Have you ever tried to purchase from a brand online but paused to do quick research on various social media platforms or online forums about that brand?
What you find online about this brand is what is called brand mentions.
Just like you decided to do a quick research, about 36% of internet users conduct brand and product research through online reviews before making a purchase.
Brand mentions do not only occur through online reviews. It also happens offline, in places you cannot track it, etc.
But, how do you get brand mentions? Do you have to use brand mention tools, social media monitoring tools or even a social listening tool?
In this article, you will learn about brand mentions including what it means, their benefits, how to get more brand mentions, and how to track them.
What is a brand mention?
Brand mentions are the references made online to a company, brand, or product/service.
A brand mention can be an inbound link to a website that drives traffic and gets clicks. Or they can show up in a product review, social media posts, blog posts, or news site.
Most times, brand mentions are published in the form of customer feedback, complaints, queries, honest feedback, or posts that educate your audience.
Brand mentions have a direct impact on the reputation of your brand or product.
As a business, if you want to know what your customers or other people are talking about concerning your brand, whether it is positive or negative feedback, brand mentions give you insight into it.
You can use brand monitoring tools to identify brand mentions and address any negative mentions or encourage positive feedback with immediate effect.
Brand mentions vs. social mentions
It is essential to note that there is a difference between brand mentions and social mentions.
The two terms do not mean the same thing.
To start with, brand mentions are references made online to a brand, company, or product/services.
Brand mentions show up in different pieces of content or mediums such as blog posts, social media posts, news articles, product reviews, and more.
They affect your brand’s online reputation.
Meanwhile, social mentions occur when a user talks about your company, brand, product/service on social media channels.
It is when a user mentions your business on social media. Here, users may tag your social media page, and they may not.
In some cases, they may feature your branded hashtags or have a conversation about your brand without notifying you on social media.
Social mentions happen on all social networks, even when you don’t have a presence on all the networks.
The key difference between brand mentions and social mentions is that while brand mentions occur in different mediums, social mentions focus on social media.
Why is getting brand mentions important?
Brand mentions offer several benefits to businesses. Some of these benefits include:
It builds brand awareness and visibility
Brand mentions increase the recognition your brand gets in the public. Even without a link, people can know your business.
A piece of content that mentions you exposes your brand online to more people, thereby increasing awareness and prompting them to know who you are and what you do.
If you are consistent and highly recognizable as a quality service provider, people will give your brand more preferences and confide in you for availing services and solutions.
Consequently, this increases business, as these people will select your products or services over your competitors.
It reinforces your brand’s reputation
Another significant benefit of brand mentions is how it boosts your online reputation.
Although reputation management takes place in online and offline platforms, it is easier to track your brand’s reputation in the digital world.
As a business, you should take advantage of brand mentions and use them to create a solid relationship with your audience as this will help you to stand out from your competitors.
For instance, if you receive a positive brand mention on mediums such as Facebook groups or forums, you can use this opportunity to start a conversation and engage with your audience.
This helps you to build a healthy relationship and create a customer base that will be loyal to your brand. As time goes by, you even build trust in them.
On the other hand, if you are receiving negative mentions about your brand, expect your customers to be more vocal about it as they will express their dissatisfaction.
When this happens, engage with them amicably and resolve their complaints.
Addressing the matter quickly shows that you listen to your customers and can prompt them to confide in you more.
It builds authority
Brand mentions help you to build authority and position yourself as a thought leader in the industry you specialize in.
As you build authority in your space, you gain recognition as a trustworthy source.
If your potential customers see that you are often referenced as an expert, it can trigger them to buy from you, seeing that you are a reliable brand.
It creates link-building opportunities
When people discuss your brand including its products or services, there is a high chance that they will link to your brand. The same goes for websites.
Any website that mentions your brand’s name in a piece of content (whether blog posts or a video) can link back to you.
If they don’t, you can reach out to the site’s owner and ask them to reach out to you.
This exposes your brand to a wider reach and allows new customers to connect with your brand.
Five ways to get more brand mentions
Having brand mentions means getting more visibility for your business.
You create brand awareness and expose your business to more people.
But, how do you do this? Here are five ways to get more brand mentions for your business.
Increase your social media presence
Social media is a great avenue for many brand mentions.
Perhaps, the reason is due to the number of high digital interactions that take place there.
They are platforms where people share pieces of information, whether good or bad.
As a business, having a strong social presence enables you to have more brand mentions.
The more people comment, discuss or reference a post on your page, the higher the brand mentions.
Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, or Messenger are some examples of platforms where you can increase your presence.
Encourage customers to leave reviews
Getting reviews increases the chances of brand mentions.
Depending on how you respond to customers, you can encourage your customers to take further action by leaving a review for you or recommending your brand to customers.
These reviews can be on different platforms, depending on the type of business you operate.
For instance, if you operate a restaurant or hotel, you can ask for a review on TripAdvisor.
You can also ask for reviews on platforms such as Google My Business, Yelp, Trustpilot, and social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and more).
Do guest blogging
Another way to receive brand mentions is by guest blogging.
The value of guest blogging showcases your marketing efforts — providing useful information and meeting the needs of others. It goes beyond building links.
When you provide useful information to more people, it creates brand awareness. This enables more individuals to mention your brand anywhere they go.
As a result, you reach more people and stand out in the digital landscape.
Interact on forums
Forums are great platforms that can help your brand to receive more mentions.
Here, you can have different individuals discuss your brand or allow you to publicize your brand.
The more people talk about your brand, the more your online presence improves.
For instance, platforms such as Reddit and LinkedIn allow users to create groups and have the participants talk about any selected topic.
When people talk about your brand in such a group it exposes your brand to people that may not even be familiar with your brand in the first place.
Keep publishing content
If you are a business seeking recognition in the digital space, you need to publish content for your audience.
By publishing quality content consistently on the platform of your choice (whether Google or social media platforms), you strive for relevance and build authority.
Consequently, your brand mentions improve and people get to know about your brand.
Five ways to track your brand mentions
Monitoring brand mentions through manual methods can be a bit overwhelming.
However, more efficient processes have sprung up making you to track brand mentions effortlessly.
Here are five ways by which you can track your brand mentions.
Monitor referral traffic
Referral traffic is the number of visitors coming from direct links on other sites.
You can measure this traffic to know the number of visitors that are directed from other sites to yours.
Tools such as Google Analytics can give you accurate data on this.
Check social engagement
Analyzing social engagement such as likes, comments, and shares enables you to understand the effective content that is driving engagement on your social media platforms.
Besides, you gain insights on the type of content to publish that can drive more engagements on your platforms.
Analyze social reach
Much social media enables you to analyze reach by showing you the number of people that have come across certain content on your page.
It displays the total number of people that viewed your content.
Notable social media platforms that give you this insight include Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Key Takeaways
Brand mentions are the online references that are made to your company, brand, products/services.
Brand mentions create brand awareness, build authority, and reinforce the brand’s reputation.
Social media deals with the mentions that happen on social media while, brand mentions deal with mentions that happen on any platforms such as blog posts, websites, news articles, and even social media.
