There's been much debate as to what Apple plans to do with social media analytics firm Topsy, but it's clear that having spent $200 million recently acquiring it, that it will play an important role in future developments. Companies such as Topsy, and a number of other start ups that are growing at a rapid rate, are trying to make sense of the everyday interactions that take place across a number of social platforms. This information allows brands to monitor campaigns, to see what is working and what isn't. Social data is taking consumer profiling to the next level; seeing what users pin, like, retweet, their interactions and feedback.


Apple is just one of a number of organisations looking to integrate the analysis of social data into their marketing plans. WPP has formed a partnership with Datasift that will allow them to utilise social data. This partnership allows all WPP companies such as GroupM, Wunderman, Kantar, and JWT to access data from more than 20 digital platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

A recent press release from WPP stated that: "As WPP continues to focus on growing its new media and data investment management businesses, this partnership is another step in its strategic plan to infuse richer social data into marketing and analytics programs across the Group."
“WPP was already the leading integrated communications services company and is now becoming a leading integrated data company in how we leverage data cultivated from multiple sources,” said Nick Nyhan, Chief Digital Officer of Kantar and CEO of The Data Alliance. “This global partnership will give WPP companies the ability to harness social data and connect it to proprietary WPP data assets in ways that provide richer benefits to clients.” 

 “Social data has now become mission critical in developing business strategy, managing brands and understanding markets and customers,” said Rob Bailey, CEO of DataSift. “The DataSift partnership to power WPP’s agencies provides unprecedented access to social data, allowing WPP clients to understand audiences, brand engagement and campaigns more effectively.” 

The analysis of social data is still in its early stages, this is echoed by Eileen Brown who argues that "Companies are not collecting significant social profile data meaning that the move to Social CRM and Big Data applications is still in its infancy."

 However, Steve Rosenbush, deputy editor of The Wall Street Journal's CIO Journal, believes that that brands should focus less on social profile data and more on the interactions between users. He believes that currently, "Businesses know more about their customers and employees than ever. Making sense of that data and using it productively is something else entirely."

 As brands get to grips with social data and become better at filtering through posts and conversations, they will reap the benefits of identifying new customers, engaging existing customers and real-time opportunities. The image to the left emphasizes this and the competitive advantage it creates.

So what's the future for social data? Will companies start to build their own analysis tools and bring the process in-house? Will traditional consumer research such as Nielsen eventually become redundant?