By analyzing and organizing taxonomies and tones within social media channels, organizations can better know how to directly market to online customers, says SAS Media Intelligence Director Mark Chaves at SAS Global Forum.

Mark said the influence of social media on the consumer-buying process is stronger than ever. More than 1.5 billion people have internet access and approximately 600 million people are using social media monthly around the globe.

What is critical about this statistic is not the number of people that social media controls, but that consumers are fundamentally changing their expectations of what the Internet is all about. We’ve moved into a world where relationships, opinions and influence are central to the digital experience.

The benefits of using social media for an organization include increased awareness of the organization, increased traffic to the organization’s website and a more favorable perception of the organization. “The reality is [that]social media conversations are like Google: They drive people to your website,” Mark said.

Even with the proven benefits of social media marketing, some organizations are turned off from using it because of a lack of understanding for how social media could make a difference in their business, the inability to measure effectiveness and no way of linking social media activities to an impact on finances or return on investment.

Fundamentals of social media analytics

To get the most out of social media analytics, Mark said, today’s social marketers need to listen, process and respond to what’s happening on the Web.

Knowing where and how to listen to consumers online and processing this information using SAS Social Media Analytics software can help with organizing taxonomies, mining for clusters and sentiment, and visualizing results. Being responsive to online conversations about your business by using SAS Conversation Center as a customer-service channel or using consumer feedback to change an online marketing campaign are just a few ways that organizations have used social media to respond to consumers.

Mark shared a case study on how using social media marketing has a direct impact on ROI, including gains in efficiency, improved marketing effectiveness, improved customer satisfaction and decreased risk to viral exposure by identifying threats to consumers.

So what’s the best way to know what consumers are saying about your organization? “Get out there!” Mark said. “Being active on social media sites gives your business an advantage and using SAS Social Media Analytics helps you know your ‘real’ brand sentiment.”