Photo credit: Quinn Dombrowski
Gathering data through social channels has increasingly become a method for businesses to gain information about their customers from a personal perspective.
Some experts say that some companies are focused on gathering as much social data as possible, which is the wrong approach.
Dr. Simone Kurtzke, social media manager for VisitScotland, says that it is important not to just have the quantity of data but the quality to filter it."If you only have the quantity and you don’t have the insight then there’s no point," he said.
Engaging fans was also pointed out to be just as important as the number of fans for the social success of a brand.
"Fundamental success of a brand depends on the number of fans and the engagement of those fans," said Henry Juszkiewicz, chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar Corporation.
Juszkiewicz also noted that when engaging with social followers negative feedback is not always a bad thing. "I will look at the intensity of the response as a measure of success even if the response is negative," Juszkiewicz said.
Juzkiewicz emphasised that when using data companies must know exactly what they want.
"Data is only good as the result it can give you," he said. "I have often found that statistics guys don’t know and they’ll give you everything. Social media is not a homogenous blog. You can get swept up by the statistics."
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