May 2008

Is Buzz Tracking Worth the Effort?

If you track buzz to find out what people are saying about your brand, then that's all you'll learn. But when it's done right, there's a lot more to discover.

By Ian Miller

"I don't know what it is, but I know I need it." Five years ago, the "it" was SEO. Two years ago, "it" was a blog. And in 2008, "it" means buzz tracking.

At Tendo, we've had clients come to us desperate for us to help them track their online buzz. When we ask them why they need it or what they hope to learn from it, sometimes they tell us, "I thought I had to have it." Sometimes we simply get a blank stare. Our response, of course: You can't conduct any kind of successful campaign without knowing what your goals are. So don't do it just because another division is engaged in buzz tracking or someone you meet at a party tells you it's essential. If you track buzz to find out what people are saying about your brand, then that's all you'll learn. But wouldn't you rather learn why customers choose your competitors' products over yours, or find out what customers like and dislike about your products? When done right, buzz tracking can tell you these things and more.

What Is Buzz Tracking?

In its simplest form, buzz tracking consists of scanning the Web for mentions of your company name or products. There are literally hundreds of ways to do it, from a simple Google search to tools specifically designed to scan blog comments for a given search string. (We'll look at specific tools later in this article.) Even a simple Web search can generate absurd amounts of data. But it's what you do with the data that matters.

What Should I Track?

In order to track your online reputation effectively, you've got to start by establishing your goals. A massive spreadsheet of company or product mentions won't help your bottom line. But beginning the exercise with a few simple questions will. Rather than asking "What are people saying about my company or product?" ask "Why do people choose my product or service?" or "What do customers like and dislike about my product or service?" The differences might seem subtle, but asking the right questions can mean the difference between ending up with actionable data versus a mountain of useless information.

How Do I Track?

As we mentioned above, preliminary buzz tracking can be done with a simple Web search. Just type your company name, product name, then names of key executives, or other unique information about your company into Google or your search engine of choice. That's a perfectly reasonable starting point but is not, as programmers are fond of saying, "scalable."

In terms of best bang-for-the-buck tools, it's hard to go wrong with Google and Yahoo. Setting up news alerts for the major search engines is a good first step, and both Google and Yahoo offer unique free tools to help you track your online reputation. Google Trends is a great way to monitor how often a set of terms has been searched on Google over time, while Yahoo Pipes lets you create custom news feeds and filter them based on many parameters. (It looks complicated at first glance, but it's fairly easy to get the hang of, and it's extremely powerful.)

Should you want to get your ear closer to the ground to find out what the masses are saying about you, you can do that, too. Sites like socialmeter and twittermeter let you search the major social networks to see how your site is performing. Co.mments allows you to bookmark and follow individual blog comment threads, while old faithful Technorati continues as the go-to search engine for blogs.

With the tools mentioned above and literally dozens more, you should be able to uncover each and every online mention of your company or product. But remember, it's not just the data you collect; it's what you do with it. You need to embark on buzz tracking with a plan. What, specifically, do you hope to learn? How will this new insight help you refine your product offerings or improve your customer service? Make sure you can answer these questions before you start your buzz-tracking initiative.

About the author:

Ian Miller is a managing editor at Tendo Communications. Sadly, none of the Technorati search results for his name have anything to do with him. Email him.