Brand sentiment is the overarching emotion a person or an audience has toward the organizations they interact with. If most people see a brand positively, that brand is probably meeting most of the needs of its customers well. Meanwhile, a negative brand sentiment might signal dissatisfaction with a brand’s products, customer service or how they operate.

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Explore the following in this guide to better understand brand sentiment:

• What is brand sentiment, and why is it important?
• Types of brand sentiment
• 3 tips for continuous brand sentiment monitoring
• Using sentiment analysis to build brand sentiment
• Frequently asked questions

What is brand sentiment and why is it important?

Brand sentiment is a customer’s feeling toward a brand and their overall experience with said brand. Everything a company offers gets included in its overall brand sentiment, including its customer service, marketing techniques, website, ordering process, products, and services. If even one of these pieces of a brand’s image falters significantly, it could affect brand sentiment.

When you understand what’s affecting brand sentiment positively with brand intelligence, you can work toward honing in on those features for continued improvement. Similarly, discovering what drops brand sentiment allows you to fix problem areas.

Social media has become an integral part of brand sentiment and, consequently, brand reputation in recent years. If one social media post about a brand goes viral, that brand could see immediate impacts. Therefore, continuously monitoring and improving brand sentiment is a proactive approach that businesses can use to strengthen their public image.

Types of brand sentiment

Brand sentiment is either positive, neutral, or negative.

Positive brand sentiment is what brands strive for. An overall positive sentiment shows that a brand generally meets or exceeds customer expectations. Companies with a positive brand sentiment likely have mostly positive reviews for their products or services, handle complaints quickly and fairly, and have an unwavering strategy in place to continuously learn more about their customers.

A neutral brand sentiment is where many companies fall. It doesn’t lean one way or the other. Companies with a neutral brand sentiment probably have mixed reviews in multiple areas of their operations. They might also excel in one area, like marketing, but fall short in another, like customer service.

Negative brand sentiment occurs when a company fails to meet the majority of its customers’ needs, usually in multiple ways. These brands may not actively seek feedback from customers or monitor their customer service avenues to identify and correct problem areas.

Three tips for continuous brand sentiment monitoring

Set up multiple opportunities for direct feedback

The more avenues you provide for customers to give feedback, the more accurate that feedback will be in helping you gauge brand sentiment. Email surveys, pop-up surveys at the end of the checkout process, focus groups, and product reviews can all help you monitor brand sentiment while gathering first-person perspectives from customers.

Run A/B tests

Whether you install new features on your website to improve navigation or start a new social media marketing campaign, you can learn a lot from A/B testing. A/B testing compares results from different variations, like your previous website and your revamped website, to give you a good idea of whether the changes affect your audience positively or negatively.

For example, if, after updating the navigation, you notice a high number of people leaving your website at a specific point in the checkout process, this could indicate that there’s a technical issue preventing website visitors from continuing. This type of issue could lead to a negative brand sentiment.

Use conversation intelligence software to measure omnichannel customer interactions

The BPO division of NTT wanted a data-driven approach to identifying customer trends, improving agent coaching, and more.

With CallMiner, they're now able to parse omnichannel feedback, including from social media channels, to give clients a deeper understanding of customers. ⤵

— CallMiner, Inc. (@CallMiner) December 5, 2023

Direct feedback is golden when measuring brand sentiment, but you can also pick up a lot of nuance in customer opinions when monitoring candid conversations.

Conversation intelligence software monitors and analyzes conversations on the phone or via live chat, email, or social media. These channels often provide a safe space for customers to discuss how they truly feel about a brand. By spreading your monitoring strategy across multiple channels, you can get a more accurate bird’s-eye view of your brand sentiment.

Using sentiment analysis to build brand sentiment

Consider enhancing your brand sentiment monitoring with a conversation intelligence tool that uses sentiment analysis to track customer sentiment across multiple channels.

CallMiner is a leading conversation intelligence platform with built-in sentiment analysis capabilities that allow you to proactively track sentiment in real time, providing insight into how people feel about your brand. The CallMiner platform consistently monitors conversations, transcribes and categorizes them, and notifies contact center agents when opportunities for improvement arise.

Learn more about CallMiner with a 30-minute demo.

Frequently asked questions

How do you determine brand sentiment?

Brand sentiment comes from multiple sources, like customer reviews, phone calls with customer service, or live chats. Companies can consider using conversation intelligence software that monitors and analyzes customer conversations, giving brands thorough brand sentiment data.

How do you build brand sentiment?

Building positive brand sentiment requires businesses to review and take action on the problem areas highlighted in customer conversations. Businesses can also continue to improve on features, services, or products customers love to ensure that they keep meeting customer needs.

How is brand sentiment and brand health related?

Brand health incorporates brand sentiment, reputation, popularity, and more. When brand sentiment falters, it indicates that the public has a more negative perception of the brand than a positive one. When that happens, a brand’s reputation and popularity can also decline, affecting brand health.