The term social commerce is said to be a subset of eCommerce where social media is used to ultimately drag prospects and returning customers to your website, where a purchase of products and services can be made.
In complex sales processes, typically for Business-to-Business (B2B) sales, the website may offer product information sheets, demo requests, contact forms and other pipeline steps.
This is the moment where your social media engaged (prospective) customer meets your master data as:
- The (prospective) customer creates and maintains name, address and communication information by using registration functions
- The (prospective) customer searches for and reads product information on web shops and information sites
One aspect of this transition is how master data is carried over, namely:
- How the social network profile used in engagement is captured as part of (prospective) customer master data or if it should be part of master data at all?
- How product information from the governed master data hub has been used as part of the social media engagement or if the data governance of product data should be extended to use in social media at all?
Any thoughts?
Liliendahl on Data Quality 
Let’s call this “Social Data”. The great thing about Social Data is the fact that
1) it is created by someone (prospective consumer) with a vested interest in getting that information right so the data is most likely going to be correct
and
2) the data entry is done by someone else (prospective consumer) so there is little to no cost to the company
and
3) the data comes from someone (prospective consumer) who actually is showing interest in your products!
Acquiring accurate data with little cost from someone who actually cares?!? This is pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and needs to be exploited. I’d suggest you need to treat it as if it is master data of some sort. So:
1) track and link that prospect data and product data – know everything the prospect touches and keep a long-term relationship with their “social data”
2) link the prospect and related product information they are interested in to others in the same company (if this is truly B2B as opposed to B2C)
You have accurate data about the prospect and their interests. Often this is about a consumer that hasn’t yet purchased. At the very least your sales team will consider this master data. If you know, or can determine, how often you turn interested parties into customers, and if you know the average sale for each customer, you’ll quickly know the exact value of each of instance of Social Data.
Thanks for adding in Bryan. Linking customer master data and product master data is indeed key in exploiting the full potential of multi-domain master data management and hence also when embracing the social sphere.