Who’s talking about your brand? How often are they talking? What’s the volume of brand-related online mentions? What’s the overall sentiment? People are producing a wealth of content online at every moment. 30 billion pieces of content are shared on Facebook every month! That’s a big pie, but now it’s a matter of getting a piece of that pie.

eMarketer released the results of a study from the market research company AYTM. The study found that abot 58% of US Facebook users have not mentioned a brand in a status update, but the good news is that 0.5% of users posted only negative brand-related mentions. Instead, more post about brands in a positive way (25%) or a mix of positive and negative (16%). Twitter followed similar patterns according to the study.

People Will Talk

The opportunity for marketers is encouraging people to talk about their brands and recommend them to others. According to the study, at least some people are hesitant to discuss brands online, but when they do, it’s probably going to be positive.

Once brands identify where they’re biggest advocates are either already discussing brand-related content or are looking for brand-related information, they have the opportunity to get the conversation going:

Create a presence on a social platform and start asking questions, addressing inquiries and making the brand narrative an interactive experience online.
Share relevant content with consumers by proving to be a resource and expert in an area in which consumers need help.
Interact with online influencers and showcase the brands points of difference. Then give those influencers reasons to talk and share with others.
Build experiences that encourage brand conversation, such as a contest on Twitter that requires using a hashtag to enter.

Options are endless. The point is consumers are ready to talk, but sometimes they need a nudge. Identify where consumers are currently talking about relevant content and think about how your brand can get the conversation ball rolling.