Have you heard of social sentiment monitoring? It can be a handy tool for New Zealand marketers who want to know how customers feel about their brand. In this article, we’ll dive into what exactly social sentiment monitoring is and which businesses should add it to their strategy.

What is it? 

According to Hootsuite, “Social media sentiment analysis is the process of collecting and analysing information on how people talk about your brand on social media. Rather than a simple count of mentions or comments, sentiment analysis considers emotions and opinions.

It's also known as opinion mining, where companies dig into the words and conversations of people talking about their brand and pick up on general opinions.

Should you be doing it?

Well, firstly you need to know if people are even talking about your brand or business. If your company is relatively new, there may not be much of a conversation around your brand yet. In this case, you can stick to your regular social scheduling and analytics.

However, if you are an established brand in New Zealand or anywhere in the world with a relatively large following, tracking your social sentiment is a fantastic idea. Here are a few reasons why: 

  1.  It can help you understand your audience: Imagine eavesdropping on a conversation about you. If the gossipers are unaware of your presence, they’ll be brutally honest about their opinions. A similar thing happens on social media; most posters assume the brand won’t see what they are saying and just want to vent. Other times, they deliberately make a post to get the attention of a brand. In either situation, and whether it's positive or negative, listen in to see what your audience is saying. You can understand what makes them happy, annoyed and some ways to improve your service if needed! 
  2. You will improve customer service: If you understand your audience, you’ll be able to speak their language.Your customer service interactions will get a boost as you can be more empathetic towards your customer's needs after monitoring what they're saying.
  3. You can tweak your offering: When you started your brand, you most likely did some competitor analysis and market research. Now you have an established brand,researching your offering will give you great insight into what changes you can make. Your audience will have their ideas on what works and what doesn’t; take this all into consideration. You may find some golden recommendations in there!
  4. You can spot a crisis before it happens, and stop it from happening:  This is a majorperk to social sentiment monitoring. If your brand has suffered any major mishaps or crises in the public eye before, this will be your best tool in making sure it doesn’t happen again.As you track negative feedback, you can notice if a spike is occurring and work on putting out the fire before it becomes an inferno. 

Which business will benefit from social sentiment monitoring?

Most B2C and consumer brands will benefit from social sentiment tracking. Here are some common examples: if you fall into one of these categories, and have a large audience base, add social sentiment monitoring to your social media strategy.

  1. Hotels, restaurants, and travel agencies
  2. E-commerce Retailers
  3. Tech Companies
  4. Financial Institutions
  5. Hospitals, clinics, and healthcare providers
  6. Car manufacturers and dealerships
  7. Nonprofit Organisations
  8. Clothing and fashion brands
  9. Real Estate Agencies
  10. Restaurants, cafes, and food chains
  11. Schools, colleges, and universities
  12. Gyms, fitness centres, and wellness spas

Government, B2B and niche industries can most likely skip monitoring as their focus lies outside of public perception.

So, how can I track my social sentiment? Check out Matter agency's blog on how to track your social sentiment score, plus what to do if it's negative. Matter agency have you covered with all things social media marketing. Check out our services or get in touch for a coffee or a call.