What we think » Together social + search offer brands rich consumer insights

Social media has proven to be a communication channel where brands and consumers connect forming long-term friendships – as long as brands adopt an always-on approach - engaging audiences in a meaningful, conversational and timely way. However as audience exposure to social marketing campaigns significantly increases, brands need to become more agile and dynamic to stay visible and relevant to target audiences.

This is quite a challenge given the number of ways in which audiences consume media (both on-and-offline) and the depth and breadth of marketing activity. But, there is a way forward.

The answer is hidden in the DATA! Social and search data, that is. Social networks are a rich data source of real-time trending topics, consumer hobbies and interests, events, places of interest, brand preference/sentiment, purchase decisions, experiences and other general behavioural patterns. Social data gives marketers valuable insights into consumer behaviour which can be used to tailor targeted marketing campaigns. The data source becomes much more valuable when it’s combined with consumer search activity and online purchasing patterns.

Armed with this intelligence, brands can be responsive to consumer demand; engage audiences on matters that are relevant; develop content strategies that reflect changing interests; and select appropriate communication channels to influence consumer brand preference and increase sales.     

Collating and analysing social and search data is no mean feat, especially given the sheer volume of data and restrictions around the type of social media data that is available.  So can brands realistically easily extract insights from social and search data? At present there are only a handful of companies who believe in this approach and are actively taking steps to combine social and search activities to capture real-time consumer data to inform business and marketing strategies. 

Walmart is one such company.  They recently acquired a search 2.0 start-up to revamp the way in which the company captures and analyses search and social media data. @WalmartLabs uses technology to categorise online conversations by user, place, topic, product and events. For example, when I tweet “Enjoyed watching Captain America at the Odeon in Leicester Square with Sally”, I (user) am connected to Captain America (a movie) at the Odeon (a cinema) in Leicester Square (place) with Sally (person). By grouping search and social data in this way Walmart can create rich profiles of new and existing customers to influence:

• Business decisions: types of products/services offered can be tailored based on location, product recommendations; online sentiment about brand/product, local preferences/hobbies/interests, etc.;
• Marketing strategies: campaigns can specifically target audience segments based on interests, product preferences, real-time search results, etc.; and
• Commerce strategy: delivery of mobile applications that optimises online purchasing patterns, search behaviour and trending topics.

In a recent interview Senior Vice President of the Global E-Commerce Division of Walmart, Anand Rajaraman, stated that the @WalmartLabs technology collects data about what users currently like instead of relying solely on past purchases - which is the process Amazon.com adopts - giving the company the ability to proactively respond to customer demand/interest as the trend is happening.

While this move appears to be a significant step forward for Walmart, other brands can also adopt a similar practice of exploiting social and search data to inform business and marketing activities in real-time. Here are several steps to consider when incorporating social + search data to gain insight into consumer online behaviour:

Step One: Establish the purpose for collecting social + search data

Setting metrics upfront before embarking on collecting social and search data is important to ensure that the information aggregated can be translated into consumer profiles that inform marketing and business strategies in a meaningful, timely and measurable way.

Step two: Monitor online activity to understand consumer social + search activity

It is essential that marketing and business executives understand the interplay between search and social activity as well as the role of social listening. Consumer search patterns aren’t confined to just search engines like Google or Bing nor do conversations occur only on facebook - especially as brands continue to socialize their dot com/owned properties.  Getting a clearer picture of how search and social are connected and how these activities complement each other by monitoring online activity means companies can be responsive to ever-changing consumer needs/wants in real-time.

Step Three: Use the right mix of data collection tools

Incorporating a mix of tools to collect and aggregate social and search data means brands and companies can access timely information (previous month data) from a number of different sources, such as:

• Google – aggregates data from Twitter, Google Buzz, Friendfeed, Quora and other results from sites connected to Google profile, displaying this information in search results giving brands a holistic view of what is being said and searched for across the web;
  
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• Bing – pulls-in Facebook data much the same way Google does and displays the information in search results as per the image below. In using this search tool brands can get a flavour of the type of content that is associated with topics, keywords and general search queries within social networks and across the web.
  

• Greplin –brands can understand trending topic by searching Twitter, Facebook, Gmail and Dropbox; and
• Wajam – allows brands to search friends’ favourites from Facebook, Twitter & Delicious as well as Google.

For more information about the type of tools that allow businesses to collect social and search data, read Tad Ched’s blog post on social search tools.

Step Four: Draw valuable insights from the data collected that fit with business goals

Ensure the data collected is interpreted in a way that draws valuable conclusions/insights. Depending on the insights, businesses may need to re-evaluate campaign objectives or simply feed the results into specific business areas in order to influence customer service, sales strategies, marketing and communication activities, etc. If collected over time, businesses can map the online user journey, which when analysed accurately reveals the myriad of consumer touch points that brands can incorporate into their digital and ecommerce strategies.

In essence, brands and businesses that integrate and interpret social and search data seek to gain intelligence about consumers online behaviour, trending topics, interests, search queries and purchasing patterns. Subsequently they can be responsive to consumer demand; engage audiences on matters that are relevant; and develop marketing strategies that ensure they are present at every communication touch point as a way to influence brand preference and even purchase decisions.