What is Social Brand Monitoring?
Social media has become a critical part of the marketing landscape, providing brands valuable opportunities to engage with target audiences and shape brand narratives. As such, actively monitoring brand mentions and discussions across social platforms has become indispensable to modern public relations and marketing strategies. Social brand monitoring refers to the ongoing process of tracking and analyzing what is being said about your company, products, or services on enterprise social networks. This allows brands to listen in on customer conversations, understand perceptions and sentiments towards the brand, and use these insights to inform PR and marketing decisions.
The goal of social brand monitoring is twofold.
Firstly, it enables brands to respond quickly to feedback, questions, and complaints raised on social media. Speedy responses allow brands to provide helpful information, address issues, and maintain positive customer interactions. Secondly, social monitoring provides valuable data that can shape content strategies and campaigns. Analyzing the tone and substance of brand mentions allows companies to identify potential reputation risks and opportunities to highlight brand strengths and shape messaging. Monitoring tools provide audience demographics and interest data, enabling brands to refine brand personas and tailor content accordingly.
Overall, active social brand monitoring gives companies their finger on the pulse of real-time brand sentiment and discussions. Instead of passively waiting for feedback, proactive monitoring puts brands in the driver’s seat. Tracking mentions across platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok allows brands to listen in, join conversations, and leverage social data to guide PR and marketing strategies. With careful monitoring and quick responses, brands can maintain consistent and positive messaging across digital channels.
Importance in the Digital Marketing Landscape
Social brand monitoring is more important than ever in today’s digital landscape. Social media provides a public forum for customers to voice opinions, complaints, and experiences with a brand. These conversations happen with or without a brand’s participation. That’s why actively listening and engaging on social platforms through monitoring is critical.
Brand monitoring provides insights into the following:
- Brand perception, reputation, and equity
- Consumer demographics, interests, and needs
- Competitor activity and positioning
- Industry trends and conversations
These insights allow brands to identify new opportunities, address reputation issues, improve products and services, and better resonate with target audiences. As social media continues to shape brand-consumer relationships, monitoring and quickly adapting become imperative. Brand monitoring is no longer optional – it represents a strategic necessity for brands to thrive online.
The Metrics Behind Social Brand Monitoring
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| Sentiment | Percentage of mentions that are positive, negative or neutral |
| Share of Voice | Brand’s share of voice compared to competitors |
| Demographics | Age, gender, location of people mentioning the brand |
| Conversation Drivers | Trending topics and events that spur brand discussion |
| Engagement | Amount of interaction on brand posts (likes, shares, comments) |
As discussed in the introduction, social brand monitoring refers to tracking and analyzing brand mentions across social media. It provides visibility into how consumers perceive a brand, including:
Tracking the Sentiment of a Conversation
Sentiment analysis classifies brand mentions as positive, negative, or neutral. Monitoring sentiment over time provides insight into brand health and reputation. Spikes in negative sentiment may indicate issues needing attention. High positive percentages reflect strong brand affinity and approval. Sentiment percentages are key metrics to monitor over time. For example:
- What % of Twitter mentions about a new product launch are positive vs. negative?
- How do customer service complaint percentages on Facebook this quarter compare to last?
- Has brand reputation on forums improved or declined based on positive sentiment?
- Which blog topics and articles are generating the most positive discussion?
Tracking sentiment enables brands to benchmark and optimize for increases in positive perception. It also helps quickly detect surges in negative feedback that may require reputation management.
Comparing sentiment across demographics, topics, products, regions, and platforms paints a detailed picture. Sentiment that diverges from overall brand messaging indicates gaps to address. With regular monitoring, brands can continually assess brand health through the customer’s voice.
Share of Voice Shows Brand Relevance
Share of voice metrics tracks the percentage of overall social conversations about a niche, industry, or product mentioning your brand vs. competitors. A high share of voice indicates greater visibility and market dominance. A low percentage signals potential gaps in reach and shareability.
Common ways to calculate share of voice include:
- Percentage of industry hashtag volume: For example, what % of tweets using #skiing mention a brand like Salomon compared to other ski brands?
- Percentage of keyword search volume: If tracking “athletic shoes,” what % of searches contain Nike vs. other shoe brands?
- Percentage of reviews volume: How many Amazon reviews mention Crest vs. Colgate toothpaste?
- Percentage of Reddit discussion threads: What % of fitness subreddit posts discuss Peloton vs. NordicTrack?
A high share of voice indicates strong brand awareness and interest from social audiences. It shows that a brand captures attention amid the clutter. A low percentage may signal insufficient visibility or missed opportunities to engage audiences in discussing relevant topics.
Monitoring share of voice helps brands benchmark against competitors and set goals to increase presence. Share gains typically drive growth across audience, traffic, and sales metrics. Owning a category on social can solidify brand authority.
How Demographics Can Drive Messaging
Monitoring the age, gender, location, and other demographic data of people mentioning your brand will help with a larger audience segmentation strategy and fine-tune messaging. Specific demographics may be more vocal about a brand online. Their feedback offers a perspective into how brand resonance may differ across target groups.
Relevant demographic dimensions to track include:
- Age: Are millennials more vocal about your brand than Gen Z?
- Gender: Do males mention your products more than females?
- Location: Does brand sentiment differ across regions or countries?
- Interests: What hobbies, passions, and subcultures are prevalent among brand advocates?
Segmenting metrics by demographics reveals hidden gaps and opportunities. For example:
- A fitness brand sees lower sentiment among moms compared to single women. This prompts new content and messaging targeting busy mothers.
- A fast food chain finds its TikTok presence resonates highly with teens, inspiring more youth-focused campaigns.
- A game publisher discovers its female player base is growing, so it adjusts inclusive branding and staffing accordingly.
Regular demographic analysis provides a detailed, evolving view of target customer groups. Monitoring these subsets illuminates the nuances of branding and engagement.
Tracking Engagement of Owned Content
Engagement metrics like likes, shares, and comments indicate how well your brand’s owned social content resonates with fans. High engagement reflects content that piques audience interest. Low engagement may signal ineffective or irrelevant
Social engagement metrics measure how well a brand’s owned media and content resonates with fans and followers. This includes interactions like:
- Likes, reactions and emojis
- Comments and replies
- Shares and retweets
- Click-throughs
- Content saves or bookmarks
- Video views
- Contest entries or votes
Higher engagement signals content that piques audience interest. Lower engagement may indicate content that is irrelevant or unappealing to fans.
Ways brands can monitor engagement metrics include:
- Tracking engagement rates post-by-post to identify high-performing content. For example, which Facebook posts generate the most reactions?
- Analyzing engagement across platforms to optimize channel-specific strategies. Does visual content on Instagram perform better than text-heavy posts?
- Monitoring changes over time. Is user-generated content driving more engagement than branded posts?
- Comparing to competitor engagement. Does your industry content see above or below-average interaction levels?
- Breaking down metrics by audience and demographics. Are women commenting on your posts more than men?
Optimizing for engagement leads brands to create more on-brand, valuable content tailored to their communities. Continual monitoring spots emerging trends and feedback to inspire evergreen, creative social initiatives.
These insights allow brands to identify gaps between their desired and actual brand image. Monitoring the right metrics provides key data to enhance marketing strategies and reputation management. It empowers brands to shape their narrative rather than be passive observers.
Aligning Conversation Drivers With Current Events
Trending topics, current events, and other viral factors that spark conversation around your brand should be tracked. Conversation drivers refer to the external factors and current events that spark social media discussions around your brand. These can include:
- News events related to your industry
- Viral topics and memes
- Influencers mentioning your brand
- Controversies or PR crises
- New product releases from your brand or competitors
- Announcements, campaigns, and initiatives
Monitoring conversation drivers provides context into why your brand is trending and how topics spread. For example:
- A kitchenware brand may trend during the holiday cooking season or when a famous celeb chef recommends their products.
- A telecom brand’s mentions increase during political debates about internet access and net neutrality.
- A game company sees spikes when launching a new title or when competitors reveal their upcoming releases.
Tracking these conversation drivers via keyword monitoring and social listening enables brands to capitalize on timing and trends. Data can inform PR and social strategies to engage in relevant viral conversations.
Being aware of rising external forces keeps marketing agile and responsive. Analyzing audience behavior and needs in real time strengthens brand positioning amid ever-changing narratives.
The Role of Social Media in Brand Perception
Social platforms have become a key forum for consumers to evaluate brands. User-generated content directly shapes brand perception and reputation.
Positive brand mentions can amplify awareness and establish thought leadership. Negative feedback can strengthen trust and loyalty if addressed promptly and properly. Listening via monitoring allows brands to participate in these conversations rather than sit on the sidelines.
Social data reveals how target audiences perceive a brand’s image and messaging. Monitoring these inputs ensures alignment between brand identity and brand image. Rather than guesswork, data-driven insights improve brand positioning and resonance.
FAQ
Social brand monitoring refers to tracking and analyzing mentions and conversations about a brand across various social media platforms and online forums.
Social brand monitoring is crucial for businesses to understand customer perceptions, manage their online reputation, and identify opportunities or threats in real-time.
Common platforms used for social brand monitoring include social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn and forums like Reddit and Quora.
Various tools for social brand monitoring are available, including Talkwalker, Brandwatch, and Sprout Social.
Yes, social brand monitoring can impact SEO. Engaging with customers online, addressing their queries, and managing your brand reputation positively can enhance customer experience and loyalty.
When a company encounters negative mentions on social media, it is advisable to respond promptly, professionally, and transparently. Acknowledging the issue, apologizing when necessary, and offering solutions or directing the conversation to a private channel (like direct messages or email) can help manage the situation and protect the brand’s reputation.
Sentiment analysis in social brand monitoring involves using technology to analyze mentions and conversations about a brand to determine the emotional tone behind them. It helps understand whether the public perception is positive, negative, or neutral and enables brands to gauge overall customer satisfaction and identify areas for improvement.
Businesses can leverage positive mentions on social media by sharing them on their platforms, using them in marketing materials, and building relationships with satisfied customers. Positive mentions can be used as testimonials and case studies, and engaging with such content also encourages more positive interactions and enhances the brand’s image and credibility.
