Whether you are launching a new brand or are an established player, understanding the current landscape is vital. Undertaking competitive analysis can give insights to help you position and improve your offering.

With social intelligence, you can uncover the strengths and weaknesses of the competition, understand their unique selling point in the eyes of the customer, and get an overview of the level of competition among different markets and demographics by measuring share of voice.

Are people aware of your brand and are they able to recall it unprompted? Focus groups are best for measuring brand awareness, but surveys and social intelligence can also be used to understand the level of fame your brand has achieved.

Measuring brand awareness will tell you if people know your brand, but measuring brand perception will tell you what those people think of the brand. What does the brand represent for consumers? What do they think of its products and services? How does this perception compare with competing brands?

Following on from brand perception, you can discover and measure brand associations consumers have when thinking about your business. If you are a luxury brand, you need to know that you are maintaining that exclusivity and admiration. If you aim at the opposite end of the market, do people associate your brand with savings and economy or cheap, inferior products?

Sentiment and satisfaction
Sentiment analysis in social intelligence platforms can provide a quick overview of public opinion on any topic. A human analysis of the data can surface more nuanced emotions, such as joy, humor, frustration, anger, and so on. Working through the data you can understand if customers are satisfied or frustrated and why, helping you address any issues.
 
Shopping experience
Whether your shopfront is brick-and-mortar or e-commerce, understanding perceptions of your shopping experience is also valuable. Average shopping cart abandonment rate for e-commerce stores is 68%. While shoppers don’t tend to abandon carts in physical stores, experiences can still be improved through data led approaches.
 
General brand research tips
Don’t be afraid to ask simple questions. Often you can find that by asking simple questions people open up and explain in greater detail.
Seek emotional and rational responses. There are different reasons why someone chooses one brand over another. Trying to uncover a mix of the two will help your brand research.
Don’t start with assumptions or bring your own views into the research. Facilitate the conversation to discover true insights, don’t lead the conversation to where you expect it to go.
Think about the best presentation methods. Present your findings well, with methodology and key findings first, followed by clearly presented data and qualitative insights.
There is no one way to create the perfect brand research strategy. The best method will use a mix of data sources, developing a tailored approach to suit your brand and industry. Some of the findings may be great, and others may be painful. The painful ones can often be the best as they lead to opportunities to improve.