Ines Nadal is a Senior Research Executive for Synovate's UK Brand & Communications. She joined Synovate's grad scheme in 2009, after completing a MSc in Anthropology. Ines works on a large, multi-country brand tracker for one of the world's leading spirits brands as well as on buzz tracking projects and digital R&D. A bit of a geek, she is fascinated by all things digital and loves infographics and out-of-the-box advertising

Recently one of my colleagues mentioned that Pizza Hut now offers free unlimited salads. We decided to give it a try for lunch and had differing opinions about the experience. I noticed that two of my Facebook friends were having a similar discussion online. One friend said it was good that companies care about the health of their customers while another friend argued that it was just a PR stunt and he “wasn’t planning to go there to eat some bland grass”. The topic was also trending on Twitter and forums in the same way as my colleague and I were talking about it face-to-face.

Brand trackers monitor people’s attitudes towards a brand over time using “traditional” survey techniques. Tracking studies are very useful, allowing us to identify changes in attitudes and measure the impact of marketing activities and brand strategy. I have been talking about how buzz tracking can provide brands with valuable insights about what people think and how they react and can be used as an early warning system. But can social media monitoring also predict attitudes observed from brand tracking?  And could these buzz results provide the same level of insight on brand performance without having to wait weeks to get more traditional survey tracking results?

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One of the main questions clients ask us is how they can use social media monitoring for their business. By now everybody recognises the importance of social media, but we need to be aware that there is much more we can do besides listening to and engaging with social media conversations. Used in conjunction with traditional research, buzz tracking can be a powerful tool for any company to generate ‘real-time’ insights about the things that matter to consumers, thereby optimising their communications and developing business strategies that connect with people.

• Early warning system: social media monitoring gives immediate feedback into how your brand is perceived, what is happening right now around your brand (eg: news, PR, a bad review) and how people are reacting to things you do. When Gap released its new logo, it was immediately hit with thousands of comments on Facebook and Twitter criticising the change and this resulted in Gap switching back to their original logo.

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Starbucks is often mentioned as one of the best examples of how to use social media to engage with customers, strengthen brand image (Interbrand, Best Global Brands 2010) and ultimately improve sales. So how do they do it? Starbucks not only listen to their customers but they also engage in a digital dialogue and act. The company launched My Starbucks Idea in 2008, to encourage customers to submit their ideas and vote on them. As well as listening to what people are suggesting, they are also reviewing and implementing many of these suggestions, allowing people to see the status of their submissions.

In my last post I talked about the importance of listening to online conversations, but effective social media monitoring goes beyond listening. We have developed a five step process, which enables us to use buzz data to generate insights and to help companies to design and implement relevant strategies.

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Not so long ago, if you had found out that the hotel in Paris you had booked for your holiday was more like a filthy hole than a romantic retreat seen in the travel agency brochure, you might have written a letter of complaint to the hotel manager. Maybe you would have also told some of your friends and relatives not to go there.

A friend of mine found himself in a similar situation a few weeks ago. Instead of making a formal complaint, he posted a picture of the ‘not-so-nice’ room on Facebook, minutes after checking in. Then he submitted a review to tripadvisor.com, rating the hotel with one star and saying that it was horrendous, dirty and that he would never book another holiday with the travel agency. When I told him I was going to Paris, he immediately sent me the link to his review, to make sure I didn’t stay there.

Social Media and the Internet have changed the way we communicate, providing us with a platform to voice our opinions and experiences in real time. We can share our views with the world, reaching an audience unimaginable years ago. Take my friend’s hotel review as an example. He is potentially influencing hundreds of friends, casual acquaintances and complete strangers’ hotel selection by sharing his experience on two websites.

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