Gordon Brown had a lot at stake with the UK’s 30m online social networkers when he stood
up on Tuesday 29th September to make his keynote speech at Labour Party conference.
David Cameron’s Social Media Reputation (SMR) score, gauged from the world of twitter,
facebook and the blogging community, is already ranked 20 points higher than Brown before he stood up.
And, some good news Gordon, you’ve got people talking. Your post-speech SMR score has actually increased after your ‘better than most people expected’ speech in Brighton.
But both scores from our home-grown political protagonists lag behind that of US President,
Barack Obama, whose victory earlier late last year was attributed, at least in part, to the noise
and positive sentiment he was able to engender with key opinion formers on social media channels.
It was also notable that Gordon Brown’s ‘sentiment’ score – gleaned via language recognition technology
to assess the positivity / negativity of comments and blogs - is even lower than that achieved by British National
Party leader, Nick Griffin.
Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, scored a respectable 54.13, but was let down by a low ‘noise’ rating.
On YouTube, for instance, more people have watched Susan Boyle’s lowest rated video than have watched Nick Clegg’s
entire video library.
And finally, to add some context, a score was calculated for French President Nicolas Sarkozy, with his sentiment
scores suffereing recently because of accusations of corruption following a public spat with Domenic de Villepin.
What are they saying about YOU?
The Social Media Reputation (SMR) audit is the first measurement system to be devised which combines quantity and quality with insight.
We are officially launching it at MIPCOM, the entertainment industry’s big shindig in Cannes (5th – 9th October), next week.
The SMR score is an average of the volume of noise and positivity of sentiment, and combines a series of manual processes
with the latest automated natural language technology from Meltwater Buzz. Usually tailored to a brand’s core target market,
the SMR score usually encompasses the major social networks alongside niche social spaces as well as blogs, comments, ratings,
reviews and other user-generated content.
The overall result, out of 100, representing an average of the level and freshness of noise generated and the nature and recency
of sentiment behind what’s being expressed. A geographical bias can also be applied as appropriate for those subjects targeting particular
territories. To provide additional context for the results, the score is indexed alongside comparison scores for the subject’s nearest competitors.
As well as focusing on politicians, we have undertaken SMR audits for 24 sample brands across a range of sectors, generating some eye-opening results.
For a pack of these ‘Trumps-style cards, just ask.
Steve Richards, MD of Yomego, commented:
"The audits we’ve carried out so far have underlined how important it is for brands, organisations and individuals to actively manage noise
and sentiment around them on the wide range of social networks. The noise around your brand may be deafening but if that noise is overwhelmingly
negative, its reputation will suffer real damage. Conversely, if positive sentiment about your brand is drowned out by your competitors,
you won’t see the benefits."
The US Presidential elections were probably the first in the world where social media became a mainstream campaigning tool that had a material
impact on the outcome. Obama’s strong SMR score underlines how well he and his team have managed his online reputation. Over the next nine months
or so, UK party leaders will need to do the same."
When it comes to social media, we’re working with more and more brands to monitor their SMR scores, and highlight tactics and strategies to embrace
social media channels more effectively."
The opinions and views expressed in these cards are those of Yomego. We do not claim any affiliation with the brands contained therein. Logos,
trademarks and any other copyright materials included in these cards remain the property of their owners. Yomego is a trading division of
DA Group (UK) Limited.