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b u t it a u s e it is re th e c u s to m s u c h a s s oh a v e tu r n e a n a ly s is . F x t a n a ly ti c s ti c s is u s e r p la tf o
ly ti c s , c ly u
fo r te x t a n a b il li n g b e n n e c ti o n to e a c h o th e r,n y w e b s it e sfo r d e ta il e d h ts fro m teth e w a y a n a m s in to y o ia a n a ly
v e s to p co to M a s e d in s ig e d s tr ea m ed
x t w a g a in m in d ti o n n d . e u in g o n iz e w c ia l r fu tu
th e n e S o c ia l to p -o f- in re la to u n d e rs tat th a t c a n bg . “ L e v e ra gh a s re v o lu ti ld th e s e n w e d b y s o o p ti o n s fo te x t
n to u te d a sa n y o th e rs . th e m o s t ro a d e r d a ta is tr y in g
a n d te x k e x c it in o w e rB I
d a n d fo 0 1 2 fo ll o re m a n y c u rr ent a
n
is o ft e n d m e e t m re p re s e n tse s s in g o f ba c o m p a n y fo r m a ti o n e lf th a t lo o p p e a li n g . P s t d a ta tre n a ly s is in 2 th a t th e re aa ti o n in th e s , la rg e ly pH
m e d ia a ng c in s a te a v se
S o c ia l p ly b ro a d lyg y. M a rk e ti fo r th e p ro rs w h o v id e m o re a n a ly ti c s itis a ls o v e ry a d o f th e la l ti m e d a ta e rt s a g re e dtre a m . In n oa n y p ro c e s t im p o rt a n t. v e
s to m e ro t s e
c a n a te n t s tr a te th e y a ll o wt fo r th e c u il li n g to p s w it h in te x in n o v a ti o n a n s ta y a h e o d u c e d re all o f o u r e x pth e r d a ta sis ti n g c o m p a s th e m o e a m s m a y u r
p
o r c o n s im p ro v ed o f c o n ta c m e rs a re w a ls o a re a e ly. Ve n d o r ti c s , y o u c rt . “ We in trg o p a la n . A l is ju s t a n o th ro u g h e x ft e n v ie w e de s e n e w s trp o rt , a n d oie r
s y s te m e d m e th o w h e re c u s to . T h e re a re ra te d c lo s g te x t a n a lyth a t s u p p o n o te d R a ja th a t s o c ia g e n e ra te d x t d a ta is o o m e o f th to m e r s u p e re it is e a s a l
p re fe rrs o n e a re a e s s in s ig h tsb e in g in te g ls , in c lu d in n o u g h fo r s tre a m s ,” re m e m b e r le a n d it is o f th e ir te r re v ie w s . Sic e s fo r c u sa n a re a w h e r a n a ly ti c it
th is a c s to b u s in m a n d a re e ri g h t to on d s tro n g e th e s e d a ta p o rt a n t to d il y a v a il a b n d a n a ly s iso m m e n ts o e c h a t s e rv is m a y b e o n w it h o ths s c o m m u n s
a n a ly ti a in e d s te a y o u h a v e thre s ta b le a ti c s u s in g b u t it is im s e it is re a c u s to m e r, a c ia l w it h c e d to o n li n o r s o m e , thin a s s o c ia ti b y b u s in e h a t re q u irer
h a v e g a n d ra n . If e n t to o ls a ic ti v e a n a lyt a n a ly ti c s , il li n g b e c a uti o n to th e s u c h a s s o h a v e tu r n a n a ly s is . F t a n a ly ti c s ti c s is u s e d p la tf o r m . T2 0 1 3 . We a
R a v ic h g , b u t c u rr g in to p re d v e fo r te x g a in s to p bin d c o n n e c e a c h o th e r, y w e b s it e s fo r d e ta il e d ts fro m te x e w a y a n a lys in to y o u r n a ly ti c s in e e t m a n y
o ff e ri ns s o f g e tt inth e n e x t w ae rs . S o c ia l t to p -o f- m re la ti o n to rs ta n d . M a na n b e u s e d g in g in s ig h ti o n iz e d thn e w s tre a m ia l m e d ia a a d ly a n d m a rk e ti n g re
p ro c e to u te d a s t m a n y o th n ts th e m o s e r d a ta in g to u n d e te x t th a t c g . “ L e v e ra I h a s re v o lufo ld th e s e w e d b y s o c o p ti ly b ro s tr a te g y. Mll o w fo r th e
o ft e n ly a n d m e e n g re p re s e g o f b ro a d a n y is tr y inm a ti o n a n d lo o k e x c it inn g . P o w e rB tre n d a n d 2 0 1 2 fo ll o a re m a n y o r c o n te n t v e th e y a fo r th e c u s
b ro a d g y. M a rk e ti e p ro c e s s in h o a c o m p m o re in fo r it s e lf th a t ry a p p e a li la te s t d a ta a n a ly s is in d th a t th e rem a rk e ti n g s te m s im p roo f c o n ta c t re c u s to m
s tr a te ll o w fo r th u s to m e rs w to p ro v id e x t a n a ly ti c s n is a ls o v ee a d o f th e l ti m e d a ta e rt s a g re e ly p a rt o f a e v e r, a s s y d m e th o d a re a w h e s in s ig h ts
th e y ac t fo r th e c a re w il li n g s w it h in te o r in n o v a ti oc a n s ta y a h o d u c e d re a o f o u r e x ps s e s , la rg e rt a n t. H o we a p re fe rreth is a s o n e to b u s in e s a n d a re
c o n ta c u s to m e rs re a ls o a re a s e ly. Ve n d ly ti c s , y o u rt . “ We in tr o p a la n . A ll p a n y p ro c e m o s t im p o a y e v e n b p e rt s s e e in a n a ly ti c s in e d s te a mIf y o u h a
w h e re ts . T h e re a g ra te d c lo g te x t a n a th a t s u p p o o te d R a ja g is ti n g c o m w e d a s th ew s tre a m s ma n d o u r e x s ie r to ti e d s h a v e g aic h a n d ra n . c u rre n t t

Ground-Breaking
in s ig hre b e in g in teo ls , in c lu d ine n o u g h fo r tre a m s ,” n th ro u g h e xis o ft e n v ie f th e s e n e r s u p p o rt , h e re it is e a ti c a l m e th o n o te d R a v e ri n g , b u t tt in g in
a n d a th e ri g h t to n d s tro n g e s e d a ta s g e n e ra te d te x t d a ta w s . S o m e o r c u s to m e a n a re a w o th e r a n a ly m m u n it y,” ro b u s t o ff c e s s o f g ea s th e n
h a v e a re s ta b le a c s u s in g thle a n d it is s is o f th e ir n ts o r re v ie s e rv ic e s foth is m a y b eia ti o n w it h u s in e s s c o t re q u ire s are in th e p roe n to u te d e e t m a
to o ls ti v e a n a ly tid il y a v a il a b a n d a n a ly it h c o m m e n li n e c h a t F o r s o m e , c s in a s s o c u s e d b y b tf o r m . T h a 0 1 3 . We a e d ia is o ft a d ly a n d m a rk e ti n
p re d ic s e it is re a e c u s to m e r,a s s o c ia l w r n e d to od a n a ly s is . te x t a n a ly ti a n a ly ti c s is to y o u r p la a ly ti c s in 2 th . S o c ia l m a p p ly b ro s tr a te g y. Mll o w fo
b e c a u c ti o n to th o th e r, s u c h it e s h a v e tufo r d e ta il e ig h ts fro m d th e w a y s tre a m s in l m e d ia a nfu tu re g ro w s p a c e c a n o r c o n te n t v e th e y a fo r th e
c o n n e n to e a c h a n y w e b s n b e u s e d e ra g in g in s v o lu ti o n iz e th e s e n e we d b y s o c iap ti o n s fo r x t a n a ly ti c s m a rk e ti n g s te m s im p roo f c o n ta c t re c u s

Text Analytics
re la ti od e rs ta n d . Mte x t th a t c a it in g . “ L e v e rB I h a s re n d a n d fo ld0 1 2 fo ll o w a re m a n y o c u rre n t te ly p a rt o f a e v e r, a s s y d m e th o d a re a w h e s in s i
to u n a ti o n a n d a t lo o k e x c e a li n g . P o w s t d a ta tre n a ly s is in 2 th a t th e re ti o n in th e s s e s , la rg e rt a n t. H o we a p re fe rreth is a s o n e to b u s in e s a n d
in fo r m c s it s e lf th o v e ry a p p d o f th e la teti m e d a ta a rt s a g re e d a m . In n o v a p a n y p ro c e m o s t im p o a y e v e n b p e rt s s e e in a n a ly ti c s in e d s te a mIf y o
a n a ly tia ti o n is a ls n s ta y a h e a u c e d re a l o f o u r e x p e r d a ta s tre is ti n g c o m w e d a s th ew s tre a m s ma n d o u r e x s ie r to ti e d s h a v e g aic h a n d ra n . c u rre
in n o v c s , y o u c a “ We in tro do p a la n . A ll ju s t a n o th e th ro u g h e xis o ft e n v ie f th e s e n e r s u p p o rt , h e re it is e a ti c a l m e th o n o te d R a v e ri n g , b u t to t
a n a ly tia t s u p p o rt . o te d R a ja g t s o c ia l is g e n e ra te d te x t d a ta w s . S o m e o r c u s to m e a n a re a w o th e r a n a ly m m u n it y,” ro b u s t o ffc o n n e c ti o n c h

Demands Insight,
fo r th tre a m s ,” n e m b e r th a le a n d it is s is o f th e ir n ts o r re v ie s e rv ic e s foth is m a y b eia ti o n w it h u s in e s s c o t re q u ire s ap -o f- m in d la ti o n to e a n d
d a ta s a n t to re md il y a v a il a b a n d a n a ly it h c o m m e n li n e c h a t F o r s o m e , c s in a s s o c u s e d b y b tf o r m . T h a e m o s t to r d a ta in re to u n d e rs ta x
im p o rts e it is re a e c u s to m e r,a s s o c ia l w r n e d to od a n a ly s is . te x t a n a ly ti a n a ly ti c s is to y o u r p la p re s e n ts tho f b ro a d e y is tr y in g a ti o n a n d te t
b e c a u c ti o n to th o th e r, s u c h it e s h a v e tufo r d e ta il e ig h ts fro m d th e w a y s tre a m s in a rk e ti n g rep ro c e s s in g o a c o m p a n o re in fo r m c s it s e lf th a e
c o n n e n to e a c h a n y w e b s n b e u s e d e ra g in g in s v o lu ti o n iz e th e s e n e w s tr a te g y. Mo w fo r th e to m e rs w h p ro v id e m te x t a n a ly ti o n is a ls o v e
re la ti od e rs ta n d . Mte x t th a t c a it in g . “ L e v e rB I h a s re n d a n d fo ldo r c o n te n t v e th e y a ll fo r th e c u s w il li n g to a s w it h in o r in n o v a ti c a n s ta y a hin
to u n a ti o n a n d a t lo o k e x c e a li n g . P o w s t d a ta tre m a rk e ti n g te m s im p ro o f c o n ta c t s to m e rs a rea re a ls o a re end

Intelligence and
ou e
s e ly. V a n a ly ti c s , ys u p p o rt . “ Wd R a
in fo r m c s it s e lf th o v e ry a p p d o f th e la tely p a rt o f a e v e r, a s s y s d m e th o d a w h e re c u h ts . T h e re te g ra te d c lo in g te x t h fo r th a t a m s ,” n o te e m b
a ly ti a ls h e a rg e o w rr e a re in s ig g in lu d
an ti o n is s ta y a s s e s , la rt a n t.
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in n o v a c s , y o u c a np a n y p ro c e m o s t im p o a y e v e n b ert s s e e th is ly ti c s to b u te a m a n d a th e ri g h t to a n d s tro n gin g th e s e d im p o rt a n t re a d il y a v a
a n a ly ti is ti n g c o m e d a s th e s tre a m s md o u r e x p e ti e in a n av e g a in e d s If y o u h a v e a re s ta b le n a ly ti c s u s c s , b u t it is c a u s e it is th e c u s to
fg h e x o ft e n v ie wf th e s e n e w u p p o rt , a n is e a s ie r to e th o d s h a ic h a n d ra n . rre n t to o ls re d ic ti v e a te x t a n a ly ti b il li n g b e n n e c ti o n too th e r, s u c h
d a ta is s . S o m e o c u s to m e r sre a w h e re ita n a ly ti c a l m n o te d R a v ri n g , b u t c u tt in g in to pt w a v e fo r l g a in s to p f- m in d c o n to e a c h a n y w e b

Integration
re v ie we rv ic e s fo r a y b e a n a w it h o th e r m m u n it y,”ro b u s t o ff e c e s s o f g e a s th e n e x th e rs . S o c ia m o s t to p -ota in re la ti od e rs ta n d . Mc a n b e u
c h a t s m e , th is m s s o c ia ti o n b u s in e s s c ore q u ire s a in th e
p ro
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te d t m a n y o s e n ts th e
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F o r s on a ly ti c s in a is u s e d b y o r m . T h a t 0 1 3 . We a rem e d ia is o ft d ly a n d m erk e ti n g re p c e s s in g o f m p a n y is tr r m a ti o n a n lf th a t lo o k v e ry a p p
te x t a a y a n a ly ti c s y o u r p la tf a ly ti c s in 2 th . S o c ia l a p p ly b ro atr a te g y. M a fo r th e p ro rs w h o a c oe m o re in fo a ly ti c s it s e o n is a ls o y a h e a
th e w tre a m s in to l m e d ia a fu tu re g ro s p a c e c a n r c o n te n t s th e y a ll o w e c u s to m e g to p ro v id h in te x t a o r in n o v a ti y o u c a n s tae in tro d
n w n
n e w s e d b y s o c ia p ti o n s fo r x t a n a ly ti c s a rk e ti n g o s im p ro v e n ta c t fo r th a re w il li n o a re a s w it s e ly. Ve n d t a n a ly ti c s , u p p o rt . “ WR a ja g o
fo ll o w a re m a n y o c u rre n t te p a rt o f a m r, a s s y s te me th o d o f c o c u s to m e rse re a re a ls g ra te d c lo c lu d in g te x h fo r th a t s s ,” n o te d is ti n g
th e re a ti o n in th es e s , la rg e ly n t. H o w e v ere fe rre d m a re a w h e rein s ig h ts . T h b e in g in teh t to o ls , in o n g e n o u g d a ta s tre a mth ro u g h e x is o ft e
In n o v a n y p ro c e s s t im p o rt a v e n b e a p th is a s o n e b u s in e s s m a n d a re a v e th e ri g b le a n d s trs in g th e s e g e n e ra te d te x t d a ta re v ie w
c o m p d a s th e m o a m s m a y ee x p e rt s s e e a n a ly ti c s tog a in e d s te a n . If y o u h o ls a re s ta a n a ly ti c s u le a n d it is s is o f th e ir m e n ts o r a t s e r
v ie w e s e n e w s tre , a n d o u r r to ti e in o d s h a v e R a v ic h a n d rau t c u rre n t top re d ic ti v e d il y a v a il a br, a n d a n a ly l w it h c o m o n li n e c h s o m e
o f th em e r s u p p o rt it is e a s ie ti c a l m e th y,” n o te d o ff e ri n g , b e tt in g in to u s e it is re a e c u s to m e u c h a s s o c iav e tu r n e d toa ly s is . F o r a n a l
c u s to a re a w h e reo th e r a n a lys c o m m u n ite s a ro b u s t ro c e s s o f g il li n g b e c a c ti o n to thc h o th e r, s e b s it e s h a d e ta il e d a n fro m te x t w a y
b e a n ia ti o n w it h b y b u s in e s T h a t re q u ir a re in th e p g a in s to p b in d c o n n e ti o n to e a n d . M a n y we u s e d fo r in g in s ig h tso n iz e d th e e w s
a s s o c c s is u s e d r p la tf o r m . 2 0 1 3 . We e rs . S o c ia l s t to p -o f- m a ta in
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a n a ly ti s in to y o u a n a ly ti c s in e t m a n y o th n ts th e m of b ro a d e r dn y is tr y in g o n a n d te x t o k e x c it in g . P o w e rB I htre n d a n d fo 2 0 1 2 fo ll o a
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s tre c ia l m e d ia d m e p re s e s in g o o m p a r m a ti th a t lo e a li n g d a ta ly s is in t th e re
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o r c o n s im p ro v ed o f c o n ta c m e rs a re w a ls o a re a e ly. Ve n d o r ti c s , y o u c rt . “ We in trg o p a la n . A l is ju s t a n o th ro u g h e x ft e n v ie w e de s
s y s te m e d m e th o w h e re c u s to . T h e re a re ra te d c lo s g te x t a n a lyth a t s u p p o n o te d R a ja th a t s o c ia g e n e ra te d x t d a ta is o o m e o f th t
p re fe rrs o n e a re a e s s in s ig h tsb e in g in te g ls , in c lu d in n o u g h fo r s tre a m s ,” re m e m b e r le a n d it is o f th e ir te r re v ie w s . Sic e s fo r c u sa
th is a c s to b u s in m a n d a re e ri g h t to on d s tro n g e th e s e d a ta p o rt a n t to d il y a v a il a b n d a n a ly s iso m m e n ts o e c h a t s e rv is m a y b e
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Global Knowledge o ft e n ly a n d m e e n g re p re s e ng o f bVisa a n y is a ti o n lo o k e iFox g. Pow tre n d 2012 re m a
b ro a d g y. M a rk e ti e p ro c e s s in h o a c o m p m o re in fo r mit s e lf th a t ry a p p e a li nla te s t d a ta a n a ly s is in th a t th e re a
s tr a te ll o w fo r th u s to m e rs w to p ro v id e x t a n a ly ti c s n is a ls o v ee a d o f th e l ti m e d a ta rt s a g re e d
th e y ac t fo r th e c a re w il li n g s w it h in te o r in n o v a ti oc a n s ta y a h o d u c e d re ao f o u r e x p e
c o n ta c u s to m e rs re a ls o a re a s e ly. Ve n d ly ti c s , y o u rt . “ We in tr p a la n . A ll
w h e re ts . T h e re a g ra te d c lo g te x t a n a th a t s u p p o te d R a ja g o
in s ig hre b e in g in teo ls , in c lu d ine n o u g h fo r tre a m s ,” n o
The whitepaper is prepared by
a n d a th e ri g h t to n d s tro n g e s e d a ta s
h a v e a re s ta b le a c s u s in g th
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p re d ic
Geoff Whiting Brynn Smith-Raska
Principal Digital Lead
GWhiting.com Incite Marketing &
Communications

incite-group.com
 Ground-Breaking Text Analytics Demands Insight, Intelligence and Integration

State of the Industry

There is an unparalleled amount of noise in the analytics world today, but text
analytics is emerging as an affordable, effective way to discover insight—no
matter how loud things get.

Industries sit on giant backlogs of unstructured data: from recorded phone calls and emails, to survey
responses and customer comments. For text analytics, this means there’s a large deposit of data to mine.
Not only has the volume of data spiked, the velocity and variety of data are also on the rise.

Executive leadership now expects analytics teams to be able to manage this data and to deliver actionable
insight. In general, these expectations and corporate demands have shaped analytics work, and text
analytics professionals are finding themselves in a strong place to use this reliance on broad spectrum
analytics to obtain funding and the systems they need.

Success for text analytics professionals is no longer just a proof of concept. Business intelligence needs
to be linked to key business objectives and quantifiable metrics that are woven into a story any team
member in almost any department can understand. If it’s not, it’s near impossible to earn the buy-in you
need.

Professionals are now convinced about the importance of data, and they’re driving the search for it in
new areas. Text analytics is leveraging that broader interest and push into new, innovative spaces. These
include social media mining, sentiment analysis, and improving how customers interact with brands.
We’ve spoken to experts in the text analytics space to determine the state of the industry, new trends in
team development, and where the future lies.

It’s going to be demanding, thrilling ride.

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 Ground-Breaking Text Analytics Demands Insight, Intelligence and Integration

Piggybacking on Analytics Understanding

Please rate the significance of the following challenges within your organization

10

Our information Our competitors We don’t Tying web Lack of

is too scattered are further know what our analytics to communication
along than customers are other business among
us saying about sectors Tying departments /
us web analytics to no consistent
other business system for
sectors information
sharing

Text analytics is rarely a company’s first foray into analytics platforms and big data. The analytics of sales
data, forecasts, and even predictive modeling often precede text analytics, according to our experts in
the field.

This foundation in analytics, even if unstructured data is not included, means companies are generally
aware of the steps required to adopt an analytics platform. Companies are so satisfied with their data
initiatives that they’re exploring new forms of data and platforms. Text analytics can leverage this broader
interest in analytics and piggyback on previous successes.

“More and more, people are being exposed to a lot of common, unstructured data,” said Greg Timpany,
Senior Competitive Intelligence Manager at Global Knowledge. “Much of this data can become actionable
pretty quickly. As platforms speed up and information becomes actionable sooner, there will be a larger
adoption of text and other analytics.”

Developing Your Team

Cross-functional teams are becoming a standard in the analytics space, especially in areas like text
analytics. While many members will be trained in data science and management, companies large and
small are finding improvements when they hire linguists, sociologists, cultural anthropologists and other

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experts not typically associated with computer science.

“Text analytics skills are shorter in supply when compared to other analytics skills. However, the real
opportunity lies in training the other non-text analytics skills. There is a vast pool of trained professionals
with skill sets analytics teams need: problem solving, statistics, programming and presentation,” said
Ramkumar Ravichandran, Director of Analytics at Visa.

Each of these individuals with a specialized skillset will need a strong understanding of the data, but
they can help a company deepen their insights through a unique approach to business understanding.
The roles they’re assigned can facilitate this business insight. Some of the top roles discussed include:

• B
 usiness Decision Makers: Key understanding of the business at hand, its requirements and how they
fit with technical requirements of needed infrastructure.

• S
 ubject Matter Leader: Knows the business itself inside and out, without necessarily understanding
data science. Can help with sentiment understanding.

• D ata Scientists: Know the data and how to properly sculpt it to find what is required for business
insights. Needs an understanding of analysis and computer science, with a mix of industry knowledge.

• D ata Journalist: Storyteller with an understanding of data. They’re the bridge that allows a team to
share insights with the broader company and audience, allowing executives and other business units
to get more from the data.

• Text Specialists: Have an understanding of language and the customer, with the ability to look for
developments within the content itself. Typically don’t need a strong analytics background but can
speed-up trend spotting by working with data scientists.

“Several new job nomenclatures have come around in the last two to three years. However, the underlying
skill set remains the same: an analyst needs to understand the business, be integrated with it and be
curious enough to ask why and challenge status-quo,” said Shivakumar Rajagopalan, Director of Analytics
at iFox.

To provide insights that the team and its leadership understand, members must be familiar with one of
today’s top buzzwords: storytelling.

“We had a senior VP who had a business process problem and we were able to position a text analytics
platform as a way to monitor and solve the concern. We found an easy buy-in from there through
storytelling,” said Timpany.

Few analytics teams will be able to survive without someone who can turn data into easy-to-consume
insights. Story creation can remove the hurdles around technical understanding and help improve buy-in;
it places an emphasis on making business insights easy to understand.

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Insights Must Be Shareable

Which of the below applies to information strategy at your company?

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Each department We have a single interface We plan on unifying

manages its own data across the organization our information across
multiple departments

“We were born to be storytellers. I can put out tab after tab of data, but being able to look at data and
tie it to business operations to solve a problem or guide a process is where I add value,” said Timpany.

Being able to bring in pertinent comments and sentiments to support a proposed action or insight is extremely
useful. Few things are more effective in conveying a point than respondents’ or customers’ actual words.

To meet this, companies need to focus on creating a clear path from analytics to insights to actionable
business benefits. Data may demonstrate what these benefits are to the data scientists involved, but
leadership often requires the storytelling element to be fully convinced.

“Executive buy-in is critical for many reasons beyond financing. The support and push helps with ongoing
investment, strategic deployment, and constant reinvention. Now we have the strongest executive
support in history – they are better able to understand and leverage insights in their day-to-day and long
term decision making,” said Ravichandran.

Our experts noted that many companies have had mixed success meeting the expectations they set out
for their data programs. When there is a misunderstanding between the promise and delivery, whether
on the analytics or executive end, buy-in is placed in jeopardy.

To avoid this in future efforts, our experts recommend backing up all analysis with specific comments
or text from the sample being used. This allows leadership to get a feel for the sentiment of the data.
Analysts should also review business insights with the rest of their team to make sure the conclusions are
clear and properly weighted.

Like social media content, insights can benefit from a “shareable” approach by remaining clear, concise and honest.

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 Ground-Breaking Text Analytics Demands Insight, Intelligence and Integration

Off-the-Shelf Comes of Age

Do you more frequently

60% Commercial
use commercial products,
40% Open Source
or open source?

New systems are making it easier for teams and companies to do all of their text analytics and processing
internally. There is less outsourcing of the actual data science and analysis; some of the coding and
development may be outsourced.

Today’s tools are being built relative to a specific industry, incorporating most relevant metrics and
processing options. This selective development makes it easier for most companies to adjust software
based on their understanding of the industry. The combination of initial understanding and this flexibility
is allowing for a faster adoption of off-the-shelf technology.

Most of the features in use today were previously only available on very expensive pieces of custom-
developed software. However, systems are growing with industry knowledge and focus, thanks to a
greater customer base for the developers, so there is less in-house development needed to meet
common functions.

The industry has moved quickly, catching many by surprise. Off-the-shelf software can get most companies
99% of the way there, according to our experts, but also allows for that 1% adjustment companies need
to generate their unique insights.

“Many off-the-shelf solutions are available that can be very quickly deployed, however there is the
element of customization required even in off-the shelf solutions for specific requirements and use-
cases,” said Rajagopalan.

“Success depends on the problem at hand. Most common problems have been attacked well by
the players and have good tools against them. However if it’s a nuanced problem, typically in-house
development has to code it in R or Python,” noted Ravichandran.

For many it’s become cheaper to buy off-the-shelf and focus on that final layer of adjustment. At least
for software, the industry has reached a new level of maturity in its offering, and that is leading to many
curious considerations.

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Does Text Data Go Stale?

One interesting area of text analytics is the shelf-life of data.

The length of time data remains viable differs greatly across industries, with some having surveys from
many years ago still considered relevant today. Text backlogs, which tend to be large, can require a
significant amount of processing to gain insight.

However, large existing data pools from the past are not where most recommend starting. There’s a wide
range of data being collected currently that companies can take action on very quickly. The importance
of sentiment and of linking data to business intelligence makes those deeper dives less profitable for
many current programs.

Returning a quick result through analysis is a top objective because it improves buy-in and can help
secure funding required to handle the ever-growing amount of unstructured data available to companies.

While it is possible to analyze data from a decade ago, and find insight that has not yet gone stale, the
cost and time may be prohibitive using modern systems.

The Importance of Integration

An area where modern systems shine is in their integration with other platforms. A variety of tools allows
analysts to track data as it arrives through a CRM, chat logs, and content platforms. In text analytics, this
integration and the context it adds are invaluable.

New tools allow people to import questions and context around unstructured data and match them up
with structured input. That adds a lot more power than something which is strictly unstructured, such as
social media comments.

“By working with the structured and unstructured view of questions and answers, we’re able to improve
the maximum view of the data from an effectiveness standpoint,” said Timpany.

This integration is a big selling point for off-the-shelf platforms because it removes a lot of the harder
work. In-house teams no longer need to create a platform or dashboard with a variety of APIs in mind;
they can simply work to tweak systems or optimize the reporting process.

Integration is also helping to shift the capabilities required on the personnel side. There’s not only less
high-level coding, but many companies are seeing less work on the lower end of the spectrum, such as
data entry. Review is still required, but much of the manual uploading and entry can now effectively be
removed, helping to speed up the process.

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 Ground-Breaking Text Analytics Demands Insight, Intelligence and Integration

The Next Frontier Isn’t Just Social

Social media is often touted as the next wave for text analytics, but it is important to remember that
social is just another data stream. Innovation in the current text analytics space can apply broadly and
meet many others.

Social gains top billing because it is readily available and it is generated through existing company
processes, largely part of a marketing or content strategy. Marketing represents the most top-of-mind
connection to the customer, and analysis of their text data is often viewed as the most important.

However, as systems improve they allow for the processing of broader data in relation to each other,
such as social with comments or reviews. Some of these new streams may even be a preferred method of
contact for the customers who a company is trying to understand.

Many websites have turned to online chat services for customer support, and our experts see this as one
area where customers are willing to provide more information and text that can be used for detailed
analysis. For some, this may be an area where it is easier to tie in analytics to business insights.

There are also areas within text analytics itself that look exciting.

“Leveraging insights from text analytics in association with other analytical methods have gained steam
and are being integrated closely. Vendor innovation is also very appealing. PowerBI has revolutionized
the way analytics is used by business community,” noted Ravichandran.

If you have the right tools, including text analytics, you can stay ahead of the latest data trend and fold
these new streams into your platform. That requires a robust offering, but current tools are stable and
strong enough for that support.

“We introduced real time data analysis in 2012 followed by social media analytics in 2013. We are in the
process of getting into predictive analytics using these data streams,” noted Rajagopalan.

All of our experts agreed that there are many options for future growth.

Looking for Opportunities

Wrapped up in the emerging processing space is the need to seek out new opportunities to collect and
use data. Many metrics and KPIs have overlapping data, so a good collection schedule can improve text
analytics on multiple fronts.

For example, online chat has long been a way to understand customer complaints with software and
products, guiding future development. However, multiple experts we spoke with noted that chat log
analysis identified sales opportunities. Systems were able to determine language that showed a need
and improved potential for a cross-sell or up-sell.

“The comment sections in CRM systems and other platforms can really be a strong area. It’s an online
repository that can be potentially useful by someone outside of the sales process,” said Timpany. “We

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 Ground-Breaking Text Analytics Demands Insight, Intelligence and Integration

train salespeople to collect information directly related to the sale for short-term goals, but general
customer information can be collected for a longer, strategic planning outside of this individual.”

Maintaining and processing that text analytics on the short-term sales side allows companies to improve
their lead scoring and focus their sales staff. But, if it is reviewed over a longer term, a company may be
able to create a better customer persona. Strong integration can even help to look for clues to an overall
customer lifetime value relative to the initial customer interaction.

Improving Engagement
One of the hurdles of text analytics remains the engagement level of the audience providing the text,
especially in the growing use of digital surveys.

“We’re at a juncture now where survey response rates are as low as they’ve ever been. It’s partly to blame
on people who have crafted surveys that demand 40 minutes of responses from an audience who is only
willing to give half of that,” said Timpany.

To combat that difference, companies are trying tactics such as gamification, more-selective targeting,
and shorter surveys, among many others. All of these changes have implications in two other aspects of
their text analysis.

On the backend, analytics teams and their clients need some of the engagement focus. These groups
want to take this data and try to do something new with it, but they can’t work with a large data dump.
Analysts need to provide a good story and actionable insight, along with proper data processing and
cleaning at the warehouse level.

Insight also needs to reference different departments within an organization and help them figure out
how to leverage the data. That increases the use of existing data, allowing more departments to engage
and improving the value of overall text analytics.

Text analytics has a role to play not only in processing the information received but also in the ability to
receive new information. Structure, sentiment, forms, and more can be monitored via text analytics to see
when customers begin to drop off of surveys, comment cards, chats, and more.

Essentially there exists a feedback loop in the analysis when information about the source is considered.
This can happen with traditional surveys and customer service calls, or in response to digital marketing
materials, especially social media pushes.

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Final Thoughts
The industry is rapidly evolving and text analytics is at the forefront of much of that change. It’s an
exciting time and there’s a lot to keep up with. We’ve given our experts the final say for what they’re
looking forward to in the upcoming market and what practitioners should be aware of as they further their
text analytics programs.

• “
 I’m excited that there are now tools that can really improve the work I’m able to do, especially with
surveys. Being able to tie answers to structured questions is something that I’ll see a lot of strong use
from. I encourage people to look for tools that incorporate both structured and unstructured data, or
allow for other advanced integration,” said Timpany.

• “
 Keep insights simple, quantifiable and actionable. There are reservations in creating bottom-line
impact projections from text analytics for good reasons, such as small sample sizes, bias and self-
selection. Work on creating actionable recommendations (what should the business do) instead of just
stopping at insights and impact. It is only then that leadership will know what you want to achieve with
these insights and be able act on that,” said Ravichandran.

• “
 The advice I would give is to have a very specific and detailed text analytics program. Set objectives
and monitor it very closely right through each implementation process, always with a Plan B available,”
said Rajagopalan.

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 15th
incite summit
text analytics
west November 5– 6, 2015
Hotel Nikko, San Francisco, California

Put your data to work:

Unleash the power
of text analytics
Discover how to optimize the collection and analysis
of your unstructured data and unleash the power it
has to improve your business and serve your customers.

Become Tips and Tools for Agile Marketing Customer Engagement

Data-Oriented the Success and Social Media

Use unstructured data In-depth case studies Apply lessons learned Leverage real-time
to solve problems, and real-world examples through text analytics to monitoring to influence
answer questions, on data mining, improve segmentation, conversations, find new
and gain valuable customer engagement, targeting, reach and markets, and engage
information to attain social media analysis, messaging of your your customers where
your business goals and the latest advances marketing campaigns they live
in text analytics

Speakers Include:

BlackRock GE About.com HP Visa Dell

Kiran Vuppala Matt Denesuk Mike MacMillian Rohit Tandon Ramkumar Shree Dandekar
Vice President Chief Data Science Officer Vice President, Data and Worldwide Head of Global Ravichandran Chief Strategist, Business
Analytics Analytics Director, Analytics Ingellicence & Analytics

Meet and Work with Major Brands: