Twitter and IBM to enable businesses to effectively mine social data

Stop for a minute and think about the amount of data that passes through Twitter every single hour. Then multiply that by the amount of hours in a day, a week, a month etc and try to comprehend how much social data Twitter actually possesses. To aid your thought process or maybe just blow your mind, 500 million tweets are sent via the platform every day.

So it’s safe to say that Twitter holds tonnes of data. And now, in a recent announcement made on the company’s blog, it seems that businesses may get the opportunity to mine that data going forward.

Every day, people share a piece of their lives via Twitter. Whether it’s their lunch plans, a cute picture of a pet or a special occasion, Twitter inevitably knows about it. Moreover, every single one of those tweets holds value.

But accessing Twitter data itself isn’t something revolutionary. After all listening tools have been around for a while and give businesses direct access to the metrics. However, until now there has been a challenge when it comes to actually deciphering the data and turning it into something tangible that businesses can leverage.

Twitter and IBM’s new partnership will effectively allow businesses to utilise Twitter data as part of their decision-making processes through a variety of IBM tools, solutions and services. Heard of IBM’s cognitive supercomputer Watson?  Well it could potentially have access to Twitter data in the future and allow companies to answer such questions as, “What do our customers like best about our service?” or “Why are we growing so fast in Asia?”

With access to such insightful data, businesses will be able to unlock previously hidden realms and shape their customer experiences more intuitively. This will allow products and services to be targeted at specific customer needs and wants.

Tens of thousands of IBM Global Business Services consultants will be trained on how businesses can best apply Twitter data in their day-to-day operations.

This announcement is fantastic news for companies who are already using social media channels to their advantage and engaging with their customers on as many levels as possible. Just imagine the scope of engagement that will be possible in the future.

Social media marketing requires your business to listen. In fact, that’s probably the primary activity you should be doing across all your social channels. But how can you listen effectively if you’re relying on memory as much as anything else?

Utilising social data is more than just checking how many followers you’ve got. It’s about building a picture of your audience; understanding what makes them tick; and creating material that is relevant.

The collaborative force of Twitter and IBM represents a turning point in social data manipulation. One that will allow businesses to take value from every piece of micro content that’s available.