Lick your finger and stick it in the air to determine which direction the wind is blowing. Pick a stick from the riverside and set it adrift downstream to judge the pace of the flow. These rudimentary attempts at predicting an outcome have as much value as judging a book by its cover. Sure it looks to be telling you something from all outward signs but underneath, 
what is going on at the core?
Ever done that thing where you kick the tyres of a car to judge the suitability of purchasing it? You can make casual judgements but you can’t have a grasp of what lies beneath or which process in the grand scheme of processes are going to falter. Or can you?
Launching a product to market isn’t about the launch event itself, that is but a bit part of a string of processes and certainly not the end point of a product’s life. Tracking trends in healthcare is going to help you identify production demands for specific medicines and by location but behind the curve. If you could track online social data to witness an unfolding emerging trend or to identify a micro-process in product development that might be a roadblock, then being ahead of the curve will help you to act in the appropriate manner.
Data is the key to all of this insight and the affordability of social media data and the cost savings it delivers against in situ focus groups and other traditional research methods is where the value can be found. Many businesses place their faith in data based algorithms and indexes that deliver insight on a variety of business functions. NPS and CSAT scores are two of the most prominent measures of performance, both regularly viewed by investors and CEO’s as static scores, social data offers not only a less expensive and live view of business data but also indicates where a change within the business needs to occur, something neither NPS or CSAT offer.
The power of social media and the pockets of data that make up tweets, blogs, forums and other digital instances afford businesses a great opportunity to make informed business decisions. Want to find out more?
