The whitepaper, Social Network Marketing: The Basics, describes how social networks are altering the way that scientists make purchase decisions. It also details how companies are incorporating social networking into their marketing plans to:

· Increase product and brand awareness
· Increase web traffic
· Improve SEO
· Increase customer loyalty
· Increase success of new product launches

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In addition to increasing individual’s sphere of influence, social media also makes it easy for brand managers to “listen in” on these conversations and see what people are saying about a brand. Many companies are setting up branded communication channels on social networking sites to improve communication with their customers; however, this only offers a small picture of the conversations people are having about your brand. To get the whole picture you need to monitor conversations occurring on other sites too, as any of these have the potential of positively or negatively affecting your brand.

Online brand monitoring can be used in numerous ways. As a monitoring tool it allows companies to see “big picture” trends and sentiment shifts. It gives companies the current situation and positioning of a brand which can be used to identify marketing objectives. Once a benchmark is set, online brand monitoring can also be use to gauge the effectiveness of specific marketing activities. In addition, identifying individual conversations offers companies the ability to interact with the customers and influence these conversations.