Six Super Tips To Keep An Eye On Your Brand Online
Haven’t the foggiest what customers are saying about your brand on social media? Well, here’s six hot tips from marketing and branding firm TwoCents Group’s Simon Dell to ensure you’re the one controlling the message…
One thing that sets apart the pros from the amateurs in online marketing is whether they are monitoring online mentions of their brand. Many businesses tend to “hope for the best” when it comes to online brand mentions. That is, they hope that any important mentions of their brand will come across their desk at some point, and they hope to not miss any press – positive or negative.
As you can probably guess, it’s not my recommendation to take this approach with your online branding!
Your online reputation needs to be carefully monitored and managed. In today’s 24/7 world of news, social media, forums, and online review sites, your brand could (at any time of the day) receive important feedback, damaging reviews, media coverage, or other kinds of online mentions that require you to respond appropriately. A lack of awareness of your online reputation and not responding fast enough (or at all) risks leaving you exposed to awkward situations.
How can you monitor your online brand?
I have six tools and techniques that can help you keep on top of your online brand. This list is not exhaustive, but it has been designed to cover some of the most common (and affordable) options for small to medium businesses.
- Google Alerts
One of the most powerful free brand monitoring tools is Google Alerts. All you need to set up Google Alerts is your Google account. Once you have logged in, you can subscribe to keywords and get notified via email when Google’s bots crawl these keywords for the first time on a web page. You can choose how often to get notified, what regions and languages you would like to focus on, and what types of results you would like to see (news, blogs, videos, discussions, books, etc).
It is a good idea to set up Google alerts for commonly used versions of your brand name, local stores, contact details, website urls, and any names of important individuals within your company (such as the CEO).
Google alerts is not fool-proof – you are limited by what Google crawls and how often it crawls the web. It is possible to miss something important or not see a mention of your brand for several days if you are only relying on Google to crawl the web. However, it is a good tool to have in your branding toolkit, and is a great starting place if you don’t have the budget for paid tools.
- Social Mention
Another free tool worth knowing about is Social Mention. This is a real-time online monitoring tool that trawls social media, blogs, images, and videos for mentions of specific keywords.
For a free tool, it offers some pretty powerful analytics, including data on positive/negative/neutral sentiments, top keywords, top sources, number of unique authors, estimated strength, reach, and passion, and the option to download this data in CSV spreadsheet format.
Limitations of Social Mention are that at the time of writing, it does not have a functioning “alerts” system, so the only way you can track your mentions is if you manually run a search on a regular basis. This means that Social Mentions could be a great tool to harness and respond to real-time mentions in the event of a crisis or major media coverage, but it won’t be all that useful in notifying you of day-to-day mentions.
- Hashtag Search Tools
Increasingly, consumers are using #Hashtags to talk about brands and expect brands to be following their key hashtags, for example #CompanyName. If you miss a mention of your hashtag, it’s not a good look for your business!
There are a range of tools that can help monitor your hashtags and keep you alerted for mentions. One such tool for Twitter (with some free features) is Tweet-Tag.com. The key result here is that real-time monitoring and alerts for your hashtags will ensure that you don’t miss out on responding to feedback – particularly if it is negative – before it turns into a larger-scale crisis. The sooner you can respond to feedback, the more in control you can stay of your online reputation on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and other social media.
- Topsy
Topsy is another fantastic online brand monitoring tool. It’s quick and easy to use, with plenty of free features. Just pop your keyword (usually your business name) into the search box, and it will spit out data on the number of online mentions recently, tweets, influencers, photos, videos, and more.
Another section of Topsy that you might find useful is an area to compare different keywords over a set period of time. You can see the number of mentions on a graph and compare the popularity of these keywords and monitor trends and fluctuations. This could show your brand’s mentions compared to a competitor, or perhaps whether certain topics are trending for your industry and customers.
- Hootsuite Streams
Hootsuite is primarily known as a popular social media scheduling and publishing tool. In fact, you probably already have an account for your business. However, Hootsuite is less known for another one of its tools which is arguably just as powerful as scheduling posts. Once you have your account set up, with your social media profiles for your business added, you can create “Streams” to monitor different aspects of your social media.
Some examples of streams you could add include:
- Facebook wall posts to your business page
- Messages to your Facebook page
- Searches of specific keywords on Facebook
- Instagram hashtags
- Twitter direct messages
- Retweets
- Trending topics on Twitter
- Twitter keyword search
- Twitter mentions
- Twitter url mentions
The power of this is that you can view and respond in real time to your brand’s online mentions on the top social media platforms. You don’t even need to leave the Hootsuite dashboard – simply check and respond to any mentions on your connected accounts while logged into Hootsuite
Hootsuite offers a free basic option where you can add up to 3 social media profiles. So if, for example, you primarily use Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for your business, you may not even need to upgrade your account.
- ImageRaider
It’s worth mentioning that not all brand mentions come in text form. One powerful aspect of monitoring your online brand that is often overlooked is instances where your image or logo has been used.
ImageRaider is a tool that allows you to trawl the internet for instances where your images have been used. It would be a good idea to plug your logo images and key branding images into ImageRaider as a starting point. Other important types of images you would want to track might be official pictures of your CEO, images that have come up as damaging (or positive) to your brand in the media, and more.
All of these images count as mentions of your brand, so it is important that you are able to track them and respond in a timely manner. You might come across an amazing brand advocate that you weren’t aware of (a great opportunity to pursue the relationship further), or identify companies and people who are trying to hurt your reputation.
ImageRaider offers a limited number of free credits, but after that, you will need to pay a small fee for searches per image. You could also use Google images for free to do the same job, but ImageRaider is much faster because it allows you to input multiple images at once and monitor your images long-term.
Over to you now…
Do you currently have a system in place to consistently monitor your brand? If so, what tools do you use? Are there any potential gaps in your monitoring system that you need to account for?
Latest News
Sydney Comedy Festival: Taking The City & Social Media By Storm
Sydney Comedy Festival 2024 is live and ready to rumble, showing the best of international and homegrown talent at a host of venues around town. As usual, it’s hot on the heels of its big sister, the giant that is the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, picking up some acts as they continue on their own […]
Global Marketers Descend For AANA’s RESET For Growth
The Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) has announced the final epic lineup of local and global marketing powerhouses for RESET for Growth 2024. Lead image: Josh Faulks, chief executive officer, AANA Back in 2000, a woman with no business experience opened her first juice bar in Adelaide. The idea was brilliantly simple: make healthy […]
Is Meta’s New AI Chatbot Too Left-Wing?
Meta's chatbot accused of being left-wing after being caught wearing a Che Guevara T-shirt & listening to Billy Bragg.
TV Ratings (23/04/2024): Why Did No One Tell Angela That Farmer Wants A Wife Is Set On A Farm?
As wonderful as this headline is, let's face it, we all know an 'Angela', don't we?
PubMatic Unveils New AI Partnership To Turn Social Posts Into Ads For Any Digital Channel
Here's some nifty tech for turning social posts into ads. Assuming said posts aren't one-star character assassinations.
Intuit Mailchimp Makes A Splash With Its First Australian Brand Campaign
Ever laugh along at a gag you didn't get so as not to appear dumb? Get ready for more feigning with this new work.
GumGum’s Rob Hall: Advertisers Can No Longer “Rely On Binary Descriptions” Of Consumers
If anyone's got their finger on adtech's pulse, it's Rob Hall. He also avoids using the good paper in the office printer
Mastercard Nabs Florencia Aimo From Marriott International
Marriott International's Florencia Aimo jumps from the hotel business to the exploitative credit card one.
Bastion Agency Appoints Cheuk Chiang As New ANZ CEO
Cheuk Chiang takes the reins over at Bastion Agency. But not the rains down in Africa.
Spotlight On Sponsors: Major Sponsorship Wins After A Disappointing Week In Sport
B&T continuing our deep dive into local sport sponsorships & that's despite not a single offer of a free ticket as yet.
Macca’s Marketing Director, Samantha McLeod On Big Mac Chant: “What Was Once Old Is Now Cool Again”
Macca's using the power of nostalgia in latest Big Mac campaign. Well, only for those who've ever eaten one sober.
World Premiere Of Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line To Open Sydney Film Festival 2024
Oil's biopic to open Sydney Film Festival. Here's hoping Molly Meldrum will take his pants down at the premiere.
Entries Are Now Open For The 2024 Brandies, IntelligenceBank’s Annual Brand Marketing Awards
The Brandies are, of course, a prestigious marketing gong and not the mystery tipple favoured by nannas everywhere.
The Fred Hollows Foundation Appoints Ardent For PR
Yes, we all like to have a joke at PR's expense. But sometimes it does important work, like this.
AI, eCommerce & Marketing Specialists Are In Increased Demand By Businesses, New Data From Fiverr Shows
Has your philosophy & anthropology degree left you with nothing but a huge HECS debt? Here's what you should've studied.
Perth’s First 3D Anamorphic Billboard Arrives Courtesy Of oOh!media
Do you love a buzzword? Now you can add anamorphic to the list as it relates to billboards, not a colleague's ears.
MasterChef Australia & Crown Resorts Launch Unique Dining Experience With ALUMNI
A pop-up restaurant staffed by MasterChef contestants! That's fine dining prices for first-year apprentice chef cuisine!
Amanda Laing Announces Resignation From Foxtel Group
Foxtel's chief commercial & content officer heads for the exits. Read nice things the bosses said about her right here.
The Lost Letters From Our Diggers: News Corp Unveils ANZAC Day Special
It's nice when brands respectfully acknowledge ANZAC Day.
Howatson+Company Acquires Akkomplice
Large indie acquires a slightly smaller indie. Much like a shark eating a tuna, just with less thrashing and blood.
Google Delays Third-Party Cookie Deprecation Again
In good news for the sale of picture library biscuit photos, Google continues to tease over the end of cookies.
Education A Low Priority For Aussies More Concerned With Cost Of Living Forethought Study Reveals
Study finds Aussies cutting back on education due to cost of living. Booze & Uber Eats sales remain largely unaffected.
“I’m Still The Same Person That I Was”: Rikki Stern Says “Fucc It” To Cancer Stereotypes
B&T always happy to promote the anti-cancer cause. Even brands that massively overdo it with the hot pink.
The Unapproved Climate Certification Allegedly Causing Mass Greenwashing
Are you left flummoxed in the canned tuna & free range eggs aisle? Just wait till this green certification gets up.
TV Ratings (22/04/2024): Fans Mock “Over The Top” Reaction To New MasterChef Judges
MasterChef returns for its 2024 season. B&T stands by putting peppercorns in Gravox & no one will be any the wiser.
Dentsu Restructure: Muddle, Harvey & Johnston Take Leadership Baton As Bass & Yurisich Exit
A large broom has swept through Dentsu's local ops this morning, taking with it some big names & the air con's cobwebs.
Industry Shares Trends Shaping The Industry This International Creators Day
B&T's asking adland creators to reveal their top trends. And it's not good news for your Jenny Kee cardigan collection.
Mable Extends HOYTS Sensory Screenings Partnership
Mable has extended its HOYTS sensory screening partnership. Vigorously defends its two-star Oppenheimer review.
Orphan Launches ‘They Need Our Help. We Need Yours’ For Children’s Cancer Institute
Anything to do with childhood cancers has B&T's 110% support. That said, we do ignore the red meat & alcohol warnings.
Smile Team Orthodontics & Keep Left Collaborate On Smile-Inducing Campaign
As parents would attest, given the cost of orthodontics you'd expect this campaign to be a lavish production indeed.
Opinion: How Video Calls Neglect Learning Diversity
Need an excuse to duck out of a video call this arvo? Show this to your boss.
DoubleVerify Achieves First-Of-Its-Kind Responsible AI Certification From TrustArc
DoubleVerify receives responsible AI certification. However, not its robotic vacuum that's been seen menacing the cat.
Smile For A Good Cause: The Social Media Campaign Giving Back To The Community
Are you known as the office Austin Powers? More for you teeth than shagability? Get snappy new fangs with this news.
Elon Musk Mocks Albo After ESafety Wins Court Injunction Against X
Albo's 2024 from hell continues - Rabbitohs in crisis, down in the polls and now feuding with world's richest man.
Real Estate Developer In Hot Water Over “Sexually Exploitative” OOH Campaign
Real estate agents again tops in the 'least trusted profession' polls, nudging used car salesmen & ad creatives.
Epsilon’s Shane Hanby: Post-Cookie Era Relies On “Teamwork” Between Brands, Marketers & Tech
This pro predicts more "teamwork" in a post-cookie era. Which spells bad news for the uncooperative or plain stubborn.