The answer is yes! But first let's understand what social media
intelligence is all about. It is essentially the information or data
that is gathered from various social media sites relevant to a
particular business (both intrusive and non-intrusive). For small and
medium sized businesses, can be a beacon of light to guide them through
various business related decisions.
The next step is to use the correct tools and knowledge to apply the available information in a relevant manner. Let's look at some of the ways the businesses can use this data to make their decisions.
Audience selection
Any kind of business would require knowing their audience thoroughly to execute the proper campaigns. Using the correct tools is the first step towards this. For example, through Facebook Insights, one can gather enough market intelligence along with social media intelligence to gain information like the age, gender and general preferences of a potential consumer. This information will, in turn, help the business to target the right kind of audience for their product and focus their campaigns accordingly.
A soft drinks company launched a drink in 2009 and soon saw that young men loved the product while women were having mixed opinion and were not particularly fond of it. They found that young girls and women expressed their disdain freely on social media sites. Through this market intelligence, they slowly found out that they were actually opposed to the TV ad promoting the product, and not the product itself. The company, thus, changed their campaign accordingly to better target the respective audience.
With proper social media intelligence at your disposal, you can also locate your audience and understand where the best engagement is coming from to make better decisions. For example, Hootsuite's link shortener, ow.ly, will allow you to track the number of clicks you are receiving from your links.
Understand audience sentiment
Another advantage that comes with gathering enough market intelligence from social media sites is to track what your consumers think about your product or service overall. This can be done on various platforms, be it Facebook or Twitter. Consumers, these days, resort to various digital platforms like these and express their opinions on the products they use. These opinions also become a point of decision for other consumers who wish to buy that product or utilize the service. Thus, to avoid losing any potential customer, businesses can screen these comments, likes, and opinions and take the necessary steps. This kind of information will provide a business with the proper guidance on how to plan its next move to provide better service.
Engaging the audience
Creating a successful business is all about making the client feel valued. And nothing does it better than putting in a personal touch. With the proper social media intelligence at your disposal, you can arrange for events that will not only promote your product, but also give you an idea as to which section of the audience to target next. Social media intelligence helps you identify the sort of events that are likely to engage the highest number of customers- be it a poll, or a giveaway, or some sort of contest. A case in point is the recent launch of smartphones by Xiaomi. The brand, which is virtually unknown outside of China, managed to sell a few million devices in just a few months by the simple method of promoting the product via social media and making it mandatory for customers to register to obtain the product. Not only did it help generate a huge amount of publicity, it also made it possible for the company to estimate beforehand the sort of figures it was looking at.
Thus, social media intelligence is the way to go for any business that aims at targeting the right audience. After all, it is publicity that sells the product. With the right sort of intelligence at your disposal, you will know just how to create the right sort of noises.
The next step is to use the correct tools and knowledge to apply the available information in a relevant manner. Let's look at some of the ways the businesses can use this data to make their decisions.
Audience selection
Any kind of business would require knowing their audience thoroughly to execute the proper campaigns. Using the correct tools is the first step towards this. For example, through Facebook Insights, one can gather enough market intelligence along with social media intelligence to gain information like the age, gender and general preferences of a potential consumer. This information will, in turn, help the business to target the right kind of audience for their product and focus their campaigns accordingly.
A soft drinks company launched a drink in 2009 and soon saw that young men loved the product while women were having mixed opinion and were not particularly fond of it. They found that young girls and women expressed their disdain freely on social media sites. Through this market intelligence, they slowly found out that they were actually opposed to the TV ad promoting the product, and not the product itself. The company, thus, changed their campaign accordingly to better target the respective audience.
With proper social media intelligence at your disposal, you can also locate your audience and understand where the best engagement is coming from to make better decisions. For example, Hootsuite's link shortener, ow.ly, will allow you to track the number of clicks you are receiving from your links.
Understand audience sentiment
Another advantage that comes with gathering enough market intelligence from social media sites is to track what your consumers think about your product or service overall. This can be done on various platforms, be it Facebook or Twitter. Consumers, these days, resort to various digital platforms like these and express their opinions on the products they use. These opinions also become a point of decision for other consumers who wish to buy that product or utilize the service. Thus, to avoid losing any potential customer, businesses can screen these comments, likes, and opinions and take the necessary steps. This kind of information will provide a business with the proper guidance on how to plan its next move to provide better service.
Engaging the audience
Creating a successful business is all about making the client feel valued. And nothing does it better than putting in a personal touch. With the proper social media intelligence at your disposal, you can arrange for events that will not only promote your product, but also give you an idea as to which section of the audience to target next. Social media intelligence helps you identify the sort of events that are likely to engage the highest number of customers- be it a poll, or a giveaway, or some sort of contest. A case in point is the recent launch of smartphones by Xiaomi. The brand, which is virtually unknown outside of China, managed to sell a few million devices in just a few months by the simple method of promoting the product via social media and making it mandatory for customers to register to obtain the product. Not only did it help generate a huge amount of publicity, it also made it possible for the company to estimate beforehand the sort of figures it was looking at.
Thus, social media intelligence is the way to go for any business that aims at targeting the right audience. After all, it is publicity that sells the product. With the right sort of intelligence at your disposal, you will know just how to create the right sort of noises.
by Reeya Bose
Article source: http://goarticles.com/article/Can-Social-Media-Intelligence-Really-Help-Your-Business/9929776/
If you would like to master social media marketing for your business, collect 4 free ebooks at: www.methodsocialmedia.com
If you would like to master social media marketing for your business, collect 4 free ebooks at: www.methodsocialmedia.com
