Social media analytics

Social media analytics (SMA) describe the data collection from social media sites (i.e. FB, Twitter, media forums, review sites, etc. ), blogs and evaluating that data to make informed business decisions. This process goes beyond the usual monitoring or a basic analysis of retweets or ‘likes’. It is designed to develop an in-depth knowledge of the social media consumer, but it is not always easy. The difficulty to stay focused on social media analytics come from the fact that it comes with a lot of noise and in variety of forms and from sometimes not trustworthy sources.

Additionally, brands often make the mistake of running a social media analysis on a topic once forgetting that online is always in a state of flux.  The relationship with the data in social media analytics is ongoing to account for fluctuations inherent in the medium. Because of that it is particularly important to establish a process that will take the everchanging environment into account. The ability to cut through the online noise looking for actionable market, competitive and consumer intelligence, put together with consistent monitoring tracking conversational fluctuations over time is the only mark of effective social media analytics. When organized in a right way social media analytics becomes a treasure trove of consumer insights you cannot find anywhere else. Without that, social media presents a guessing game and a headache in an ever-changing funnel of information without cohesive insight.

What are not social media analytics?

It is important to understand what the social media analytics is and what is not. The field of 'social media' is full of terms that often are used without deeper understanding. Below are the few:

• Social Media Intelligence is the closest term to social media analytics. Social intelligence is the bunch of technology solutions and methods used to monitor social media, including social conversations and emerging trends.  

• Social Media Listening is the one term most often confused term with social media analytics. The social listening applies to one specific aspect of social media analytics: Learning about your audience.

• Social Competitive Analysis is the process of investigating competitors of your brand and their audience. Because social media is such a transparent medium, social media analytics tools can be applied to brands beyond your own.

To achieve the business success understanding the differences between the above terms and social media analytics is a must. BMF Design will make sure that your social media analytics reflects the above principles, set the achievable targets, produce reports and provide conclusions for improving the targeting and positioning of the social media content and assets.