Download Social Media Research

Social Media Research
Enhancing Consumer Understanding Through Listening
The rise of social media has created a communication revolution. New platforms now exist for people to discuss an
endless set of topics online, and the breadth of access to these conversations makes them a powerful new force in
a number of arenas, including marketing.
Many online discussions include reference to products or services, and for that reason, social media offers a gold
mine of consumer opinions for product, brand, and category managers to analyze and use. Ideally, social media
research, or “listening,” occurs as a complement to analysis of other information sources mined for insights,
including traditional qualitative techniques, quantitative survey research, and secondary behavioral data sources.
As a full-service, custom marketing research provider, Burke
works with client organizations to determine how social media
research can add richness to what they know about consumers.
Properly assembled and analyzed, social media content can offer
insight on a number of different management-relevant topics
including the following:
• Popularity of brands and products
• Quality and intensity of brand image, reputation, affinity, and
equity
• Elements of the customer experience, including the quality of
products and customer service experiences
• The language customers use when discussing products or
services
• How consumers evaluate competing products and services
• Early assessments of new product or service launches
The process of social media research is analogous to that of
other research methods in that it starts with objectives and ends
with action. Critical steps include the following:
• Identifying objectives for the social media analysis initiative
• Harvesting social media content from the Internet
• Imposing structure on what otherwise is quite unstructured
content from social media sites
• Analyzing cataloged social media content; possibly
monitoring trends in buzz and sentiment over time
• Interpreting findings in tandem with other information
sources
• Taking knowledge gleaned from interpretation and using it to
improve decisions about how to market the product or brand
Social media content does not offer a complete picture of what brands consumers think about and how they
evaluate them; a comprehensive depiction requires more holistic approaches that derive from a representative set
of consumers. Nevertheless, the volume of and sentiment expressed in social media can help marketers and
marketing researchers expand their understanding of what consumers like and dislike. Burke can help organizations
complete this picture of consumers in order to achieve business success with products and brands.
For more information:
Burke.com | [email protected]
800.688.2674
©2014 Burke Incorporated. All rights reserved.
Social Media Research
Enhancing Consumer Understanding Through Listening
The rise of social media has created a communication
revolution. New platforms now exist for people to
discuss an endless set of topics online, and the
breadth of access to these conversations makes them
a powerful new force in a number of arenas, including
marketing.
Many online discussions include reference to products
or services, and for that reason, social media offers a
gold mine of consumer opinions for product, brand,
and category managers to analyze and use. Ideally,
social media research, or “listening,” occurs as a
complement to analysis of other information sources
mined for insights, including traditional qualitative
techniques, quantitative survey research, and
secondary behavioral data sources.
As a full-service, custom marketing research provider,
Burke works with client organizations to determine how
social media research can add richness to what they know
about consumers. Properly assembled and analyzed, social
media content can offer insight on a number of different
management-relevant topics including the following:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Popularity of brands and products
Quality and intensity of brand image, reputation, affinity, and
equity
Elements of the customer experience, including the quality of
products and customer service experiences
The language customers use when discussing products or
services
How consumers evaluate competing products and services
Early assessments of new product or service launches
The process of social media research is analogous to
that of other research methods in that it starts with
objectives and ends with action. Critical steps include
the following:
• Identifying objectives for the social media analysis
initiative
• Harvesting social media content from the Internet
• Imposing structure on what otherwise is quite
unstructured content from social media sites
• Analyzing cataloged social media content; possibly
monitoring trends in buzz and sentiment over time
• Interpreting findings in tandem with other information
sources
• Taking knowledge gleaned from interpretation and using it
to improve decisions about how to market the product or
brand
Social media content does not offer a complete
picture of what brands consumers think about and
how they evaluate them; a comprehensive depiction
requires more holistic approaches that derive from a
representative set of consumers. Nevertheless, the
volume of and sentiment expressed in social media
can help marketers and marketing researchers expand
their understanding of what consumers like and
dislike. Burke can help organizations complete this
picture of consumers in order to achieve business
success with products and brands
For more information:
Burke.com | [email protected]
800.688.2674
©2014 Burke Incorporated. All rights reserved.