Business Intelligence for Social Networks

Among the key technology trends for the next decade, business intelligence stands out as a real ROI powerhouse. The coining of business intelligence 2.0 in relation to Web 2.0 to 3.0 further exemplifies how BI even attaches itself to other trends on the media side that can have an impact on organization success and growth. What businesses seem to be acknowledging ever more increasingly though is that social networks also are a must-have for several reasons: they're inexpensive to utilize, can be automated, can generate leads and new recruits, increase website traffic, and can even help reveal online trends that affect business.

What makes social networks and business intelligence a great tag team is the fact that when combined, they unleash a wealth of reporting, discovery, and knowledge that can reveal data that has the potential to create a powerful impact on decision making and development. But what can businesses expect from measuring social network data and how can it be done effectively?

Any business that implements business intelligence knows the wealth of data that can be measured and reported through BI. There are so many different dimensions that can be taken into account when measuring data and statistics; sometimes it can seem like an overwhelming task needing professional guidance (consultants in IT usually come in handy here). The first step is to get a holistic understanding of your business services and goals and then establish presence in relation to those factors on social networks.

Whether a business is seeking to revamp business processes or make new discoveries, utilizing the Web 2.0 online world in conjunction with business intelligence and social networks creates data that can be used to make faster and more informed decisions. Whether harnessing trends on Twitter or creating B2B and B2C relationships on Linkedin and Facebook, having the right metrics in the right format to reveal the value provided by the social networks can make a difference on future marketing campaigns.

To effectively track and measure social network success and data, you first need to know the metrics that need to be measured, combine it into relational values, and then extract the information into measurements that make sense for your organization.

Important elements in measured data

One of the great features of business intelligence or even CRM systems is the ability to track marketing and sales campaigns and reproduce successful ones or scrap the less productive ones. Using the reporting features in BI dashboards especially, businesses can gain knowledge about key elements that can effect marketing and decision making, including:

• Demographics of the users and the industries in which they are affiliated.
  
• Measurable successes from campaigns, such as conversions or even user-generated content and chatter.
  
• Keywords, topics, and trends.
  
• Competitor activities, services, and user relationships.