360 Degrees of your Brand
Your brand isn’t just what you say it is. It’s also about what your employees, customers, prospects, competitors, and world at large say it is. As we like to say, a brand is the sum of all conversations, and in the fast-moving and dynamic world of social media, you want to have a handle on how your brand is being perceived out there.
As a simple start, you might be listening to the buzz around your brand or company, and you might look at a simple Radian6 conversation cloud like this:
What can that tell you, at a glance? For starters, you get a snapshot of all the words and phrases being used in the same breath as your brand. Are they what you expected? Are they the same words you’re using to talk about your work, or are they different? And if they’re different, what’s the story behind it? A click gives you detail on the posts around that word, so you can see if it’s a passing association, or something you ought to be paying closer attention to:
Practicing effective social media monitoring can give you insight into your messaging, your SEO, and how your community is talking about you. Messages are more powerful when they’re delivered in the words that people are using themselves. Speak in the language of the people you’re trying to reach, and your company is more likely to make an impression that sticks.
Are your messages being changed and adjusted as they’re spread through the community like a game of telephone? That might be a signal to you that you need to change something up. Are the features and benefits you’re highlighting the ones that people are actually talking about, or are they raving about something you hadn’t thought of? Perhaps your community is having discussions about topics you haven’t yet approached in your communications, but should. Maybe it’s time to start focusing on listening to conversations instead of simply relying on your own messaging.
With Radian6, you can also get important insights into what social media vehicles are most active for conversations about your brand.
Knowing where the conversations are happening is key to building an efficient, effective outreach and engagement strategy. Discovering that forums are where people are asking lots of questions about your product? Deploy your support teams to respond to those posts and watch your resolution rate rise. Getting lots of traction on blog posts? Send your community and communication teams out to respond, thank people for mentioning you, and contribute to the larger conversations.
Over time, paying attention to the trends surrounding your brand is key, too. Give yourself a quarterly look at whether blog posts and Tweets about you are on the rise, while other channels are fading. Or, see if languages other than that of your native business are carrying important tidbits of conversation about you that you might want to capture or engage with.
Keeping an eye on the broad scope picture around your brand is key to planning and making the most of your social media strategy. Engagement is what drives the network of conversation, and Radian6 can help you determine where your voice is needed most.
Download the PDF version of 360 Degrees of your Brand
Interested in hearing what people are saying about your brand? Click here to get started now with Radian6.
