Awareness, Twitter and Usage

I love good information, especially when it comes in the form of hard facts. Many of the brands I have worked for and with rely on standard Awareness, Trial and Usage (ATU) studies to help measure marketing and sales success.

For those of you unfamiliar, the ATU is a longitudinal study, often conducted quarterly or semi-annually, designed to help marketers get a grip on effective reach, relevant competitive sets, customer churn and sales. The research not only tracks performance, but is also effective in identifying problems before they happen.

Social media provides an opportunity to listen online more effectively and make adjustments to brand behavior in real time. Just as the ATU provides a snapshot of what your customers are doing, having an engaging presence lets them know your ear is low to the ground.

Consider the ways you can use this to your advantage to pool and funnel information into your longitudinal research and tracking practices. Even if you’re currently not conducting an ATU, observing and documenting conversation on the web can be an effective way to determine both the success and failure of your marketing efforts.

• Use Twitter Search – consider related-keyword terms that apply to your brand or industry. Develop a list of those terms to survey conversation online. Make note of the trends – if five people complain about something, it’s a big deal because you can bet there’s 95 other people who will simply vote with their feet.

• Use Twitter Lists – bucket passionate customers who talk about your brand’s products and/or services into lists to track conversation. Be sure to note the user behavior of your more out-spoken customers – are the comments real or does a certain person simply have an axe to grind?

• Track Twitter Posts – if you’re using Twitter, I hope you’re tracking your posts. If you’re not, then at least trending what your customers are reacting to is a step in the right direction. Plus this is also a great way to edit or expand upon your current ATU questionnaire.

• Deploy Surveys on Twitter – many ATU’s are either conducted via phone interview or via email online. Consider deploying your next brand survey via Twitter in addition to the more traditional methods. You may be able to discern audience trends while also gaining deeper insight into your brand’s Twitterverse.

For many companies, the ATU will continue to be the gold standard, but there are opportunities to begin understanding your customers better. Seize them now.