Using Twitter for Business Intelligence

Detecting Weak Signals with Web 2.0 – Twitter

Chances are, if you’re reading this, you’ve at least heard of Twitter. You might be an active Twitter user (sometimes referred to as Tweeple), you might have a Twitter account that you never use, or you might have been able to avoid the whole phenomenon (so far) – but chances are good you have heard of Twitter and you probably know a few Tweeple yourself.

I’ve always been turned off by the cutesiness of Twitter – it’s ‘Tweeple’ are known to send ‘Tweets’ at regular intervals in which they inform their online network of such fascinating activities as breakfast time, nap time, and a gaggle of other mundane tasks.  These Tweets are short (up to 140 character) text messages that are primarily meant to be sent and received via mobile phone.

There are several web-based tools that make make it easy to use Twitter to update all of your social media accounts (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) – thereby making Twitter a good hub for those people who want to simplify the task of updating their MySpace profile, their Facebook status, their Yahoo profile, their Yammer account, their Flickr log, and on and on.  At first glance, Twitter seems like a perfect tool for those who think they are more important than they really are.  Who cares when you get your haircut or what your teeth brushing habits are?  But enough people are fascinated by this capability – I suspect more fascinated by the potential than by the actual content – that Twitter users have grown at approximately 10% per month for the last two years.  Current estimates place unique Twitter users at about 3.4 million. This growing user base, combined with a few high-profile examples of Twitter’s power as a less mundane broadcast tool have many people (and investors) re-examining the usefulness of such a service:

• In 2007, Twitter users helped to provide updated information regarding the San Diego wildfires.
• In 2008, the Mumbai terror attacks were closely followed by Twitter users around the world.
• In 2009, a Twitter user posted what is recognized as one of the first photos of the US Airways crash in the Hudson River.

As TechCrunch and Slate Magazine have pointed out, one of Twitter’s new great values is as a search engine:

By collecting millions of people’s immediate thoughts, Twitter is building the Web’s best database of “real time” information, these people argue. And that collection might be very valuable—when people want to know what’s going on in the world right now, they’ll increasingly check Twitter, not Google.

For business intelligence, this means that millions of people can potentially talk about YOU – your products, your services, your brand name, your company.  They can also talk about your competitors – and they can talk about those trends that might affect your future business environment.  Want to know what people are thinking about gas prices? Check Twitter.  What about people’s feelings about the Housing Bailout? Even more powerful, is Twitter’s ability to narrow a search by location – are people in San Diego talking about home foreclosures differently than people in Cincinnati?  You bet they are, although with this example you might need to do a little digging to spot the differences. 

A good forecaster should be able to identify these key issues before they become strong signals, and therefore have a better sense of upcoming trends – rather than feeling the need to react to the wave after it has already arrived.  That’s the power of a good weak signal detector – by processing these signals early on, your organization will be able to react in a powerful and effective way, rather than having to spend excess resources on a crash response program.

Check out the Twitter chatter on these local San Diego companies:

• WebSense – a leading web security/filtering firm also specializing in e-mail security and data-loss prevention.
• Avaak – a new company developing personal wireless video networks for fun and security.
• SAIC - a leading defense contractor and engineering firm with strong ties to the San Diego community.
• WD-40 – the ubiquitous cleaner and lubricant is also the parent company for several household brands.
• Sempra Energy – the parent company for San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Gas.
• Aptera Motors - a Carlsbad company developing a plug-in hybrid automobile promising 100 mpg.

Each of these companies could benefit by monitoring Twitter (as well as other sources) for those signals that could potentially affect their business – whether it’s gauging customer loyalty, discovering product evangelists, measuring public opinion, predicting upcoming trends, or keeping track of the competition.

Try a Twitter search of your own and see what you can find (don’t forget to try the Advanced Search option.)  Chances are, if you’re interested in it, then someone is talking about it – and if they’re not now, they will be soon!

Tags:Business Intelligence,Environmental Scanning,external environment,Twitter

Related posts

• Strategic Management for Project Professionals (0)