When people talk about brands on Twitter, stock prices move. This high positive correlation between stock performance and volume of Twitter mentions of a brand was just one finding in The Conversation Index Volume 5 research study from Bazaarvoice.
The study analyzed 26 million tweets with each mentioning at least one of 13 brands from the BrandZ Global 100 Brands list: Adidas, Clinique, Colgate, Gillette, Hugo Boss, Nike, Pampers, Pepsi, Ralph Lauren, Samsung, Intel, Tesco, and Sony. Next, the data was compared to over 8,000 television and radio mentions, 17 months of stock price data, over 18 months of Google search data, and 270,000 pieces of consumer-generated content from online reviews — all for those same 13 brands.
Key findings from the study include:
- A high volume of brand mentions on Twitter typically coincides with a high stock closing price for that brand.
- Brand buzz on Twitter typically does not fall as a brand’s stock price falls.
- Twitter users are different from users of other social channels and are more likely to reveal their personal interactions with brands.
- Mentions of brands on Twitter has grown by 113% from 2011 to 2012, which is lower than the 143% growth in the volume of tweets per day recorded during the same period.
- Original tweets about brands are on the decline.
- Retweets about brands are on the rise.
- Google search interest in brands does not correlate to Twitter mentions, stock performance, or television and radio mentions.
Bottom-line, brand mentions on Twitter are valuable, but they differ from other types of brand mentions simply because people use Twitter differently than they use other social channels. As I’ve written many times on Corporate Eye, a fully-integrated marketing plan that leverages traditional marketing tactics and new media marketing tactics (including Twitter and other social channels) is the most powerful and successful.
What do you think about the Bazaarvoice Conversation Index findings? Leave a comment and share your thoughts on Twitter marketing and the value of brand mentions for your company.
Image: Bernard Goldbach
Susan Gunelius is the author of 10 marketing, social media, branding, copywriting, and technology books, and she is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She also owns Women on Business, an award-wining blog for business women. She is a featured columnist for Entrepreneur.com and Forbes.com, and her marketing-related articles have appeared on websites such as MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, TodayShow.com, and more.
She has over 20 years of experience in the marketing field having spent the first decade of her career directing marketing programs for some of the largest companies in the world, including divisions of AT&T and HSBC. Today, her clients include large and small companies around the world and household brands like Citigroup, Cox Communications, Intuit, and more. Susan is frequently interviewed about marketing and branding by television, radio, print, and online media organizations, and she speaks about these topics at events around the world. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google+.
