From Buzz to Biz: The Case for Social Media Research

January 4, 2010 | Comments Off

Buzz monitoring is a popular topic these days but what exactly is it? In simple terms, buzz monitoring, or social media monitoring, consists of searching the internet for mentions of brand names, and determining how many times and where they are mentioned. Buzz monitoring lets you identify when something substantial has occurred in the internet space because the volume of chatter has suddenly changed. Sometimes, the monitoring is taken to a second stage where someone representing the brand investigates individual search findings to respond to the people who made the comment. This is a form of customer relationship management at the individual level. Buzz monitoring can let you be in the know as soon as chatter about your brand changes.

On the other hand, social media research is not an extension of buzz monitoring, but rather an extension of marketing research. While it’s good to know how much chatter is taking place and where it is taking place, it’s far more important to understand the qualities of that chatter. Social media research is marketing research without the questionnaire and the focus group. Social media research allows you to understand the attitudes and beliefs that a large cross-section of people have towards a brand. Instead of gathering survey results from several hundred people, this style of research gathers thousands of data points from thousands of people on topics that actually matter to them.

The possibilities are endless. What are your consumers talking about? Are they focusing on the good or the bad? Are they discussing wishes and wants or failures and detractions? What topics do consumers feel are important or need more attention? Why are consumers buying, or not buying, a product? In addition to identifying these key topics, social media research lets you measure them. How do these results compare to similar brands? Are perceptions of your brand significantly better or just slightly better? Is the change over time meaningful or just the changing chatter of a few over-vocal critics.

This is how monitoring social media changes from just buzz to business.

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