Understanding Social Media Using Sentiment Analysis

15/12/09

By Jennifer Major, Business Development Manager, Communications, Media and Entertainment Practice at SAS UK

Is this a new science or a new fad?

Social media sites make up at least half of the top 20 websites in most regions of the world. This has left companies, that primarily judge the health of their brands in the online world by web statistics and click-through rates, in real need of rethinking their social media
strategies.

Sentiment Analysis, though still in its infancy, provides a sophisticated science that will not only help companies react to reduce damage from negative comments but also monitor customer sentiment as...

...part of their ongoing brand management.

"We've seen the blunders big companies have made by not monitoring and, more importantly, not reacting intelligently and expeditiously to social upheaval in the digital space - how can we forget United Airlines' fate following musician Dave Carroll's infamous YouTube video of United Airlines Breaks Guitars and its sequels? In today's current market, businesses and their reputations cannot
afford to take that kind of hit.

Through blogs, message boards, fan pages and the like, the Internet is fast rebalancing the relationship between customers and companies, while social media networks, such as YouTube and Twitter, are giving consumers instant and, occasionally, very powerful ways to 'strike back' and make their voices heard.

Companies from all industries have quickly realised the necessity to go where the conversation is going in order to remain relevant and pertinent to customers. Big companies, such as Ford, Procter&Gamble and Coca-Cola to name but a few, have recognised the need to use the Internet
and, more importantly, the rich vein of market intelligence that social media sites provide, to 'listen', monitor and, if need be, counteract any bad publicity these virtual - and viral - conversations might be generating in order to avoid a fate... continued on page two >

 

 

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