A blog post on the site Social Media Today (http://socialmediatoday.com/virginia-bautista/429256/8-most-common-types-social-media-conversations) by Virginia Bautista enumerates the 8 most common types of social media buzz.
These are complaints, compliments, product usage experiences, recommendations, suggestions, comparisons, purchase intention, and buying and switching behavior. Each of these buzz areas is pretty much self-explanatory, and in any case, these are pretty much the same areas within which businesses seek to generate market engagement whether in social media or through traditional marketing channels.
The true value of this post, however, lies not in listing and expounding the 8 types of social media buzz, but in a rather nondescript observation put forth by the blogger elsewhere in the article:
"By listening to social media buzz, businesses can strategically position their brands in the minds of the consumers and in the market."
This is a actually an eye-opening statement because it reveals a couple of realities that may have been missed by many online marketers, and consequently may have caused their campaigns to fall flat.
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Creating buzz is only half the battle. Often marketers seem to think that creating buzz is the only objective. In truth it is simply the cornerstone that sets the foundation for a more comprehensive set of actions that should end with converting prospects into customers. It's an important prerequisite, to be sure, and without it you can't launch into the next stages of your marketing activities. But it's not the totality of the business effort. You absolutely cannot rest on your laurels once you've created buzz around your brand. Sure, you've got people talking in some way about your brand, but what's next? You need to ride the momentum and get to the next stage.
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Listening to the buzz and responding to it is the other half of the initiative. That's why we need to understand the different types of buzz that can be generated. Segmenting market reaction to your products or services allows us to classify the kind of reaction customers have to your brand, which in turn provides the clues to your next steps.
Some animals such as bats and dolphins are known to emit high-pitched screeches that bounce back when they hit objects in their path, giving them a "picture" of their surroundings, alerting them to danger and opportunities so they can act accordingly. Dealing with buzz is pretty much the same thing. You sound out your market environment by initiating user engagement, then you "read" the resulting buzz, making the appropriate adjustments and course corrections.
There are various tools and techniques at your disposal to help you create buzz. You can start off by creating compelling content and then welcoming input through feedback forms and forums. You can pepper your blog or site with social media buttons that induce virality, link back to external sites that may be useful to your audiences, let people download information, provide webinars and much more.
A powerful tool to help you manage audience engagement, buzz creation and listening to audience feedback is Isis Toolbox, a free online software suite that actualizes your content strategy and makes it easier for you to communicate your marketing message throughout your social media landscape.