What does social intelligence mean to you?
Social intelligence is often thought to relate primarily to social media — the output when one mines organic social posts across social media, as well as communities, ratings & reviews, blogs and forums, and the like, to yield insights about consumer attitudes, behavior and trends that in turn drives decision making. However, my work over the course of many years has demonstrated that as “social animals,” people also engage actively in offline word of mouth, whether via face-to-face, phone, text, email, or video chat, all channels that are not captured by traditional forms of social listening. Word of mouth is as vibrant today as ever. The conversations that take place offline and online are generally quite different from each other, often with no correlation or even a negative correlation; and yet each contributes about equally to predicting business outcomes such as sales, brand health, and the like. This leads me to believe strongly that when it comes to social intelligence, a holistic approach is needed to capture both social engagement that takes place online as well as offline.
What motivates you in your work? What makes you want to keep working in social intelligence?
What motivates me is uncovering new insights that lead to new ways of understanding the value of social intelligence and its impact on business decision making. What makes me keep working in social intelligence is the continuous changes that are taking place, such as the shifts underway now from Web2 to Web3, AI, and other new technologies that will present new opportunities to uncover insights that lead to better business decision making.
What do you think makes you successful in your work?
I am data-driven, guided by fact. I believe in sharing what I have learned for the good of the sector as a whole, so thought leadership has always been an important priority. I understand the strength of social intelligence that comes from mining online conversation, and am equally aware of the importance of offline. I try to make sure the users of social intelligence understand the difference and are listening to both. As one client put it, so aptly, “It’s like breathing: we have two lungs and we need to use both of them. Social conversations are important, but offline WOM is even more important. We should both using fit-for-purpose methods and understand that marketing communication planning requires both to succeed.”
What are the key skills that have contributed to your success?
My key skills come from being a research- and data-first executive, thought leader, and consultant. Knowing the right questions to ask, to yield the insights that will lead to better decisions. Also, always trying to be ahead of the curve and anticipating what will be coming next. I am an orchestrator, bringing together people with different skill sets of ways of thinking to uncover what’s new, unique and important. Lastly, I am a good listener and that has helped my career as a leader, an entrepreneur, and a trusted advisor to my clients.
What makes social data special compared to other data sources?
The special sauce of social data is that it is naturally occurring conversation that can be mined for social intelligence to drive decision making.
What does being a social intelligence pioneer mean in the context of your work?
I am proud to be selected as a social intelligence pioneer. My work in this space began 20 years ago with the publication of my book, the Influentials, followed soon thereafter by the launch of my company, The Keller Fay Group, and my role as first Chair of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA). I am pleased that this space, to which I devoted so much of my professional life, has stood the test of time, proven itself to be powerful and important to marketers and communicators, and remains vibrant and ever-changing. I’m not only proud of the contributions I have made to the success of the social intelligence space, but excited about what comes next.
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