Major corporations such as Coca-Cola and McDonald’s have spent decades developing and maintaining a brand identity – first in the domestic market and now across the globe. Instant brand recognition and the iconic status of the golden arches of McDonald’s or the Nike swoosh have power in the consumer’s mind.

How much of that power is maintained by consumer relationships, and how quickly can that power be ruined by poor marketing communications?

Poorly managed communications can lead to negative word of mouth advertising, the most powerful form of marketing. In this instance, brand loyalty will only carry a company so far as a mismanaged campaign spins out of control.

Social media and online marketing has proven itself a powerful source of monitoring consumer goodwill, or lack thereof. Online monitoring of blogs, social media sites and news feeds, can assist with research for the development of your marketing communciation message.

Pros of Using Social Monitoring

Real time tracking of social opinions, feelings
There are numerous software platforms for tracking comments and social interactions on any given topic. Companies have the option to track what individuals (consumers, trade, competitors, etc.) are saying real-time. Traditional mass media often offers a delay in such feedback. As industries become saturated and increased competition turns to cannibalism, the advantages of targeted, insightful feedback can be translated into competitive advantages.

Cross-analysis on multiple online platforms
Technology allows companies to compare noise across numerous digital platforms: blogs, news sites, micro-blogging sites (Twitter), social community sites (Facebook, MySpace) and social bookmarking sites (Digg, De.li.cious). Analysis of mentions and conversations across these different platforms can assist in determining where marketing communication efforts may need to be adjusted. For instance, a product press release may become popular on a social bookmarking site. This exposure may seem beneficial, but if the campaign was directed at high-profile blogs, the effort may have missed the mark. Historically, these public relations efforts have been difficult to track.

Quick response to potentially detrimental rumors
Pardon the weak analogy, but rumors spread like wildfire on the Internet. Capturing false accusations or rumors at the start may help to curb the nightmare of crisis communications. On the other hand, not all rumors are disastrous. Dependent upon the industry and the context of the rumor, some white lies may actually enhance a company’s brand. For instance, the rumor Apple is in talks with Verizon to launch the iPhone on their network has helped to increase awareness for the product itself. A word of caution: don’t start rumors internally to create hype. This can easily backfire.

Social Monitoring Pitfalls to Avoid

Difficulty in separating target audiences or publics
Identification of different target audiences becomes increasingly difficult on the Internet. The anonymity of individuals can lead to clusters of unique audiences within one social sphere. The increased ability to reach all of the individuals is powerful, but remember the targeted messages are unique. When monitoring an individual’s opinion, careful analysis of the messenger must be taken into consideration. An opponent of your product may be loud, but not within your target. You’ll want to soothe relations to mitigate damage caused by that individual, but changing your product’s message probably isn’t ideal. This person isn’t a consumer and may never be a consumer. You can’t win them all, so you must understand the motives of each online community member.

Noise may be louder than actual universal opinions
This item is very similar to the separation of target audiences. Some individuals are very, very loud. Their voice may be much louder than their influence. This factor must be taken into consideration before responding with internal or external changes to your messaging. Remember the majority is often quiet. If universal opinions have not changed, you may have merely discovered a way to tap into the opposition. Perhaps a different campaign can be directed at the opponent audience, but your other messages may still be on mark.

Too much emphasis on trivial details
Trends become apparent very quickly within the online community. Many of these trends disappear just as quickly as they arrived. Daily monitoring of the blogosphere can often place too much emphasis on trivial details. The big picture must always be driving the goals of your company. The microenvironment, though important, isn’t indicative of the macroenvironment. Monitoring for trends is key. It’s when trends turn into something larger and longterm that you may need to start adjusting the tone of your message.

The Internet offers an opportunity to enhance a company’s product or service through rich digital analysis. The rules for offline marketing communications apply in full force to the digital media. The different is the potential for information overload.