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:
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Looking more closely at these terms 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. What insights can you glean by focusing on conversations instead of messages?
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. Are forums 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 forums are fading. Or, see if languages other than your native business one are carrying important tidbits of conversation about you that you might want to capture or engage.
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Keeping an eye on the broad scope picture around your brand is key to planning and making the most of your engagement efforts. Engagement is what drives the network of conversation, and Radian6 can help you determine where your voice is needed most.
From the PowerShift Blog
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