They say step number one is admitting you have a problem.  Brand stewards have big questions stirring in their heads sometimes:  “where are people talking about us?”, “how big of a bang am I getting on this program?”, “am I actually generating the level of buzz I need to create awareness for my brand?”.  So, of course, consultants like us love to try and answer that question.  In an article we wrote on product launch, we give our take on the old saying “it’s a mixture of art and science”:

The tools used in the product launch process, such as market sizing and market research methodologies, alpha and beta frameworks, launch checklists, etc., are “the science”,  whereas, deciding on which tools to apply and how to apply them, is “the art”. 

Well, when it comes to the science of monitoring web presence and social media impact, I must admit my addiction to Trendrr.  I haven’t been using it long, but so far I’ve found it incredibly useful for gauging the play certain terms, brands, companies, and people are having on the web.  For any given topic, you can get everything from the number of matching Twitter posts per hour to the number of Google searches conducted.  The best part is you can create your own data sets which will be captured and synthesized for you.  This is particularly useful if the term(s) you’re searching for are too obscure or not mainstream enough for Google trends.  You can also easily compare sets of data by using the Trendrr sketchpad, a spiffy feature that allows you to mashup multiple data sources into one easy-to-read graph.

Of course, measuring online brand reputation is not all about quantity .  Quality, tone, passion, and other factors can be just as important as prominence.  For a great list of free social media monitoring tools, I’d recommend starting with Andy Beal of Marketing Pilgrim’s 8 Essential Free Social Media Monitoring Tools.

So, while measuring and assessing brand reputation on the web can be an all-consuming exercise, simple free tools like Trendrr can be a great place to start!