Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google, Google Buzz, Bing. Social media and networks are more than just "social." Everyone knows this. They are also good for marketing. Everyone already knows this, too. What fewer know is how useful these sites and services can be for keeping track of your competition. This is true regardless of whether you are a property exec, a slot manufacturer, an accessories provider or... a magazine publisher.
The best of all is that search sites and social networks offer these competition-tracking tools for free. Here's a look at what you need to do to get started keeping tabs on what messages your competition is putting out there. Even better, you can set it all up during one afternoon.
Twitter
Twitter is the web service that allows you to express yourself 140 characters at a time. Originally the venue of messages announcing what kind of lunch someone was having today, Twitter is now a marketing-message-multiplying powerhouse. Not every brand or company has a Twitter feed, but they are becoming more and more common. Konami has one. So does Barona Resort & Casino. CEM has one, too! If your company doesn’t have one, here’s CEM’s argument why it should.
To keep track of your competition on Twitter:
1. Create a Twitter account solely for monitoring use. Use a name that will not identify your brand or company (e.g., John McPlaysslots).
2. The Twitter account administrator set-up program will ask you, "Who are you looking for?" Here is where you enter all the names of your competitors or anyone else in the industry you want to keep track of.
3. That's it. Your shell Twitter account will now log all of the Twitter updates from the companies and names you have noted.
Facebook
Facebook is the online social network which allows you to be "friends" with people you don't really know that well. Originally a venue for guys stalking their ex-girlfriends, Facebook is now a marketing message-multiplying-powerhouse. Not every brand or company has a Facebook presence, but they should. Multimedia Games has one. So does Barona Resort & Casino. CEM has one, too! To keep track of your competition on Facebook:
1. Go to Facebook and click on “Sign Up.” This Facebook account should be used solely for monitoring use. Use a name that will not identify your brand or company. Use the same name as the Twitter account for convenience (e.g., John McPlaysslots). It might be easier to set up a separate e-mail account for all of Facebook update alert emails.
2. Once the account is created, search for your competitor's pages and click "follow them."
3. That's it. Your shell Facebook account will now log all your competitors’ Facebook updates for you in one spot.
Google Alerts
Far and away the most powerful of the free competition-monitoring tools, Google Alerts allows users to be notified every time Google's search bots are updated with a new result for your term of choice. For example, if I were to create a Google Alert for "IGT" and “Bally Tech,” every time IGT or Bally Tech are mentioned in a newspaper, on a blog, in a discussion forum or anywhere else, Google will e-mail me a notification and a link. By entering industry terms such as “slot machines,” you can also track all the information about your sector.
It's wise to use a dummy e-mail account for Google Alerts if your terms are going to be too general (e.g., "gaming" or “table games”) as the flood of e-mails will overwhelm. If you use more specific names, the information you pull in is likely to be of a better quality. It might be efficient to use the same extra e-mail account you used for the Facebook account alerts.
1. Go to Google Alerts
2. Type in your search terms in the top left field, set your preferences for frequency and number, enter your e-mail. Don't forget yourself!
3. That's it. Sit back and get ready for a flood of information, 95 percent of which will be uninteresting garbage. But 5 percent....
Google Buzz
Google's Facebook. With this service still in its infancy, the wise would stay clear until the quirks are worked out. Also, since Google Buzz will be adopted first as a true social network, it remains to be seen whether brand and businesses, already stretched thin to populate their Facebook and Twitter presences, will even bother jumping onboard yet another social network.
Myspace
Ha ha ha. You're adorable.
Abe Sauer is CEM's Senior Editor. He specializes in branding, marketing and new media. He can be reached at abe[at]aceme.org.
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