Restless Creativity

Econsultancy asks a tough question¹ – are brands overestimating the value of social data?

Sure, it’s fun and interesting to look at data culled from social media, but make no mistake about it: the indirect and often subjective conclusions that are drawn from these sources reveal far less — and matter far less — than the top and bottom lines. Put simply, if you can’t figure out where your brand stands in a market and what consumers are telling you by looking at these figures, data from Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest isn’t going to help.

I think these are the kind of numbers that matter to social media agencies and specialists, but generally not the larger world. It’s important that the specialists have data to help them hone their craft, but social data isn’t going to be that important to you if you’re not intimately involved in social media strategy.

In my own experience, I’ve found social data interesting to look at, but generally not an insight driver. What they can do is help reinforce trends that you might see elsewhere, or identify gaps in a brand’s social presence.