The Social Outlook: Consumer Technology Insights

Consumer technology companies. The massive, innovative organizations involved in putting virtual reality in our homes, and mobile computers in our pockets.

These companies make up a nearly 300 billion USD market worldwide, and easily garner more followers on social media than most other industries, with hundreds of millions of fans between them.

The consumer tech industry is fast-paced, rapidly changing, and growing every day. With the size of these companies’ social fan-bases, the amount of online conversations available to the insights professionals among them is staggering.

Naturally then, tech companies – the most innovative, forward-thinking companies out there – must be leading the way in tapping into social intelligence, with inventive strategies and innovative researchers all across their business.

Right?

In our report, The Social Outlook, we found that when compared to other industries, these innovative companies might not actually be taking full advantage of the social data they have at their disposal.

The consumer technology industry vs. other industries on social

According to The Social Outlook, only 2% of conversations mentioning consumer technology products and brands originate from tech brands themselves. Even compared to the low average across all 15 industries, this is exceptionally low.

Brand and Audience Activity Analysis | April 1-June 30, 2016 | Data from The Social Outlook

In addition, consumer tech brands only respond to 1.78% of tweets directed at them, taking over half a day on average. As shown below, only one industry analyzed took longer to respond to their consumers.

Twitter Responsiveness by Industry | April 1-June 30, 2016 | Data from the Social Outlook

Social engagement isn’t solely for companies placating consumer issues and defining their brand image. Engaging in consumer conversations fuels a database of social information that is too rich in insights to ignore.

We’ve discussed time and time again the imperative within the consumer technology industry to utilize the immediate, massive, unstructured nature of social data to inform everything from research and development to competitor benchmarking.

So to help technology insights researchers who might have missed them, we’ve put together a few key social insights based on data in The Social Outlook.

Perception of consumer technology brands

Consumer tech companies, driven by the momentum of their users, should have a strong understanding of the way their brands are perceived. Analyzing social complaints can reveal the specific issues leading positive and negative reviews.

This popular computer and mobile company had over 12,000 negative mentions online in the three months we analyzed.

Sentiment Analysis and Word Cloud | April 1-June 30, 2016 | Powered by Brandwatch Analytics

Of these negative conversations, customer service experience dominated the most frequent topics around this company.

In comparison, this camera and imaging company’s negative mentions were more related to technical issues, with numerous specific products, “broken”, “fix” and “repair” as among the top subjects discussed.

Sentiment Analysis and Word Cloud of Popular Tech Company | April 1-June 30, 2016 | Online Data from The Social Outlook

In a matter of seconds, these quick analyses revealed how consumers of two different tech companies have clearly different concerns.

Consumer Insights

Social media information doesn’t just reveal what your customers are saying. Additionally, social data can provide a depth of insights into who they are, including their behavior and further interests outside of your industry.

In the figure below, taken from the report, we analyzed the top interests of technology consumers. Interestingly, technology consumers are less likely than the average consumer to be interested in politics, family & parenting, or sports.

Percent point difference from average consumer | April 1 – June 30, 2016 | Figure from The Social Outlook

Also of note, technology conversations are among the most male-driven discussions on social media.

The graph below demonstrates that only NBA teams and automotive brands had higher percentages of male consumers discussing them.

Gender Analysis of 15 Industries | April 1 – June 30, 2016 | Data from The Social Outlook

Intelligent social media research has the power to inform a plethora of important business decisions.

From predicting who will be most interested in your newest product, to benchmarking the success of your technical support team each quarter, the insights acquired from social data are vital for tech companies hoping to stay competitive in their industry.

The Social Outlook

In this industry, no brand is safe from being outsmarted by the competition.

Considering the clear benefits of social data and a smart social strategy, investing in social intelligence is no longer optional.

The Social Outlook presents even more valuable insight into the social landscape. With social benchmarks and industry specific research, consumer technology companies can maximize their online presence and stay ahead of the pack.

To uncover these insights and strategies, download the report below.