Do you know what people think about your product or service?
What they really think?
While 80 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds have left product or service reviews online, and 91 percent of the same age group trust these online reviews when making purchase decisions, precious few marketers have a holistic view of this real-time information.
What this means is that you may not be aware of how wide-ranging people’s opinions are about your brand or company, and which comments are indicative of a broader trend or are simply one-off complaints (or kudos). Such awareness is important in all industries – particularly in the unsparing world of retail – where people use social media to make their uncensored opinions known. And not knowing what they are saying is risky and could affect your bottom line.
Remember the circle of family and friends we once relied on for purchasing advice? Well, it’s expanded exponentially to includes thousands – or even millions – of people with a willingness to comment on every attribute of your product or service.
A meaningful way to gather trustworthy intelligence on your online reviews – from Angie’s List to Zocdoc, Google Reviews to Yelp, Glassdoor to LinkedIn – is the only way to determine what feedback is actionable. And, thanks to an innovative blend of data, analytics and creativity, Ketchum stands ready to help.
Today, Ketchum Analytics – in partnership with Ketchum’s Retail sector – is launching an innovative service to capture, aggregate, segment, and thoroughly analyze company-, brand-, location-, employee-, – or product-specific reviews posted on relevant review websites and forums. Using sophisticated natural language processing, AI, visualization techniques, and data analysis, we can harness and parse this information to help you make more informed marketing and communications decisions.
Here’s how our process for gathering intelligence on your online reviews works…
First, based on parameters identified by your company or brand, we identify which target audience and what priorities are of greatest interest. Then, we aggregate relevant reviews – across multiple platforms – and segment the information in a wide variety of ways, such as geography, competitive landscape, keywords, and much more.
With that raw data now synthesized, we apply an analytics lens to the data, providing an in-depth look at every comment sorted by topic and ranked by whether the reviewer had a positive, neutral or negative experience. Last, pain points and growth opportunities are identified, enabling the company to pinpoint and act on the most important findings.
It’s a critical audit that would be nearly impossible to pull off manually, and certainly not in a timely fashion. Yet the human factor is what makes the difference in the end, to supplement data capture and analysis and provide the insights necessary to mitigate problems or take advantage of popular opinions.
So, it’s time for – the human factor!
Instead of your staff wading through thousands of comments and looking for trends, utilize our team of experts to process and assess the Ketchum-synthesized data. Even the best data visualization needs human interpretation. Thus, with our thoughtful analysis, communicators can apply reasoning and creativity to develop communications plans and content that can quickly be deployed to address any situation or opportunity.
By processing the data and conducting the analysis on a regular basis, insights will always be fresh and new factors or implications identified, and acted on, promptly. Plus, important data points can become benchmarks for ongoing optimization and measurement of campaign and program success.
Marketers with a keen understanding of what audiences feel and think will be better equipped to address and enhance product quality or reputational issues, and strategically focus subsequent communications to address challenges, broaden visibility and, ultimately, grow sales.
Ignoring the effort to review reviews is a missed opportunity. Ketchum Analytics and our Retail sector can empower companies to sidestep risk and amplify sales. Click here for more insights on online reviews.
For more insights into retailing trends and analytics, please contact James Peters, Partner, Managing Director, Retail ([email protected]) +1 214-259-3444; or Mary Elizabeth Germaine, Partner, Managing Director, Ketchum Analytics ([email protected]) +1 646-935-4092.
