Research: Talking Brands - Where the Conversations Are Happening

Following the conversations we have with our partners and clients, we know that the wealth of online social media and communication channels can be tricky terrain for advertisers to navigate, particularly when trying to measure the types of brand conversations taking place and how and when they impact the consumer’s buying decision.

Consequently, asking ourselves questions like ‘Where do consumers discuss the brands they are interested in or thinking of buying?’ or ‘Do the conversations differ from the channel consumers are using?’ motivated us to investigate and get more insight on the actual communications on brands and products.

Our new study, called Talking Brands, gives us valuable insight into this topic, in particular, how one-to-one channels are used earlier in the purchasing funnel and often for more expensive purchases.

With a unique methodology we looked at a staggering 4,500 Windows Live Messenger, Hotmail and Facebook conversations by 600 individuals across the UK, France and Spain. Discussions were tracked in real-time to look at how people use online communication channels to discuss brands, what types of conversations are taking place and the implications for advertisers. Most interestingly, many people have conversations involving brands across a range of online communication tools, but use them in different ways and at different stages of their buying process.

The results reveal that instant messenger services are one of the most popular channels for brand conversations, with twice as many brand conversations taking place on Windows Live Messenger than Facebook. Also, one-to-one communication channels (Windows Live Messenger and Hotmail) are often used by consumers to gather research on big budget items, early on in the buying process. Once they have gathered information and formed opinions they then move on to communicating via one-to-many channels, like Facebook.

This is interesting, as although communication via one-to-many channels occurs later in the purchase funnel and is more likely to be followed by a purchase, the main sharing and opinion forming research has been done prior to this, via one-to-one channels.

For advertisers this highlights the importance of developing a cohesive strategy across both one-to-one and one-to-many communication channels, so reaching consumers at all stages of the purchase funnel. Our work with Norwegian drink O’boy (PDF) is an illustration of this. The product’s market share rose 5% after an interactive social media campaign spanning the Microsoft Advertising Network was launched. As social media is increasingly considered as a “must have” element in advertising campaigns, the question marketers must ask themselves is are we incorporating social in the most effective way to maximize awareness, customer engagement and ROI?

As our research shows, online, paid media drives pre-purchase awareness and information, while post-purchase, earned media has the greatest impact as consumers discuss and recommend brands or retailers.

So why not start getting the most out of consumers talking about brands, and benefit from a well-planned advertising strategy, utilising and enhancing the benefits that social media can bring?

For more information on Talking Brands download the full whitepaper from the Microsoft Advertising website and watch our Be there with Windows Live? video for a tongue in cheek look at a possible scenario.

Thanks,

Linda Liberg - Senior Research Manager, Microsoft Advertising EMEA

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