Can social media analytics replace traditional market research?
About 3-4 years ago, to tell sociologists / resellers "Include social media data in your research" caused laughter at best. It is remarkable that the first of the sociologists “publicly took the risk” of VTsIOM (Valery Fedorov is a remarkable personality in itself) - several breakthrough public cases for the 12-13th years are available on the VoxPopuli website ( http://vox-populi.ru ).
More - more: now, when many large brands, state and private companies, agencies, media, research structures are already long-term and active users of social media monitoring and analysis systems, the trend has turned 180 degrees - now sociologists / resellers have to find their niche, integrating into the trend.
In principle, no one is against it - the experience gained by the industry and methodologies is a very good baggage for cooperation and joint gain. In addition, social media analytics allows you to solve problems that:
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Source - www.cyberalert.com/blog/index.php/can-social-media-analytics-replace-traditional-market-research
Social media analytics have several distinct advantages over traditional marketing research. Probably the most important advantage is that it is cheap and fast. Are the benefits of social media analytics a death sentence for traditional market research methods?
Benefits of social media analytics for market research
Innovations in the field of monitoring and social media analytics have provided marketers with many useful tools for market research. Searching for keywords on Twitter, Facebook, blogs and other social platforms allows you to see many detailed conversations of users on almost any topic. Services such as CyberAlert Buzz collect messages in social media, using in combination automated programs and expert analysts to analyze and create reports.
Social media analytics can collect as much data in days and hours as traditional data are collected in a month. In addition, research of users of social networks may be more accurate than traditional market research, as consumers are less susceptible against social networks, unlike other people's items in the questionnaire. People, as a rule, express their emotions in social networks much more openly, because they are not “subordinated” to questions from the questionnaire.
Due to clear advantages, social media analyst is confidently moving to replace personal interviews, polls, focus groups and other familiar market research technologies.
Limitations of Social Media Analysis
However, many experts say that social media research cannot yet completely replace traditional marketing research.
Many consumers do not use social media, or they have a page, but they almost never write or communicate with it. In the results of the study of social media, there is a sample bias, which in traditional studies is leveled using the methods of random selection of respondents. Social media analytics also do not include some demographic information, such as geographic regions (place of residence), profession, or level of education — some people may fake or hide them. Opinions of people who do not use social media may differ markedly from the opinions of consumers who use them - if only because these people are different demographic groups. In addition, in some countries, only a small proportion of the population has access to the Internet. Therefore, international brands should also conduct traditional research in order to take their opinions into account as well.
Social media analytics are still young; research methods are changing rapidly and not at all ubiquitous. As a result, the data and results are quite controversial. Traditional research methods, including surveys and focus groups, have a significant advantage in the form of ingrained, well-designed and proven technologies and results.
Addition, but not replacement
Marketing specialist Kevin Gray, founder of Cannon Gray, a consulting company, and Cohen Powes, a marketing professor at Ozyegin University, Istanbul, argue that social media is a very important component, but not a complete replacement for traditional market research.
“Social media is still fairly new, as are the analytical tools for analyzing them, they are still only developing,” they wrote in a message for the Green Book, a blog about marketing research. There are also questions about the accuracy of data from social media. It is not known what percentage of people write false information about themselves, whether they are representatives of the general audience, and whether they are completely honest.
However, they agree that social provides a lot of new information and strongly influenced marketing research. “The world of marketing has changed a lot over the past decade, and you won’t find a way back even if you really want to,” the authors conclude.
In a study by Vision Critical, a market research center, potential disadvantages of relying solely on social media analysis are mentioned. Their study “What social media analytics will not tell about your customers” describes how active social media users are - who represented only 29 percent of the audience of the three major brands on social media, but wrote 85 percent of all brand reports on Facebook - are very different from others users and their buying habits.
Active users of social media, as a rule, are active buyers and prefer to compare stores on their mobile devices when they are already in them, and they are easier to understand for marketers. Consumers who write messages rarely made up the majority of consumers of those brands, and were less active buyers, and they are much more difficult to understand due to the scarcity of their public comments.
Comparing social media analysis methods with traditional marketing research results will help marketers understand the difference between research approaches, as well as in evaluating the effectiveness of the results. In modern market research, marketers should be one step ahead of analyzing the results of each specific study. It is now important to compare traditional research methods with new social media research to better understand the benefits and the most appropriate areas of application for each system.
______________________
Afterword : Nowadays, many brands conduct social media research in order to quickly and affordably (market) conduct market research. Although some marketers say that social media analytics can replace traditional research methods, using both traditional and social media research methods is the most effective approach to marketing research to get the most accurate information and find the best ways to apply each type of research.
More - more: now, when many large brands, state and private companies, agencies, media, research structures are already long-term and active users of social media monitoring and analysis systems, the trend has turned 180 degrees - now sociologists / resellers have to find their niche, integrating into the trend.
In principle, no one is against it - the experience gained by the industry and methodologies is a very good baggage for cooperation and joint gain. In addition, social media analytics allows you to solve problems that:
')
- It is impossible to solve with standard methods - see, for example, the “Obama button” ( http://megamozg.ru/company/palitrumlab/blog/13682/ )
- Expensive - for example, the study "Love and hate in the regions of Russia" ( http://br-analytics.ru/blog/lyubov-i-nenavist-na-karte-rossii-leto-2015-issledovanie-emocionalnogo-sostoyaniya-35- mln-polzovatelej-socialnyx-media / ) can be conducted by survey methods, but the cost will be fantastic
- Tabooed - topics that people are not ready to discuss with strangers.
Source - www.cyberalert.com/blog/index.php/can-social-media-analytics-replace-traditional-market-research
Social media analytics have several distinct advantages over traditional marketing research. Probably the most important advantage is that it is cheap and fast. Are the benefits of social media analytics a death sentence for traditional market research methods?
Benefits of social media analytics for market research
Innovations in the field of monitoring and social media analytics have provided marketers with many useful tools for market research. Searching for keywords on Twitter, Facebook, blogs and other social platforms allows you to see many detailed conversations of users on almost any topic. Services such as CyberAlert Buzz collect messages in social media, using in combination automated programs and expert analysts to analyze and create reports.
Social media analytics can collect as much data in days and hours as traditional data are collected in a month. In addition, research of users of social networks may be more accurate than traditional market research, as consumers are less susceptible against social networks, unlike other people's items in the questionnaire. People, as a rule, express their emotions in social networks much more openly, because they are not “subordinated” to questions from the questionnaire.
Due to clear advantages, social media analyst is confidently moving to replace personal interviews, polls, focus groups and other familiar market research technologies.
Limitations of Social Media Analysis
However, many experts say that social media research cannot yet completely replace traditional marketing research.
Many consumers do not use social media, or they have a page, but they almost never write or communicate with it. In the results of the study of social media, there is a sample bias, which in traditional studies is leveled using the methods of random selection of respondents. Social media analytics also do not include some demographic information, such as geographic regions (place of residence), profession, or level of education — some people may fake or hide them. Opinions of people who do not use social media may differ markedly from the opinions of consumers who use them - if only because these people are different demographic groups. In addition, in some countries, only a small proportion of the population has access to the Internet. Therefore, international brands should also conduct traditional research in order to take their opinions into account as well.
Social media analytics are still young; research methods are changing rapidly and not at all ubiquitous. As a result, the data and results are quite controversial. Traditional research methods, including surveys and focus groups, have a significant advantage in the form of ingrained, well-designed and proven technologies and results.
Addition, but not replacement
Marketing specialist Kevin Gray, founder of Cannon Gray, a consulting company, and Cohen Powes, a marketing professor at Ozyegin University, Istanbul, argue that social media is a very important component, but not a complete replacement for traditional market research.
“Social media is still fairly new, as are the analytical tools for analyzing them, they are still only developing,” they wrote in a message for the Green Book, a blog about marketing research. There are also questions about the accuracy of data from social media. It is not known what percentage of people write false information about themselves, whether they are representatives of the general audience, and whether they are completely honest.
However, they agree that social provides a lot of new information and strongly influenced marketing research. “The world of marketing has changed a lot over the past decade, and you won’t find a way back even if you really want to,” the authors conclude.
In a study by Vision Critical, a market research center, potential disadvantages of relying solely on social media analysis are mentioned. Their study “What social media analytics will not tell about your customers” describes how active social media users are - who represented only 29 percent of the audience of the three major brands on social media, but wrote 85 percent of all brand reports on Facebook - are very different from others users and their buying habits.
Active users of social media, as a rule, are active buyers and prefer to compare stores on their mobile devices when they are already in them, and they are easier to understand for marketers. Consumers who write messages rarely made up the majority of consumers of those brands, and were less active buyers, and they are much more difficult to understand due to the scarcity of their public comments.
Comparing social media analysis methods with traditional marketing research results will help marketers understand the difference between research approaches, as well as in evaluating the effectiveness of the results. In modern market research, marketers should be one step ahead of analyzing the results of each specific study. It is now important to compare traditional research methods with new social media research to better understand the benefits and the most appropriate areas of application for each system.
______________________
Afterword : Nowadays, many brands conduct social media research in order to quickly and affordably (market) conduct market research. Although some marketers say that social media analytics can replace traditional research methods, using both traditional and social media research methods is the most effective approach to marketing research to get the most accurate information and find the best ways to apply each type of research.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/294806/
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