Social data is everywhere – are you using it to your advantage? If not, your business may be missing out on opportunities to boost its earnings, improve its brand reputation and much more. Although social data is available via tweets, Facebook comments and posts and other sources, managers rarely, if ever, possess the technology needed to gain meaningful insights from this information. As such, managers may need extra help if they want to find out how customers are connecting with a business via social platforms. Ultimately, business managers require social media analytics to understand the true value of customer data from Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. Social media analytics empower managers to retrieve social data and transform it into meaningful insights quickly and effortlessly. How can social media analytics help managers? Here are three things that every manager needs to know about social media analytics. 1. Social media analytics make it simple to assess social data. In the past, business managers may have used text analytics services to retrieve social data. However, text analytics alone fails to provide managers with a quick, effective way to generate actionable insights from this information. Text analytics represents a data collection service. It allows managers to collect customer feedback from social networks, blog posts, web polls and surveys and other online sources and organize this information into customer data sets. On the other hand, text analytics does not provide managers with data analysis capabilities, which means managers likely will need to commit substantial time and resources to mine customer data. Now, social media analytics streamlines the process of obtaining meaningful insights from customer data sets. The analytics allow managers to take the social data that they obtain via text analytics and produce charts, graphs and other illustrations based on this information. That way, social media analytics ensure that managers can review social data and understand why customers may choose one brand over another, how customers feel about a brand, its products and its services and other meaningful customer insights. 2. Social media analytics provide in-depth data visualizations. Self-Service Text Analysis empowers business managers with unparalleled social media analytics capabilities. The data analysis service enables managers to generate interactive PDF (iPDF) reports that may contain dozens or hundreds of data visualizations – all of which are based on social data. As a result, managers can produce interactive PDF (iPDF) reports to optimize the value of social data at any time. Perhaps best of all, Self-Service Text Analysis enables managers to create interactive PDF (iPDF) reports in just minutes. To produce an interactive PDF (iPDF) report, a manager only needs to upload an Excel spreadsheet that contains user-generated content. About 15 minutes after the upload is finished, a manager will receive an interactive PDF (iPDF) report via email that highlights social insights in a reader-friendly format. With Self-Service Text Analysis, managers can capitalize on superior data visualizations. The service allows managers to assess social insights and optimize the value of social data consistently. 3. Social media analytics are available for free. Business managers frequently operate with limited time and resources. Fortunately, managers can reap the benefits of social media analytics for free thanks to Self-Service Text Analysis. Managers only need to register for Self-Service Text Analysis to utilize this service. Meanwhile, the registration process requires only seconds to complete and ensures that managers will be able to enjoy social media analytics any time they choose. For managers who want to retrieve social data and use it to their advantage, social media analytics are paramount. The analytics help managers understand customer behaviors and trends and find innovative ways to improve a company's products, services and customer interactions. Summary Social networks enable consumers to share their thoughts and feelings about a brand, its products and its services. Conversely, these networks offer limited data analysis capabilities, making it tough for business managers to understand social data. With social media analytics, managers can transform social data into actionable insights. Self-Service Text Analysis provides managers with social media analytics capabilities, making it easier than ever for managers to review social data and generate meaningful insights from it. Thus, Self-Service Text Analysis brings social media analytics capabilities to managers at companies of all sizes, empowering these managers with extensive customer insights.