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Every month, 25 billion pieces of information are shared on Facebook where social media data mining is part of marketing strategy nowadays. Imagine for a moment that you own all that data, and you need to find customers for your newest product – the Bait Mate – a device that automatically baits your fishing hook.
Dive Deep into Marketing Data
Facebook now boasts around half a billion people, all sharing their information and lifestyle choices. It’s a virtual goldmine of consumer data. You can find factual data such as age, gender, hometown, etc. And you can find preference data such as dining, vocation, sports activities, and the like.
Now, to find your customer market for the Bait Mate, you’re in heaven. How many fishermen have posted photos of their big catch? Where do they live? Who are their fishing buddies? What guides do they use? Where do they travel to fish? You have, at your fingertips, the deepest goldmine in the business world. Bar none. All your questions have answers.
What About Privacy?
For the many millions of people who have posted their personal data on the internet, privacy is a moot point – it’s already public. So the hunt is now on for marketers to find ways to mine the data quickly, accurately, and effectively; and make money doing it.
This new surge is further blurring the lines of privacy, and most consumers don’t even know it’s happening. For instance, if you “Like” the new Bait Mate on your Facebook page, you’re likely to see new ads appear on the right side of your page for things like fishing gear and river trips. Facebook has categorized your preferences in their database and included your profile in the ‘list’ they ‘sell’ to these advertisers.
If folks realized this is going on, would they care?
Watch for Social Search Engine “PeopleBrowsr” and Many Others to Emerge
PeopleBrowsr is a data mining, analytics, and brand engagement service provider for enterprise brand managers, advertising agencies, social media strategists, and hedge fund managers. They started three years ago, building a huge data mine of tweets, Facebook data, and MySpace data
According to Jodee Rich, CEO of People Browser, “We look at events, we look at brands, we look at the global Twittersphere. People Browsr, as a ‘social search engine’ and a ‘conversation mine’. In advertising terms, it’s ‘sentiment analysis’, where people, computers, or a combination of both, trawl through online comments, conversations, opinions, for information about how people are thinking and feeling about certain products.”
How do you feel about this deep dive into data? Is it tolerable or too invasive?
(Many thanks to ABC.net, Background Briefing, Shevonne Hunt, and “Social media and sentiment mining” for the inspiration and quote.)
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For more resources, see our Library topics Marketing and Social Networking.
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ABOUT Lisa M. Chapman: With offices in Nashville Tennessee, but working virtually with international clients, Lisa M. Chapman serves her clients as a business and marketing coach, business planning consultant and social media consultant. As a Founder of iBrand Masters, a social media consulting firm, Lisa Chapman helps clients to establish and enhance their online brand, attract their target market, engage them in meaningful social media conversations, and convert online traffic into revenues. Email: Lisa @ LisaChapman.com
