Last week Google released Google Correlate to an anxious group of search engine evangelists and web statistics geeks, but could this data correlation tool serve marketers and publishers as well? If used correctly, there's no doubt.
Formed initially by Google Labs in an attempt to capture the correlation between flu symptom searches and actual outbreaks, the tool provides search term correlation data both over time and by geographic location.
At first this all sounds a bit like spending an afternoon in statistics class, but drop a term like Twitter into the mix and you'll find not only an amazing increase in popularity, but also a similar trend curve emphasizing the importance of acquiring followers (see below).
The word "influencer" also shows apparent growth as a rising trend, but where the tool really shines is in its ability to reflect (and in essence allow marketers to predict) reliable surges in search traffic and interest.
If you're targeting affluents for example, knowing that the search term "luxury" occurs most often on the coasts and peaks concurrently with searches for "condo" could be valuable. Knowing that the both terms peak in February and August of every year though, could serve as an indicator for effectively timing influencer campaigns.
That said, as a marketer it's important to remember the almost cliched rule that correlation is not causation. For example, "fashion" searches rise concurrently with "writing a good thesis" (see below). Both surge twice per year about the same time semesters end and fashion week takes the world, but neither are related from a marketer's perspective.
In essence this makes Google Correlate a powerful and imperfect tool. Sign in to enter your own data for the most meaningful results but take it with a grain of salt. Like most datasets, the results require analysis before they inform an influencer marketing strategy.