Organizations have yet to unlock social’s true potential

[shaownhasan]

But as funding for social media increases, so do the expectations to see immediate results. Business leaders have already proven social data is an invaluable asset—now they have to demonstrate the returns on that facebook data investment. If executives want to capitalize on all that social data has to offer, they need to reevaluate how social data is internally shared and acted on across their teams.

As integral as social is to business success, there’s a disconnect between how executives perceive social data and how it’s actually leveraged. The reality is teams struggle to get the most out of their social investment, with 69% of business leaders agreeing that social data is currently underutilized in their organization.

Circle chart showing that 69% of surveyed business leaders agree social data is underutilized in their organizations.
Part of that is due to lack of access. Historically, access to social data was limited to platforms and tools that were technically complex to implement and required third-party interpretation. Relying on an analyst or software vendor to compile these insights often meant that information wasn’t coming in in real-time, slowing down teams whose decisions were dependent on that data.

Similarly, there are issues with how social data is shared and utilized throughout all parts of the organization, not just within the team responsible for owning social. Data reveals 56% of business leaders say they need greater collaboration between departments when it comes to using social data.

Because when social data is democratically leveraged, it can inform everything from sales strategy to product development to market research. In order to truly capture social’s value, business leaders need to reimagine how teams collaborate with each other and the tools needed to manipulate social insights at scale.