What does social intelligence mean to you?
Social Intelligence is the art and science of extracting insights from social data; by leveraging online conversations, understanding social content performance, and diving deep into audience insights, brands are able to gain perspective into their customer base, including needs, preferences, and behaviors.
What motivates you in your work? What makes you want to keep working in social intelligence?
I’ve always had a passion for solving problems, from organizing my dad’s tool chest as a child and coloring grid paper to make designs to currently leading a team of nearly 40 analysts and strategists, I guess I’ve always thought in rows and columns! What inspires me about continuing to work in this space is that it’s constantly evolving, providing new challenges and opportunities to learn and grow but also to teach. Additionally, Social Intelligence is a key pillar alongside our traditional research efforts within the Ayzenberg Marketing Science team, aligning tried and true consumer research trends backed by the power of NLP and always-on social listening. It’s fun to bring dependable consumer research opportunities as well as new unique solutions to our clients that ultimately look to answer, did we achieve our goals?
What do you think makes you successful in your work?
I’ve always joked that I’m a professional at “Googling,” however, my perspective is that this natural curiosity in wanting to deeply understand how things work and how to solve challenges has led me to where I am today.
What are the key skills that have contributed to your success?
Listening. Listen to your clients, listen to your team (regardless of their title), and listen to what the data has to say.
Critical thinking. Analysis paralysis is real, especially when it comes to open-ended and unstructured data. If you are too focused on drawing a particular conclusion, you’ll miss the real results and insights present. Align back to the goals of the project to guide you and not force or invent the results.
Mentoring. If you light a lamp for someone else, it will also brighten your own path. I’m constantly inspired by those I have the opportunity to connect with, hearing their perspectives and personal wins makes me want to be a better leader.
What makes social data special compared to other data sources?
There are a few characteristics that make social media data unique as a research data source:
Volume: Social media platforms generate a vast amount of data in real time, making it possible to study a wide range of topics at a scale that was previously unimaginable.
Velocity: Social media data is generated in real-time, allowing analysts and researchers to study events as they unfold and to identify trends and patterns as they emerge.
Variety: Due to the wide variety of content types across the web, including text, images, videos, and more, it makes it possible to study how various cohorts use the power of language to engage amongst themselves. This arms us as researchers with the right intelligence to decide what kind of action to take.
Validity: Lastly, it is important to carefully consider the representativeness of the social media data being used in research and to consider any potential biases that may be present. Unfortunately, the internet does not yet represent everyone.
What does being a social intelligence pioneer mean in the context of your work?
I’m honored to have been selected as a Pioneer on the 2023 list as it not only validates the effort I’ve put into growing this specialty as a practice but also as it relates to growing the next diverse generation of intelligence leaders. I’m looking forward to exploring how we can continue to shape the discipline of Social Intelligence and ultimately raise the standards and values this data can bring to marketing and advertising efforts.
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