Putting All That Social Media Data Together
This is the continuation of the transcript of a Webinar hosted by InetSoft on the topic of "Improving Corporate Performance Management." The speaker is Abhishek Gupta, Product Manager at InetSoft.
The challenge is putting all that social media data together. It’s amazing when you think about traditionally how you used to gather information from your customers. That’s really how we drive our business is listening to how people are experiencing the restaurant. There used to be phone calls, right? And then it became email, but now it’s this instant real-time data.
It’s so real time that, in a moment, we have actually corrected instances inside our restaurant before the guests left because of the ability to listen to them while they are in there because they are going to tell you as soon as they have an experience. That information is all collected so that post the week or the month or real time we can really look at that information to see trends because there is so much of it that correspondence back and forth. It is good, but you really have got to take all that information, put it into buckets and look at it in a way that helps you make some business decisions.
Real-World Application of Business Intelligence
Thanks for all that real-world application of business intelligence. Now, let’s return to talk about BI generically and talk about what is possible now and what might be possible in future. Prior to this SoMoClo era we would have been hard pressed to acquire world class technology at a competitive and reasonable price, and yet because the Social-Mobile-Cloud construct is globally available in not just the first world, but the second and third world, it’s transforming businesses of all sizes.
The same opportunity to take data from one aspect of the business and gain intelligence for decision making, deriving insights from it to in use another part of the business, that is available to every business of any size. It’s one of the great efficiencies of the SoMoClo construct, that once you have really embraced this notion of this consolidated technology infrastructure, the ability to take data from one aspect or one component or one process and use it using business analytics, intelligence, and decision-making support software, to use it to operate the business perhaps in some other either related or not directly related part of the organization is the key lesson here.
This is really a capability that multinationals really need to pay heed to if they haven’t already. This notion of the social listening, this concept that social is a conversation, it’s not a broadcast. So both the inbound and the outbound data collection is critically important, as is being able to make informed decisions based upon that.
The ability to be an agile organization can accrue not only to a mid-sized organization but to a large organization, one that’s really listening, that’s really doing the analytics. Social media monitoring analytics can benefit just as rapidly and make decisions just as rapidly if they are internally coherently organized, and this is possible even across regions, across time zones, and across languages. So that is what’s available today. For those in the ivory tower of analysts, they can speak about opportunity and risk as if it’s a theory, and those of you out there as the CFO know the real challenges.
Futuristic Business Intelligence
So theory is one thing, and reality is another, and we certainly recognize that much of what we are talking about may even sound futuristic based upon your business or the industry or region that you are based in. So let us say that what we are presenting here is both the present and the future. For those of you for whom this seems to be farfetched, what we are presenting to you is the next possible step.
What we have presented in terms of listening and gathering data in real time, it applies just as appropriately to a regulated industry as it does to an unregulated industry. It just is applicable to a public or private company, small, medium, or large, and the company that’s in the developing world as well as developed world. These tools now are universally available.
You just look at, for example, the political impact of social media, for example in the Middle East. There are no walls in the SoMoClo University we are operating in, and so the opportunity is to really listen to and know your customers. This applies to every business, right? Every business obviously has customers, but the culture of collaboration is not as well developed in all organizations, and so there are best practices.
How a A Political Campaign Company Switched from Brandwatch to StyleBI
Political campaigns have always been data-driven, but in the digital age, the scope and speed of information gathering have reached unprecedented levels. Social media platforms now serve as both battlegrounds and barometers, shaping public opinion and reflecting voter sentiment in real time. A political campaign consulting firm, long accustomed to using Brandwatch for social media analytics, recently made a significant pivot. The company switched to StyleBI to enhance its ability to not only track online conversations but also connect those insights to broader campaign metrics. This change marked a shift from a narrow focus on social listening to a more holistic, integrated, and predictive approach to data analysis. The move to StyleBI allowed the firm to elevate the quality of its services, providing campaigns with sharper, faster, and more actionable intelligence.
The Demands of Political Campaign Analytics
Unlike traditional marketing firms, political campaign companies operate in a world of compressed timelines, high stakes, and volatile sentiment. A candidate’s popularity can rise or fall dramatically within hours of a debate performance, policy announcement, or social media misstep. Campaign managers need tools that deliver immediate insight into voter attitudes while also connecting those insights to fundraising performance, volunteer activity, and get-out-the-vote initiatives. Social media is at the heart of this, not only as a communication channel but also as a mirror reflecting voter priorities, frustrations, and allegiances. For years, Brandwatch served as this firm’s go-to solution for capturing and analyzing the massive stream of social conversations that accompany any election cycle.
Brandwatch offered strong capabilities for sentiment analysis, trend detection, and keyword tracking. The firm used it to identify which policy topics were resonating with voters, to monitor the virality of campaign messages, and to keep tabs on the competition. But as the campaigns grew more sophisticated and the need for integrated insights more pressing, Brandwatch began to feel like a limiting factor rather than a springboard.
Limitations of Brandwatch
For all its strengths, Brandwatch came with several limitations for a political campaign firm. First, it was primarily designed as a social listening tool. It excelled at monitoring mentions and measuring sentiment, but it didn’t easily integrate with other critical campaign data sources such as donor databases, canvassing results, or event attendance figures. Campaign managers often had to cobble together separate reports from different systems, which delayed decision-making and created inconsistencies.
Second, Brandwatch’s dashboards, while detailed, were not always intuitive for campaign staff under time pressure. Strategists needed to quickly interpret data and translate it into talking points, ad spend decisions, or rapid response strategies. The complexity of Brandwatch sometimes meant valuable insights got lost in translation. For staffers without advanced training in analytics, the platform felt like a black box, generating charts that didn’t always connect clearly to campaign actions.
Finally, Brandwatch’s predictive capabilities were limited. Campaigns wanted to forecast how a particular message might play out over the next week or how a debate performance would affect donor enthusiasm. Brandwatch provided snapshots of sentiment but struggled to link those signals to future behaviors or outcomes. In the frantic world of politics, where campaigns live and die by their ability to anticipate rather than react, this shortcoming became increasingly glaring.
Why StyleBI Was the Right Choice
The firm’s move to StyleBI was driven by its need for a more integrative and forward-looking solution. Unlike Brandwatch, which was narrowly focused on social data, StyleBI provided the flexibility to combine social media analytics with other campaign-critical datasets. For instance, StyleBI could pull in data from donor platforms, field operations, voter files, and advertising spend, creating a holistic view of campaign health. This allowed strategists to see not just what people were saying online, but how those conversations translated into donations, volunteer signups, or voter turnout.
StyleBI also offered a user-friendly interface that democratized access to insights. Campaign staff at every level, from data analysts to communications directors, could build and customize dashboards suited to their needs. This reduced reliance on a central analytics team and empowered staff to move faster. When a negative hashtag began trending, communications staff could immediately assess its reach and craft a response without waiting for a separate report. Similarly, fundraising teams could quickly see how an online viral moment was impacting donations in real time.
Perhaps most importantly, StyleBI enabled predictive analytics. By leveraging historical data and cross-referencing multiple sources, the system could highlight early indicators of momentum shifts. For example, it could reveal that spikes in social conversation around healthcare policy were consistently followed by increases in small-dollar donations, allowing the campaign to double down on related messaging. This predictive capacity gave the firm—and by extension its candidate clients—a critical edge over rivals still relying on backward-looking data.
Improvements in Reporting and Decision-Making
Once the firm fully implemented StyleBI, its reporting processes became faster and more comprehensive. Social media sentiment was no longer siloed but displayed alongside ad performance, field data, and fundraising metrics. Campaign managers could open a single dashboard and immediately understand how a trending issue on Twitter was influencing voter outreach and financial contributions. This level of integration allowed for smarter allocation of resources. For instance, if StyleBI revealed that a surge in online engagement around education policy corresponded with strong grassroots donations, campaign leaders could reallocate ad dollars to amplify that message while scheduling more town halls on the subject.
The improved clarity of reports also enhanced communication with candidates and stakeholders. Instead of inundating campaign leadership with dense charts, StyleBI enabled the creation of visually engaging, intuitive dashboards. These reports distilled complex data into actionable insights, ensuring that candidates and senior staff could make informed decisions quickly. The immediacy of these insights was invaluable in fast-moving campaign environments, especially during debates, breaking news cycles, and the final weeks of election season.
Cultural and Strategic Impacts
The cultural impact of switching to StyleBI was profound. By making data more accessible, it reduced the gap between analysts and campaign operatives. Communications staff, field directors, and even volunteers gained confidence that their actions were informed by accurate, up-to-date intelligence. This fostered a culture of data-driven decision-making across the organization, breaking down silos and aligning teams around shared goals. Campaigns became more nimble, less reactive, and more proactive.
Strategically, the firm positioned itself as a cutting-edge partner for candidates who demanded the very best. By offering integrated, predictive, and user-friendly analytics, the firm could differentiate itself from competitors still relying on legacy tools like Brandwatch. This helped it win new clients and retain existing ones, establishing StyleBI not only as a reporting tool but as a competitive advantage in the hyper-competitive world of political campaigns.
Looking Ahead
The transition from Brandwatch to StyleBI underscores a larger trend in campaign analytics: the move from single-purpose tools to holistic platforms. As politics becomes increasingly data-driven, firms can no longer afford to separate social media monitoring from fundraising, advertising, or field operations. Voters experience campaigns as a seamless whole, and analytics must reflect that reality. For this political campaign consulting firm, the shift to StyleBI was more than a technological upgrade—it was a strategic transformation. It enabled the company to provide campaigns with faster insights, deeper integration, and stronger foresight, ensuring that its clients were better prepared to meet the challenges of modern elections.
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