When we talk about using social analytics for more than just marketing, one area we speak of is product development. Let’s look at our popular Instant Search tool to illustrate how this ongoing analysis is applied – and how it has grown an amazing 4,175% since its February launch!
Give ’em what they want
Brands can’t afford to throw new products out into the world and “hope” they succeed. Failure is expensive and time-consuming, so you need as much information as you can get before you waste resources. Look to social audiences to know what they actually want – and then deliver.
We developed Instant Search based on audience insights that told us some of our customers wanted a tool option that was faster and easier than our full platform.
Our full suite of tools allows for comprehensive analysis of manually-crafted topics – allowing for super precise data – from multiple segmented audiences, for example – with results coming in real-time once you have all the particulars in place.
But there are times when you need a quicker look – to assess the validity of a new trend, or a new audience. Or you need a simpler way to view those quick insights, without a data analyst in the mix. For these times, we created Instant Search. Instant search works like Google – something we all use all the time. It doesn’t get any easier.
In just a few seconds you have access to a slew of information to use as a springboard for more in-depth analysis.
Like whether your brand should be open on Thanksgiving for early Black Friday specials. This is a topic getting a lot of discussion right now – on Facebook in particular.
How is your product faring post-launch?
Your job isn’t over just because you know there’s consumer demand. Each step of product development can be vetted with your target audience. They’ll feel more invested in the outcome if you include them, as a matter of fact.
And, of course, you need to monitor reactions closely after your new product is out there. If there are problems, you need to address them – promptly. If you missed the mark at all, you need to continue tweaking future iterations until you get it right.
We’ve been tracking social conversations about Instant Search and are proud to report we’ve seen 4,175% growth since our launch earlier this year. That tells us we hit it out of the park – and we’re thrilled our customers love it.
Sentiment is always the most important metric to analyze. The intensity of emotion surrounding your brand matters. A smaller number of passionately devoted fans can be more beneficial than millions of apathetic ones.
But remember you have to look at your brand in relation to the others in your category.
Competitor analysis as a barometer for success
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery – or so they say. So it’s not surprising that the popularity of Instant Search has competitors like Brandwatch releasing their own versions.
We kind of love that we were ahead of the curve, but we know we have to keep up with how our competitors are faring with their “me too” products. Complacency is dangerous in these fast-moving times. Consumers are fickle, so you’ve got to continue social listening efforts at all times to ensure you keep any traction you gain with competitive analysis.
Brandwatch’s tool isn’t being promoted beyond their blog at the moment – but we’ll be watching closely to be sure we know if and when they make a bigger push.
And that’s the greatest advantage real-time social data offers brands – a heads-up when consumer trends and attitudes shift, and time to shift with them. But only if you’re paying attention.
So keep those social listening tools running, and if you have an inkling the winds of change are blowing, jump onto Instant Search to see where to focus your efforts – before someone else gets there first.
Haven’t tried Instant Search yet? Get in touch and we’ll show you how it works!
Image from Bayasaa
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