Marketing Pilgrim

As some of you know – and now all of you know – I’m writing a book on online reputation management and a big part of that is about utilizing social media. So, I’m excited to share with you Immediate Future’s “The Top 100 Brands in Social Media” study of which brands are most benefiting from social media.

The study looked at the Interbrand Top 100 global brands for 2006 and then reviewed each for their involvement in social media channels such as:

• The “blogosphere” as a whole
• Social networks Bebo and MySpace
• Video sharing site YouTube
• Photo sharing sites Flickr and Photobucket
• Social bookmarking sites del.icio.us and ma.gnolia 
• Social editorial site Digg

Share of Voice

The study analyzed the top 25 most discussed brands across the selected social media channels and identified that only a third of the original top 25 brands made it into the “share of voice” top 25.

It’s not surprising to see Google, Yahoo and Apple take the first three spots – all three companies have a strong social media following. It’s interesting to see Microsoft make #4 and Dell make #7 on the list. Your first reaction might be to question the results, but hold on a second. The list simply shows the number of social media conversations, regardless of whether they’re positive, negative or neutral.

Brand Sentiment

If you look at the chart below, you’ll see that both Microsoft and Dell make it to the list with a significantly higher percentage of negative sentiment (although Dell’s social media efforts have dramatically reduced this number).

After assessing consumer sentiment Google, Disney and Nintendo appear to have the most positive buzz going on.

Voice by Industry Type

Ok, it’s no surprise that the technology industry dominates the list of most social media engaged companies. Their industry increases the chances that their customers are tech savvy and likely using social networks, but if Ford can make #10 on the list, any company can.

Summary

Immediate Future has their own excellent conclusions on the study. I’ll close with a reminder that in the internet age, you no longer own the perception of your brand. You employees, customers and other stakeholders are the ones that can influence the perception of your identity. Even if you’re not actively engaging in social media, you should at least be aware of its influence on your business.

Stay tuned. Later this year, I’ll share more details on the book and how it will offer you a complete blueprint for managing your online identity.

Via.

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