9 lessons from the social

media warriors of Westeros

Let the Lannisters, Starks and

Baratheons lead the way…

WHY DOES SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING MATTER?

And what can we learn from the cast of

Game of Thrones about SMM?

A SMM lesson from

Lord Baelish (Littlefinger)

Listen and Learn

Lesson 1

Lord Baelish (Littlefinger) would never have climbed the

ranks of Westeros and obtained powerful positions without

constantly listening-in for his next blackmailing break…

Climb the ranks of the social media sphere with SMM by:

• Monitoring the movements of mentions on social media:

who is saying what when, where and how?

• Cluing-in to consumers concerns before their voices go

viral…

• Increasing your online presence: get up to speed with the

latest industry insights and promote your position as a

thought-leader

Listen and Learn

Lesson 1

A SMM lesson from

Tywin Lannister

Gauging

sentiment

is essential

Lesson 2

Tywin Lannister is well-practiced at extracting and exploiting

information to prey on his victim’s sentiments, allowing him to

stay one step ahead.

With a social media monitoring tool, sussing out customer

sentiments about your brand couldn’t be easier… • Sentiment: how consumers feel about your brand

• SMM tools track positive, negative and neutral mentions

about your brand

• Sentiment analysis help you to quickly counteract negative

mentions and alert you to any changes that need to be

made

Gauging sentiment is essential

Lesson 2

A SMM lesson from

Varys

Exploit your

powers of

espionage

Lesson 3

Varys, spymaster to the King, exploited his powers of

espionage to traffic information between Houses.

So, what are you waiting for? Break out the binoculars and

start spying (legally!) on your competitors:

• Keep tabs on your competition: use smart alerts - like

Varys would his spies - to track their every move online

• Monitor mentions about your competitors campaigns,

brands, #hashtags and

• See your competitor through the eyes of their customer &

track: review sites, social media pages, website &

subscribe for content

Exploit your powers of espionage

Lesson 3

A SMM lesson from

Bran Stark

Predict

the future

(as much as humanly possible!)

Lesson 4

Bran Stark’s may possess prophetic powers which allow him to stay one step ahead of his enemies…but who would have thought that SMM tools could help you predict the future too?

Although social media monitoring tools cannot officially enable you to see into the future like Bran, they can help you to:

• Access to vast amounts of mentions = more data to analyse and thus more accurate predictions

• Predict what your customer wants: what are customers buzzing about?

• Predict what your customer will do next: what are customers searching for and what search results are they presented with? Are these search results positive?

• Predict the success of marketing campaigns: social media analytics gives stats on potential audience/reach of mentions

Predict the future (as much as humanly possible!)

Lesson 4

A SMM lesson from

Cersei and Jaimie Lannister

Crisis manage to

the max

Lesson 5

For Cersei and Jamie Lannister, word getting out about their incestuous relationship certainly constituted a crisis. In order to cover their tracks, they crisis managed the only way they knew how: murder (or rather, by attempting to murder Bran Stark)

SMM tools can help you hone in on the source of social media mayhem and counteract negative mentions of your brand immediately:

• Customized alerts track unusual activity surrounding your brand on social media sites

• Mitigate malicious mentions by identifying the most influential influencers and responding quickly (and quietly) to their concerns*

• Get personal: provide support on a personal level to customers by replying to their tweets or assigning tweets/comments to colleagues

• Collaborate with overseas subsidiaries to maintain manning of social media across the map 24/7

*Murdering key influencers is, however, not advised!

Crisis manage to the max

Lesson 5

A SMM lesson from

Daenerys Targaryen (khaleesi)

Fight (fire) with

fire

Lesson 6

Social media monitoring tools can be likened to Dynarus Tygarean; the

only difference being that one fights with fire (or rather, dragons) and

the other fights social media firestorms.

In order for social media crisis relations to succeed, brands must use

SMM tools in order to effectively fight fire with fire:

• Instead of reacting around the flashpoint (YouTube), brands must

react at the flashpoint

• Easily identifying the channel driving the most negative traffic is key

to targetting the trouble at its source

Social media monitoring tools save you valuable social media fire-

fighting time, by:

• Telling you where mentions are coming

• Showing you the audience/reach from each media source

Fight (fire) with fire

Lesson 6

A SMM lesson from

Joffrey Baratheon

Bask in your

awesomeness

Lesson 7

If there’s one thing we can learn from Joffrey Baratheon, it’s that basking in your own awesomeness will not necessarily bring you friends, but it will prove your power. And for the rest of you, who aren’t Rulers of the Seven Kingdoms - well, you’ve got to be a little more subtle than King Joffrey…

Social media monitoring software allows you to pinpoint the most complimentary comments on social media and circulate them like there’s no tomorrow…

Why spread love for your label?

• Because people are probably saying nice things about your brand on social media

• Because these people have followers who also hear nice things about your brand

• Because leveraging compliments positions you as a source of trusted information

Bask in your awesomeness

Lesson 7

A SMM lesson from

Maegery Tyrell

Set (and spot) the

latest trends

Lesson 8

When Margaery Tyrell first came on the scene, sporting a daring dress, slashed to the navel, there was no question about it: she meant business. The would-be queen of Westeros not only sets the tone, but the trend in her out-there attire. But, Margaery Tyrell, isn’t the only one quick off the mark, when it comes to spotting trends…

SMM tools are also dominating the trend-spotting space…but instead of what’s trendy, they concetrate on what’s trending in the social media arena:

• Spot the trends today which will make headlines tomorrow

• Latching-on early to the latest trends will give you a competitive edge

• Plan your future marketing and social media campaigns around what’s trending today

Set (and spot) the latest trends

Lesson 8

A SMM lesson from

The HBO Bosses

Keep an eye on

influencers

Lesson 9

If even the big bosses of HBO (creators of Game of Thrones) are keeping an eye on their influencers, what are you waiting for? That’s right, it’s been reported that HBO sent “influencer boxes” out to big names in the social media sphere, introducing them to the world of Westeros…and look where that’s got them today: the show is a phenomenal success!

So what can social media monitoring managers learn from the likes of HBO?

• SMM tool can target the most influential people on social media: put your content in the limelight, where its going to get shared, liked and retweeted

• Influencers can be your greatest asset or your worst enemy…

• Make sure influencers feel favourably about your brand: the last thing you want is bad reviews from complainers with clout

• Find out who the movers and shakers are and go after them!

Keep an eye on influencers

Lesson 9

So, there you have it – 9 essential lessons in Social Media Monitoring from the Game of Thrones gurus of the social media

monitoring sphere!

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