Why Natural Language Processing Should be Part of Your Strategy
Natural Language Processing (NLP) is a “machine learning technology that gives computers the ability to interpret, manipulate, and comprehend human language.” It’s been around for decades. And while you may be unfamiliar with its formal name, you’ll likely know its most famous iteration: Apple’s Siri, which was introduced to customers in 2011. Yet, brands shouldn’t take this ubiquitous tool for granted: NLP can do much more than just help you make a phone call.
NLP has vast analytical capabilities that are vital in setting your communication and marketing strategies and monitoring your brand’s health. It can extract insights like positive or negative sentiments, emotions, behaviors, names, and other relevant data, finally taking that information and indexing it for reference. It can track conversation topics and trends. That’s why comprehensive NLP technology was one of the first investments made by Comsint when we launched in 2020.
Here’s how you can best leverage it to help build and defend your brand.
Real-Time Understanding of Brand Health
NLP is capable of processing and analyzing vast amounts of online text in real-time. When used correctly, it can tell you the topics, locations, sentiments, and leading voices driving the conversation around your brand and competitors. This intelligence has tremendous benefits for communicators. We frequently use this tool to help clients understand the sentiment around their brand, where conversations are happening, and how deeply their messaging penetrates earned media coverage. This helps to both set strategy and adjust engagement tactics to garner better results.
In a more specific example, one of our energy clients faced sustained online criticism from a group of purported global advocates. Using NLP and other tools, Comsint was able to identify the scale of the issue, and its source, and monitor the conversation across social media platforms in real-time. Working with our clients, we could see that most content came from less than three dozen users in one part of the United States. Moreover, the NLP software revealed that they were clearly using a standard set of messaging, meaning they were an organized group, not a spontaneous response. That information allowed us to craft a targeted, local response to the issue. By addressing the specific geography and talking points, our client was able to isolate the matter and avoid any damage to their reputation.
Identify New Opportunities for Storytelling
NLP can be a powerful tool for businesses to identify new opportunities for storytelling. By analyzing media coverage nationally or across trades, you can identify discussions and trends that are happening in your industry, in addition to the actual people writing and talking about them. That data provides insights into which trends your brand might be able to leverage to gain attention or new angles to pitch within a given topic. Additionally, NLP can be used to identify influencers and thought leaders in your industry. Collaborating with them to incorporate their insights and experiences into your storytelling will add credibility and a fresh perspective.
Comsint used this analysis to help one of its nonprofit partners gain national attention. NLP revealed huge potential in a newly announced conservation designation. Working collaboratively with our clients, we took what was initially intended as a press release and built a multi-platform marketing campaign. The result? Millions of views and engagement from thousands across the country.
Unparalleled Consumer Insights
NLP can be leveraged beyond earned and social media. It allows businesses to analyze vast amounts of textual data from online forums. This could be used to assess your brand’s health on an employer site like Glassdoor or a travel review website like TripAdvisor.
By employing NLP, companies can gain valuable insights into how their brand is perceived. This enables them to tailor their communication strategies (or HR or customer service) to address concerns and amplify positive sentiments. Further, the potential for customized content is limitless. NLP enables companies to delve into customer interactions and preferences, facilitating the creation of personalized and engaging content. Statistics show that 80% of consumers are more likely to purchase when brands offer personalized experiences. By utilizing NLP algorithms, businesses can analyze customer behaviors, language patterns, and preferences to create targeted content that resonates with their audience personally, increasing brand loyalty and customer satisfaction.
Natural Language Processing can make brands savvier and more relevant to their audiences. By consolidating thousands (or more) commentaries into concise analysis, the technology has morphed what would have once been seen as anecdotal, qualitative evidence into actional, quantitative intelligence. When integrated into your communications strategy, this promises powerful results.