Firms struggle to use social media data

A recent study by Hootsuite found that whilst majority of organisations think investing in social media is critical in maintaining a competitive edge, they also face challenges in deriving value from the data collected on the platform.According to McKinsey Global Institute's recent report, organisations can unlock up to US$1.3 trillion in annual business value just by using social technologies. Hence, the survey highlighted a missed opportunity by many organisations to translate digital interactions into valuable action.Approximately 84% of respondents recognised the importance of using social media to enhance existing customer relationships and 79% valued the ability to monitor external conversations about their company. However, a whopping 67% expressed difficulty in assessing the effectiveness of social media activities.About 60% also cited that turning data gathered from social media into something actionable was a major challenge. Only 40% of these organisations said they were using data gained from social media to improve their bottom line.“While social media is a part of everyday life for consumers, effectively integrating social in the workplace hasn't been as easy. Nearly all survey respondents agreed that social data can improve the bottom line, yet turning that data into something actionable can be a challenge,” Ryan Holmes, CEO of Hootsuite said.Another challenge, when it comes to social media, is aligning campaigns. Despite social media becoming more widespread across all departments, teams are not  always able to work together.A majority (64%) of respondents whose social media strategy is at least somewhat aligned stated that coming to the point of having strategies in line across departments was difficult.This survey was conducted online by Harris Poll. Over 750 interviews - which took place between January 7, 2014 and October 1, 2014-  were collected among current or prospective clients of Hootsuite in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Germany, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia.(Photo courtesy: Shutterstock)