Data Mining in the Social Media World

Have you thought about the huge data mining landscape we have before us within the world of social media? While it may not be the "final frontier", the use of the various social media venues we now have at our disposal can yield very targeted and specific data mining results.

Take Twitter, for example. You can easily see the latest items of interest that are trending, either from a world view or a domestic view. Even more revealing, are those tweets about specific products or companies; one can easily gauge the interests of the Twitter community and map out the trends to get a feel for what works and what doesn't in terms of the ability to create buzz and promote your product awareness. It is a diamond in the rough for a marketer.

And don't forget about all those Facebook postings about who-went-where-and-ate-what-for-lunch. You get the idea. All these seemingly useless and mindless posts about every facet of someone's life can be viewed as a target rich data minefield, when viewed through the eyes of a marketer. Learn to spot trends and analyze those trends; chances are you will start to develop a keen eye for what your target segment looks like, and how to create more awareness for your brand.

Indeed, social media is a real data mining adventure. Start to look at social media as a very hands on and cost effective way to get the data you need to identify your target market, and develop and promote your product. You will start to see some very immediate results.

So put on your miner's hat, fire up your favorite social media account, and start to look for those all important nuggets of information that will get you pointed in the right direction.

"Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing, that we see too late the one that is open." Alexander Graham Bell