The pervasiveness of social media has, not surprisingly, bled into parts of our lives previously unsuspected. One of these areas is the business world – but not in the way you’re thinking.
It is true that the vast majority of businesses use social media today to talk to their customers directly. They find out their wants, their needs, and what they like or dislike about the products the business sells. But there’s another aspect of social media in business that’s becoming increasingly more prevalent: social business intelligence (SBI).
What Is Social Business Intelligence?
Social business intelligence is the use of social media and other programs by cloud-based businesses and end users to make better decisions about their business direction. Users interact across teams, computers, and across many miles to share vital info like sales, expenses, and customer feedback.
Just like any other information gathered for business use, this data is only as good when it’s put into place. Data collected and unshared goes nowhere. This is why social business intelligence is becoming so successful, as it offers many chances for companies to see, faster than ever, how well they’re doing, and where they need to improve.
SBI is relatively new, but is quickly becoming a dominant force for businesses to analyze data. Earlier this year, IBM announced they were committing $100 million dollars to massive scale analytics research. The project was aimed to streamline the ability to analyze vast amounts of streaming data as quickly as possible. Truly the days of pen and paper are behind us, and SBI may be leading the way when it comes to the business world.
What Social Business Intelligence Means
Cloud-using businesses everywhere have a greater chance than ever before to really understand what makes their company (or in our case, their group) tick when they utilize social business intelligence. Best yet, social business intelligence isn’t just data, we’re not dealing with raw numbers.
Does your business want to improve its social media use? Use social business intelligence to create custom analytics to track every step your teams make. As you slowly improve, watch where the numbers lead you and make small adjustments.
On a more philosophical level, you could use SBI to identify and track situational awareness opportunities with your product or event. Using the raw data from SBI, you can determine when customers or more or less “open” to the idea of your company depending on their moods. If you need help finding a good time to release your newest idea to the world, SBI can help everyone on your team.
Honestly, if you’re not utilizing the power of social media and the Cloud, you’re getting left behind. More and more it seems the business world toward social, cloud based business, and innovations like social business intelligence characterize what the Cloud can do for you. Consider getting ahead of the curve and signing up today so you can begin learning!
