If you imagine the various facets of marketing research being plotted on a map, the area featuring social media data would probably be represented as an overgrown swamp, filled with pockets of quicksand, or as an impenetrable thicket of thorny shrubs.

The path into, and way out of, this region is unclear. Nor is it really plain why you would want to venture in in the first place. There’s seemingly no rainbow with a pot of gold at the end of it waiting for you. And if the prize is some sort of enlightenment, it feels like there’s a good chance you’d finally reach the yogi after your arduous journey, only to have him spout a maddening koan and return to his meditation.

Ever on the lookout for some form guidance through the social media data landscape, I found one beacon of hope at this past fall’s Market Research Event in Orlando, Fla., in the person of Tom Brailsford, consumer understanding and insight manager with Hallmark. He gave a talk – aptly titled “Social Media Data and Market Research: How to Get There From Here” – that was a refreshing, honest look at his group’s attempt to make sense of social media data.

Many of his comments – and a host of other equally worthwhile and compelling observations – are echoed in a paper he referenced during the talk which he co-authored with Josh Gunkel and Ben Smithee called “Utilizing Social Media to Understand People.” It’s available from slideshare.net or at http://tinyurl.com/74g2hmc.

Drawing from numerous existing sources and their own experience, they sketch out a framework for how to think about social media data analysis, addressing topics such as the elements and types of social media data and the differences between listening with social media and using it to engage your customers. The paper also features a great appendix of free social media analysis sources and tools.

The stage we’re at

I came away with more questions than answers from both his presentation and the paper but that’s no fault of Brailsford and/or his co-authors. Rather, it’s a reflection of the stage we’re at with this social media data thing. And while tossing out more questions may seem to be adding to the confusion, their work has actually helped frame and give shape to some critical issues.

For example, looking beyond the data itself and what you do with it for research purposes, the rise of social media data brings with it a whole host of issues for organizations to wrestle with internally.

Data transparency. The data is open to everybody – including your competitors. As your shrink might say, how does that make you feel?

Data ownership. Whereas sales data is owned by the retail department, focus group data by the research team and data on e-mail open rates by the marketing group, who lays claim to the social media data? Who gets to control it and what gets done with it?

Blurred boundaries. If you, as a marketing researcher, comment on a consumer-facing blog or respond to a tweet, you enter the realm of public affairs or marketing. Who issues the guidelines for what you say and how you say it?

Beyond these types of potentially large questions about internal practices, the authors make an important point: When it comes to engagement, consumers often don’t distinguish between who they’re interacting with when they talk to someone from a brand or company via social media. Thus, with everybody speaking on behalf of the brand, training may be required for those whose original job description didn’t include (or foresee the need for) directly engaging with consumers.

Your new best friend

If your company’s told you to make social media data your new best friend in 2012, download the paper. You’ll get a clearer idea of where your organization and its customers fit in this milieu and, while I can’t guarantee it will lead you to the promised land, you’ll certainly be better able to venture off the beaten path and blaze your own trail.