have you seen real value emerge? What’s next?
Be sure to pop over to Susan’s blog on the report here.
Also, be sure to register for the webinar on this report on Sept. 5.