Among the many advantages social media has to offer us in the public relations and marketing field, monitoring client brands is a big one that should not be overlooked by strategic communication professionals. Using social media to monitor a client’s brand can revolutionize the entire idea of branding. With better outreach avenues, real-time feedback, and better two-way communication, social media is quickly replacing traditional branding methods.
In a recent article Lauren Fernandez of Radian 6, the social media monitoring and engagement platform, cited what she thinks are the five key benefits of utilizing social media to monitor brands. We here at integratePR think she has some valid points and we want to share them with you.
1) Crisis Management
Fernandez points out the real-time response to issues that is possible with social media. She says that while lack of crisis communication strategies is not the issue, more often than not it is the lack of two-way communication in reacting to the issue. Think Dominos here—if they had reacted immediately, rather than 48 hours too late, it would not have turned into the disaster that it did (a national study conducted by HCD Research using its Media Curves Web site found 65% of respondents who would previously visit or order Domino’s Pizza were less likely to do so after viewing the offending video)
2) Influencer Identification
Social media can allow you to monitor the mention of a brand or client across the vast spectrum of social tools like Social Mention, Viral Heat, etc (mentioned last week on the iPR blog—hyperlink to http://iprblog.com/2010/08/the-tools-from-the-online-marketing-summit/). With this kind of monitoring available you can identify what kinds of forums your brand is being mentioned on, the context in which it’s mentioned and the volume of mentions. Having the knowledge of which platforms are influential to your specific auduience allows you to better target your communication strategies.
3) Building Relationships with Media and Customers Alike
Fernandez suggests using social media like a journalist—using it not only to stay on top of news and current events, but also to network with PR professionals and the community. While staying up on the trends of brands is important—it’s crutial network with the media and community you are engaging with. Media outreach can help you measure how well your brand is resonating with your target audience and community networks can provide you with better insight as to how to better target that audience.
4) Creative Feedback and Ad Targeting
Social media offers many advertising possibilities, and Fernandez sees this as a beneficial addition to your monthly metrics report. Monitoring statuses and posts on social media can allow you to implement ads that target individuals based on their interests. From there you can monitor if users are clicking on the ads, as well as communicating with or about the brand on social media.
5) Competitive Monitoring
Not only can you monitor the presence and feedback of your brand, but also that of your competitors—remember, everything online is public information! This knowledge will allow you to act quickly and develop new strategies if you discover that your target audience is communicating with your competing brand. Knowing the current efforts of your competitor can dictate your next move in your brand campaign and give it a better chance at success.
Throughout her article Fernandez emphasizes the versatility social media has to offer. It is clearly ushering in a new age of branding methods. In order to stay ahead in this ever-changing industry, it would be an advantageous tool to utilize. The ideas behind traditional branding are still the same, but the platforms are changing. This is something that should be taken into account when you think about future branding.
