July 3, 2012

Research Firm PhaseOne Rolls Out Suite of Social Media Analytical Products to Boost a Brand's Engagement: New Services Help Clients Monitor and Drive Consumer Engagement, Define "Key Driver" in Social Communications

PhaseOne, an analytical-based research and consultancy firm that helps improve marketing communications practices, recently rolled out a suite of social media solutions that analyze how a brand's messaging plays to consumers across multiple social media disciplines, including brand communications, competitive communications and social media engagement, to provide the insights in crafting strategies and messaging platforms. "The rise in importance of social media in product branding has put pressure on marketers to understand the impact it is having on a brand and to quantify the investment they make in social networking," said Angelo Ponzi, director of client services at PhaseOne, in a company release. "PhaseOne's social media analytical solutions go well beyond metrics currently available. By focusing on the role a brand's own communications play in driving attitudes and preferences towards that brand, these tools help marketers better evaluate the efficacy of their social media program's integration with their on-going traditional programs." At the heart of PhaseOne's social media services is the focus on a key driver or "ME Statement" (the idealized self embodied by the brand) that exists among the most socially engaged brands. This key driver was identified in PhaseOne's recently published Social Media Engagement Study.

PhaseOne offers four different social media solutions, each of which can be utilized independently of one another. However, when combined as a suite, they provide greater insights into market, messaging and content dynamics. The four solutions are:

"ME Statement" Development and Monitoring

The identification of the "ME Statement" has been found to be essential among brands whose audience was highly engaged with the brand.

PhaseOne "ME Statement" Development and Monitoring service:

• Assists in mining consumer data, mapping it against the brand's equities within its category to identify relevant and distinctive "ME Statements";
• Ensures that a company's chosen "ME Statement" is effectively expressed across all touch points; and
• Offers social media monitoring to track the target audience acceptance of the brand's "ME Statement."

Social Media Brand Communications Audit

PhaseOne determines whether a brand's messages are influencing online conversations and if the conversations are reinforcing or damaging brand equities (i.e., sentiment, likes and dislikes). Based upon this analysis, PhaseOne provides recommendations on how to shape and influence future brand messaging strategies.

Social Media Competitive Communications Audit

This PhaseOne audit monitors competitive conversations and determines whether they are reinforcing or damaging brand equities. Based upon this analysis, PhaseOne provides recommendations on how to shape and influence future competitive messaging strategies.

Ongoing Monitoring and Insights of Social Media Sentiment

By monitoring social media conversations, PhaseOne tracks messages being played out in the social media space and analyzes a brand or competitor's sentiment, likes or dislikes. PhaseOne then goes further by examining events, issues or other topics being circulated online to determine their impact on a brand's social media presence. These findings can be reported on a daily, weekly or monthly basis or on a custom delivery schedule based on client needs.

PhaseOne monitors social media conversations and then uses its proprietary analytical process to:

• Identify online sentiment;
• Determine if there are areas of concern and then delve further to determine the level and source of negative comments or issues;
• Provide insights and actionable recommendations; and
• Discover opportunities for leveraging likes, compensating for or overcoming dislikes.

Get more information here.