Brands are exposed to the comments and views of the public on social media. This means that people can talk about anything related to the brand. Whether it is on social media channels or in reviews and blogs, everyone can post their views about a brand.
If you are a business, it would be impossible for you to keep track of what each person is talking about you. However, you must know so that you can determine where your brand stands. This is where brand monitoring comes into the scene.
Brand monitoring is the process through which an organization or brand can monitor their social media presence. To help you do this, there are several brand monitoring tool which is present in the market.
Through these tools, you will be able to track not only your social media accounts but also check other blogs, posts, articles, web pages, etc. where your brand name is mentioned. This way, you will find out what is being discussed about your brand.
There are several things that you can monitor with the help of these tools. Each monitoring tool has its features and area of work. Depending on your business needs, you would have to choose the tool that is most suitable for you.
Using Online Keyword Monitoring Tool
Keyword monitoring is the activity through which keywords related to the brand are searched through the use of a keyword monitoring tool. Through this tool, you would be able to take out data that informs you about your brand status.
Moreover, keyword search also helps you understand your ranking in search results. For example, when a customer talks about your brand, they will use specific words related to your company. This could be your brand name, a product, any URL, etc.
No matter which keyword they use, if it is connected to your brand, you can find out the results with the help of this online keyword monitoring tool.
The brand monitoring tool will help you track the keyword mentions on different social channels. However, for a fulfilling search, you need to know the kinds of keywords that need to be focused on.
Brand Name
This is the first and foremost keyword that you would have to search and is most commonly used by people. For any posts that will be related to your brand, the public would mention your brand name.
A search on your brand name would bring out your brand details, the posts or tags that have been made on your brand name, and also other necessary mentions. If your brand name is commonly misspelled, make sure you include the misspellings in your search as well.
Product Name
The next keyword that would give you several results is your product names. There must be several products or services that your brand offers. This search would help you get an insight into how the customers perceive your product or service.
Through this keyword search, you will be able to determine the positive or negative impact of your products on the minds of people. Moreover, if needed, you can make use of the feedback and use it for future strategies.
People Keywords
It is necessary to track the names of individuals who are publicly connected to the business. These individuals could be the CEO of your organization, the COO, or any other person who has a public face.
If you are a small business, then it would be the owner of the company or any person who connects to the public through their social account.
Monitor Campaign Keywords
If you are heavily invested in digital marketing and online campaigns, then this search could garner several results. These campaign keywords are generally found in hashtags in several social media channels. You can search for #yourcampaignname to get the desired results.
This can also be beneficial when you are planning to start a new campaign. All you have to do is add the name of your campaign to the tool. Consecutively it will keep you giving updated results of the impact of the campaign on the people.
Industry Trends
Through the search for industry keywords, you will be able to know the recent trends of your particular industry. For example, if your brand belongs to the fashion industry, then you can put up a search for fashion-related keywords.
Monitor Competitors Brand
Knowing about your competitors’ media status is as important as knowing your own. In the same way that you search for your brand presence, make sure you search for your competitor.
This search will help you form strategies and campaigns which will further help you in your growth.
Social Brand Monitoring Practices
Knowing what to monitor using your brand monitoring tool is necessary. However, it is also important to know the practices that you have to indulge in for successful brand monitoring.
Use Alerts for Negative Tags
Not all mentions related to your brand would be positive. There would be many negative comments which would require more attention than the positive ones. Responding to negative comments in a time-bound manner is essential to safeguard the name of your brand.
This is why it is essential to set up alerts for any negative mentions related to your product and brand names. For this, you would have to ensure that your brand name is associated with words like issues or problem.
Keep Your Strategy Ready
Using a brand monitoring tool will give you the desired results. However, you have to know how to use those results to your benefit. Will you just react to positive comments or individually respond to them?
Will you provide an immediate response to the negative comments or solve them without communication? Whatever you want to do, you must keep a strategy ready. This way, you do not have to wait for your results to come and then take time to make your next move.
Know When to Communicate
The most important thing to know is to realize when to engage with the public. Not all comments or mentions need to be addressed. As a brand, there are certain areas that you need to be away from.
There will be hundreds or thousands of feedbacks that you will receive from the public. There will also be several complaints that are genuine and needs your attention. However, there will also be certain people who will bring up vague complaints just to get some attention.
This is why your concerned team would have to know which results they should term as important and which they should keep aside. Knowing this difference would do wonders for your brand.
Learn From Competitors
Your competitors would be able to teach you many things that would be essential for your brand. Whether it is about customer service or brand engagement, you would be able to learn new things from their success as well as failures.
Make sure that you monitor your competitors’ brand as well and get results about their strategies. You will find out if these strategies have worked in favor of your competitor’s brand or not.
Getting insights about your competitor would help you form your strategies. You will learn from their mistakes and make sure that your activities can impress the customers.
Use Best Brand Monitoring Software
All of these above practices will be of no use if the right brand monitoring tool is not used. To make sure that you get the desired results, you would have to use only the best social media tool.
Indulge in the right social media monitoring practices to make full use of the tool that you have chosen. Make sure that you keep a proper track of all the results that you derive from the monitoring tool.
Social Media Monitoring Results
Once your monitoring tool is all set up, you will start getting the results. There are two kinds of results that you will receive – negative and positive. You would have to know about the kinds of responses that you may receive from these results to decide on the course of action.
Negative Responses
The negative responses would help you in damage control and take the necessary actions to turn them into positive ones.
Media Coverage
Having negative coverage from the media would impact your brand name, especially if you are a growing brand. Hence, you need to immediately take care of this problem before it spreads like wildfire.
If your brand has made a genuine mistake that is being criticized, then the best thing to do would be to apologize. However, if the coverage against your brand is fake, then you need to provide sufficient proof to the public and uncover the truth.
Negative Reviews and Complaints
Unhappy customers would give negative reviews against your product or service. These reviews need to be taken seriously and addressed to keep your reputation intact. As a brand, you have to try to resolve these issues and make sure that the customer is happy with your solution.
However, if you are unable to resolve the issue, then it is better to communicate with the customer positively. Your response should be able to give them the confidence to rely on your brand again.
Hate Groups
As your business keeps growing, you would find more and more people who are against this growth. While many people would be unhappy with your product or service and may have simple complaints, some can develop hatred for your brand.
Even one unhappy customer may start a hatred campaign against you. They can create hate groups or pages against your brand. The worst thing for your brand will be if a customer sets up a website against your brand.
These issues need to be addressed immediately, and these sites should be brought down.
Positive Responses
Positive responses can provide you with new insights and allow you to help grow your brand.
Collaboration Opportunities
Collaborating with other brands or social media users will help you get into the limelight. You can track from the positive response of your brand from celebrities, influencers, or even other brands. When you do so, you can contact them to collaborate with you for a podcast, video, or a report.
This will be beneficial both ways as you will be promoting the brand or individual, and they would also be promoting your brand. Through this action, you will get many new customers.
Opinions about Marketing Strategies
Though this might not always garner a positive response, you will be able to know what the public thinks of your marketing campaigns. Whenever you launch a campaign, keep a close eye on the reactions of the public.
If you get positive responses, then you will know which path to take. However, you receive negative responses, then you will learn from your mistakes. Moreover, an excellent marketing strategy can help in making your brand go viral.
Positive Reviews and Feedbacks
Just like you need to respond to the negative reviews, the positive reviews deserve your equal attention. Moreover, you have to try and turn the negative reviews into positive through the right actions.
You can use the positive reviews for your brand as testimonials on your website by taking the customer’s permission. These testimonials will help increase the authenticity and trust in your brand.
Moreover, you can use these pieces of feedback and reviews for impressive marketing material, which can be great for your brand. You can make customer review videos or case studies that will bring your brand one step closer to global expansion.
Competitor Performance
Monitoring the performance of your competitor is necessary since it will help you discover new opportunities. You can turn your competitor’s negative mentions in a positive strategy for your brand.
For example, if you see a customer who is unhappy with your competitor’s services, then you can reach out to them. You can provide them with an alternative product or service that they would feel attracted to.
Moreover, keep track of your competitor’s strategies to make sure that yours are unique. Sending out unique messages would grab the attention of more potential customers.
Summing Up
Brand monitoring can be hard work but using the right tools, you can use this data to your benefit. The social media monitoring tools will not only give you results related to your online presence but also help you in your marketing techniques.
You will find several interesting monitoring tools in the market. You must choose the right one which will complement your business needs. Check out the different features provided by each tool and choose the one that you feel is perfect for you.
Grow your brand reputation with the help of the best brand monitoring tool!