It’s all about feelings. And, as a brand, if you’re not in touch with your customers’ feelings online, you’re going to have problems.
This week, Google unveiled a potentially game-changing update to Web search: real-time search. Sure, Twitter and other sites have allowed searches before now, but Google’s built-in support of social media brings up-to-the-second information searching into the mainstream. Where social media made online activity personal, real-time search makes it emotional.
The leading search engine said it would begin supplementing its search results with real-time social networking updates posted to sites like Twitter, Facebook and MySpace. As the updated search engine rolls out in the next few days, searches will include the standard Web results with an additional scrolling box including blog posts, press releases, news articles, and tweets.
This has huge implications for marketing and brand advocacy campaigns.
We constantly remind our clients that a well-managed PR effort includes in-depth monitoring of their online reputations. Over the last few years, as social media has become more dominant, analyzing and tracking Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, blogs, review sites, and other networking platforms has become essential. These sites create a level of interaction, risk and opportunity never before seen in the marketing landscape. Now, real-time search takes this into over-drive, increasing both the positive and negative challenges for businesses online.
The days of objective searching are over. No longer will searches be limited to slow-to-change and easier-to-manage information and details provided by brands’ websites. Current and potential customers searching for information about your brand will not only find the basic information you (for the most part) control, but a streaming feed of real-time opinions, perceptions, and complaints about your brand as they happen.
A recent Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey of over 25,000 Internet consumers from 50 countries found that recommendations from personal acquaintances or opinions posted by consumers online were the most trusted forms of advertising. In fact, almost 70 percent of those surveyed said they trusted other consumers’ opinions online. So, when those opinions are integrated into your customers’ searches, real opinions matter even more.
Look at Tiger Woods and his PR crisis as an example. Before, search results would list information about the man, his golfing stats, as well as the latest news articles of course. However, with real-time search, users will get more than the recently published articles on his alleged transgressions, but up-to-the-minute thoughts, opinions and feelings on “Tiger Woods” from everyone, not just the traditional media sources most often found in regular search. His long-garnered clean reputation is suddenly not so family-friendly in Web searches.
Time is no longer on your side. Unhappy customers, recalls and scandals will require immediate action by your brand, which can only happen through constant and careful monitoring. On the other hand, satisfied customer testimonials, successful events, and great PR wins will also be better utilized for maximizing your marketing outreach. Either way, sitting back and neglecting your online reputation is no longer an option. If your customers are talking about you, you better be part of the conversation.
Source: New York Times, Google Adds Live Updates to Results
