COMMUNICATION
What Marketers Should Consider In The Sentiment Analysis Debate
By Katya Nyangi
The digital space continues to evolve with updates and new approaches to sharing content and connecting with our audiences changing as fast as weekly .
Among these features and measures is the sentiment ranking of a brand ’ s content and the various debates around this topic . Some of the questions evoking the debates include : is it a crucial element in reporting , how does a brand stay authentic vs manipulative when considering this measure and will the digital space penalise your brand based on the sentiment analysis of its contents ? Here are a few pointers to consider .
Context is queen
I define a brand by saying it is the personality of an organisation or company . Words are a crucial element in which we identify personalities . Ever heard someone say , “ That ’ s so typical of them to say ,” because we identify a certain form of verbal expression with the personality of the person . From the get go , it is important to understand and , not only clearly but also consistently , communicate the tone of your brand . This is where the question of authenticity comes in . If your tone is shifty because you are trying to match sentiment trends , then you lose authenticity . More severely , you lose personality - the foundation on which you connect with your audiences .
Choosing how to express your tone
Regardless of the message your brand is looking to convey , your brand does not have to come across as draining to your audience . You may be an NGO dealing with people living in devastating situations and needing to get your community to support the programmes you are running . You are justified to sound all gloom and doom . But , as the common saying goes ‘ hope anchors the soul ’; there is no better way to connect with your audiences than to have a tone that speaks of hope / light at the end of the tunnel versus despair - ultimately you exist to support resolving a challenge . On the other hand , you may be working with an upbeat product that is really all about the hype . In these cases , amid the superbly creative copy out there , is the danger of neutrality . It sounds okay but not great . It neither drags me down nor lifts me up , and hence does not evoke any particular emotion in me despite being a good or durable product . This leads me to the next point on the technical aspects of sentiment analysis .
Does the digital space penalise sentiment ranking ?
As the digital space and the use of Natural Language Processing ( NLP ) evolves , tech giants as Google realised that aside from sentiment analysis they had to play their part in offering audiences diversity in the content they come across in displays and search results . Benchmarking your keywords with that of competitors and monitoring industry conversations was more useful than a focus on sentiment . Nonetheless , positive search results still constituted the highest proportion , followed by negative and ultimately the lowest proportion came to content that was neutral ; content that did not come across as taking a clear stand - turns out having an opinion matters . Pardon my love for sayings ; this alludes to “ if you do not know where you are going , any road will get you there .”
To link this to authenticity , regardless of the sentiment your content offers , ultimately , it comes down to the quality of the information being shared and how accurately your content represents your brand , which then determines the reach of the content . Having said that , marketing requires empathy - putting yourself in the shoes of your audience and reflecting on what their journey to reaching your content would be like .
For instance , in education , my area of expertise , a person is likely to search for a phrase such as “ best school in Nairobi ”. If our content is packed with negative sentiment by virtue of the vocabulary used , then how likely are we to come up as an option for this customer looking to connect with us ? Each brand has to reflect on this scenario for their unique contexts .
Meanwhile , NLP will continue to improve the interpretation of sentiment . For example , I might say , “ Do not miss this offer ”, whereas NOT implies negation , my message is actually a positive message . Copywriting is a skill that is definitely undervalued and will become more in demand in the near future with communication being one of the 21st century skills , ironically , lagging behind .
Sentiment analysis in marketing reports
My opinion remains that sentiment ranking should be an element of a marketing / PR report as this gives you insight into how your audiences are engaging with you and a basis by which to test different approaches in your copy to see if really these affect your brand reach , engagement and conversion . Over a period of time , you may see a correlation or not , staying cautious not to confuse randomness for correlation .
To conclude , sentiment analysis is but one factor among many to consider when thinking of a brand ’ s tone and ranking . The debate continues to constructively develop as marketers become more aware of their roles in the creation of perception and point of views aligned to ethical marketing practices .
Katya Nyangi works in education management as the Communications and Marketing Director for Makini Schools . You can engage her via mail at : Katerina . Nyangi @ gmail . com
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